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The Stepping Stone
Chapter One: Stairs in the Woods
Scott A. Gese
Cover Blurb
Deep in the Oregon wilderness, a hidden staircase rises from the forest floor—seventeen ancient steps leading to the unknown.
When a young man, a professor, and his student from a nearby university investigate, they uncover a stunning secret: a working portal to another world.
Concerned over national security issues, one of the three notifies the NSA but before they can act, the other two are compelled by someone on the other side to step through.
On the other side, they find a society eerily similar to their own—only here, darkness has been disguised as light, and true freedom has been hidden from the masses.
Convinced to return and recruit the one person who holds the key to liberation, the travelers slip back through the portal. They return just as the NSA secures the site. The portal is slammed shut behind them and the truth is now revealed. Things are not as they seem.
Caught between two powerful factions, trapped by lies and half-truths, they must choose their allies carefully.
One mistake could doom them to permanent exile in a tightly controlled future.
The right move will lead them back home—but even then, the NSA is waiting.
The rebellion intensifies.
Survival hangs in the balance and decisions must be made.
Copyright © Scott A. Gese 2025 All rights reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the authors imagination. Any similarity to real persons living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage or retrieval system in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without express written permission by the author.
Cover photo A.I. generated by GROK. Photoshop by Scott A. Gese
Chapter One
Stairs in the Woods
The country’s political climate was becoming more toxic by the day. The controlling government continued to enact draconian policies that eroded citizens' constitutional rights. Freedom of speech was all but gone, and personal freedom of movement was being stripped away. Traveling outside state lines was increasingly difficult. Oregon's governor was playing hardball with its citizens, and they were beginning to fight back. Political unrest was escalating, with rioters burning and looting much of the city. Portland was turning into a hellhole.
John Hindle lived just outside of Portland. If the unrest expanded into the suburbs, he would grab his bug-out bag and hit the road.
He didn’t have a specific destination in mind, which was why he currently found himself deep in the woods of Oregon's Cascade mountain range. He was searching for a safe place to hunker down and hide out. For how long, he wasn’t sure—at least until some sense of normalcy returned... if it ever did.
He was familiar with the area he was hiking in. As he trekked along a seldom-used game trail, something caught the toe of his boot, causing him to stumble to the ground. Normally, he would have shrugged it off, picked himself up, and kept going. A root or rock would have been his first thought.
But from ground level, he could clearly see it was more than that. It was much larger than a root and didn’t resemble any normal rock. It was flat with a very straight edge, covered with a thick layer of moss, fallen limbs, and vines. Something felt off, and he wanted a better understanding of what he was looking at. He decided to take a closer look. A little effort to uncover the trip hazard revealed what lay hidden beneath.
As he moved some debris out of the way, confusion set in. A step was the furthest thing from his mind, yet what he had uncovered was exactly that. He continued to pull away the years of old vines and fallen debris from the step. To his surprise, there was more than one. His reason for being deep in the woods faded from his mind as he focused on uncovering what turned out to be an entire flight of stairs.
It was the most interesting thing he had ever discovered in the woods. The precision of the river rock stonework amazed him. There was no river nearby. Where did the stones come from? The treads were made of a type of black slate not native to the area. There were a total of seventeen tall steps leading to a platform at the top. The whole structure was absolutely out of place.
John searched the ground around the staircase. There was no sign of it ever being connected to anything. The nearest road was a three-mile hike over terrain unfit for any type of vehicle to haul the materials. Why would anyone build a solitary set of stairs in the middle of the woods? This was a mystery, and John Hindle was determined to solve it. He opened the GPS on his phone, noted the coordinates, and took a few pictures of his find. By now, afternoon was late, so John called it a day and headed back toward his vehicle.
Once home, he showed the images to a couple of friends. They thought it was interesting, and like John, they had no clue as to why the steps would be there. Someone suggested he contact the local university for answers. He did just that, and the university put him in touch with a professor in the archaeology department.
Professor Matt Dane was the head of the department. John introduced himself and explained what he had found. Over the years, Professor Dane had heard stories of stairs in the woods, but they were in other states like West Virginia and Michigan. He recalled hearing about a set found in Germany as well. Most had a history or plausible explanation connected to them. This was the first time he had heard of a set in Oregon.
“So, what do you think?” John asked after showing Professor Dane the images.
“I’m stumped,” he replied. “I’m afraid I don’t have a good explanation for you. I would like to see them in person, though. Is that possible? Can you find them again?”
“Oh yeah, I have the coordinates. I’d be happy to show them to you. When do you think you’d like to go?”
Professor Dane was eager to see them. “Is this weekend too soon?”
“Not at all,” John replied. “It’ll take some time to reach them, so we’ll need to get an early start. Can we meet around 3 a.m.?”
“Wow, that is early. Okay, I’ll be there. I want to bring an assistant with me if that’s alright with you?”
“No problem,” John said. “I hope you’re a seasoned hiker. Wear a good pair of hiking boots and pack for a long day’s hike.”
“I assure you, my assistant and I are both seasoned hikers. We’ll be prepared. Let me have your address, and we’ll see you this weekend.”
Professor Dane was middle-aged, fit, and outgoing. His career had taken him to some of the most remote places on the planet. A simple hike in the Oregon woods would not be a difficult task.
His assistant was a young woman named Darcy, who was working on her degree in archaeology. This assignment was necessary for her graduation requirements. She was an avid hiker and had hiked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail two years earlier.
They rolled into the driveway at 3 a.m. sharp. John was ready and came out as soon as they pulled in. After he was introduced to Darcy, they hopped into John's car and took off toward the hills. It was an hour's drive to where they would park the car and begin hiking.
Time passed quickly, and soon they reached the trailhead. It was still dark when they parked. They donned their gear and, with the aid of a couple of flashlights, started to hike.
The trail began at the entrance to a very old, abandoned, and overgrown logging road—nothing more than an unnoticed spot along a lightly used rural highway. Darcy and Professor Dane had done their homework. As they hiked along, they talked about other sets of stairs that had been found in the woods all over the world.
What remained of the old road petered out at what was once a logged-off clear-cut. It had been replanted many years ago, and the new trees were now ready to be cut. They were at the two-mile mark. From here, they would hike deeper into the woods. The trees closed in around them just as the sun began to break over the horizon.
John frequently checked his coordinates as the three of them hiked along a narrow game trail. They discussed what they would find when they reached the staircase. Darcy seemed to know more about the phenomenon of stairs in the woods than Matt. John was curious, and Darcy was more than willing to answer all of his questions.
The sun had been up for over an hour when they arrived at the stairs. Matt and Darcy were excited to be looking at something so out of place. The first thing they did was finish clearing away the brush to fully expose them. They searched the area for any signs of an old structure. There were no remains of a basement, no foundation, and no building materials of any kind. Except for the stairs, there wasn’t so much as two stones stacked together—nothing to indicate a structure ever existed.
John took a break as Matt and Darcy continued to take copious measurements. There were seventeen steps; each was exactly four feet wide, ten inches tall, and perfectly level. As far as they could tell, the staircase was solid, not hollow. It was built out of river rocks, but there was no river nearby. A thick, solid sheet of some sort of black slate was used as a tread on each step and covered the landing at the top. Neither Matt nor Darcy could identify the slate. They noted it as coming from an unknown source, and planned to take a sample back to the university for testing. Someone there would surely know what type of rock it was.
When they finished with their measurements, all three sat on the stairs, discussing what they had found.
“Darcy, on our hike in, you suggested these stairs could have possibly been used as an altar for some sort of satanic ritual,” John stated. “What if these stairs are for something other than that?”
“They could have absolutely been used for some other purpose. What are you getting at?” Darcy questioned.
“The top of the stairs is more of a platform than an altar. Stairs usually lead to an entrance, right? What if they were used as an entrance to something?”
“Usually, but not always,” Darcy replied. “But go on.”
“I know you might think this is crazy, but what if these stairs lead to something like a portal of some sort?”
“You mean like an entrance to another dimension?” Matt questioned.
“Yes, exactly. A portal to another dimension or possibly another planet.”
“Or... maybe another time,” added Darcy.
Matt wasn’t so sure about John's portal idea. “Sounds like you’ve been watching too much television. They made a movie and a TV series about that idea, you know.”
Darcy dismissed the comment but felt intrigued by the idea. “The movie may have been fiction, but what if it was based on fact?”
“I know it's not an original idea,” John added. “Just look at the craftsmanship of these stairs and the material. I've never seen slate like this before.”
Darcy ran her hand across the surface of the step where she sat. “I’ve never seen this type of material either. I don’t think it’s from around here.”
“What if it is a portal... and what if it’s still in operation?” John suggested.
“Now you're reaching,” replied Matt. “Portals aren’t stable. The chances of something like that being here are slim to none, and finding one still working? I’d bet against that in a heartbeat. If, in fact, that’s what these steps were used for, it’s probably the reason they were abandoned. I agree with Darcy; I think we're in an old satanic ritual area, and this is some sort of altar or platform where the high priest looked down over his followers.”
“There’s one way to find out,” John replied. “I have an idea.” He picked up a stone. “Follow me.”
They all walked to the top of the stairs. Matt knew what John was up to and was waiting for his I-told-you-so moment. John tossed the rock over the edge. The ground below was in shadows, and they didn’t see it hit. They didn’t hear it either, which excited John and Darcy.
Matt was less convinced. “We didn’t hear it hit because the rock was too small. Find another one and try again,” he ordered. “Make it a bigger one. I’ll go down to the ground. Throw the stone over the edge when I tell you to, and I’ll see if it hits the ground. I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.”
John scrambled down the stairs and began searching for a larger rock as Matt made his way to the base of the staircase. John found what he was looking for and climbed back to the top. He and Darcy stood on the platform with the rock while Matt stood below. “OK, throw it out a couple of feet in front of you,” Matt shouted.
John tossed the rock a few feet and waited. A few seconds later, Matt spoke up. “Go ahead, I’m waiting.”
“We did. Didn’t you see it drop?” Darcy replied.
“Very funny. Don’t mess with me. Throw it.”
“I’m telling you, I did,” John insisted. “I think you're messing with us.”
“Well, that’s curious. I didn’t see it or hear it hit the ground.”
“Are you serious?” asked Darcy.
“Totally,” replied Matt.
As soon as they heard Matt’s reply, John and Darcy exchanged glances, raising their eyebrows. In unison, they cautiously stepped back from the edge.
The hair stood up on John’s neck. “Something’s there.” He and Darcy quickly headed for the bottom of the stairs.
John spoke all the way down. “What the hell? We just threw a rock into a portal. I thought Matt said those things were unstable? He didn’t think they were open all the time?”
They met Matt at the bottom of the stairs. “Are you messing with us?” Darcy asked.
Matt was dumbfounded. “No, I’m not. Apparently, it’s not an altar, and it is some sort of portal. The rock didn’t hit the ground, so I can only come to one conclusion: it seems to be open. But why, I don’t know. What we need to do is figure out where to go from here. Let’s think about our options.”
“It would be nice to know more about it,” Darcy replied.
“What do you mean?” John asked.
“Well, we know it’s a portal of some sort, right? Where does it go? What does it do? Where does it take you? To a different dimension? A different planet? A different time on Earth? Why is it open? Is it still in use? How stable is it? If you enter, can you get back?”
“Those are all good questions,” Matt added. “But you left out one possibility. Maybe it goes to nowhere. Maybe whatever goes through that opening disappears into nothingness. A portal to nowhere.”
They all sat quietly, contemplating the possibility.
John finally broke the silence. “These are questions and possibilities we certainly need to think about, but not here. It’s getting late. We need to start heading back if we want to reach the car before dark.”
“I agree,” answered Matt. “Let’s talk on the way out of here. We need to develop a plan of action.”
The energy level was high. As the three hiked back to the car, they discussed their next moves. While on the old logging road, Matt brought up the NSA. “Maybe we should consider informing them about our find? This could be a matter of national security, you know.”
John didn’t like the idea. “The NSA? Are you kidding me? As soon as they catch wind of this, we’re out, and no one will ever know this thing even exists.”
“I know,” replied Matt. “Maybe that’s how it should be. What if we mess around with this thing, and we alert whatever is on the other side that we know it’s here? What then? We could unleash something we can’t defend ourselves against.”
“I hate to break the news to you, Matt,” John replied. “We just threw two rocks through the thing. If someone is on the other side, they already know we’re here.”
“Do you mean like alien invaders?” asked Darcy. “The opening is already here. If this world was going to be invaded by unknown aliens, don’t you think it would have happened by now?”
“Maybe it has, and we just don’t know it,” Matt replied.
“I’m not going there,” John said. “Alien invaders are only one possibility out of many. Even if it were aliens, what if they were peaceful? What if they were more advanced than us and wanted to offer us their wisdom and knowledge? There are major entities in this country that would never go along with that, and the NSA would back them.”
“Like what?” asked Matt.
“Like the energy sector. Do you think they would like the idea of, say, free energy? You know they’ve already covered up alternative fuels for gas-burning cars, and Tesla figured out the free energy thing.”
Matt shot back, “Those are conspiracy theories. You can’t prove any of that stuff exists.”
“That’s a bullshit statement, and you know it,” John replied. “There’s plenty of proof of alternative energy sources. People have been killed over it, and their notes have mysteriously disappeared. Tesla is a prime example. What if they offered us a cure for sickness and disease? How would Big Pharma react? You know they wouldn’t want to go along with that. Money runs this world, and they make billions off of people like us. If there were ever anything good to come through that opening, no one would ever know about it. I say no. The NSA does not need to know about this. At least not yet.”
Matt conceded the argument. “Okay, we can keep quiet for now, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m for reporting this to the NSA. We’re messing with something we know nothing about. At the very least, it could get one of us killed.”
Darcy spoke up. “I think we need to run a couple of experiments. Something that might give us a better understanding of what we’re dealing with.”
“As long as it doesn’t involve one of us stepping into it, I’m all for it. What do you have in mind?” John asked.
As the three continued their hike back to the car, Darcy laid out her plan of attack. She wanted to start with at least two basic experiments. “First, I’d like to get some readings. We need to figure out what type of energy keeps this thing operating. Second, I want to poke a camera into it and see if anything shows up. Once we have some results compiled, we can discuss our options.”
It sounded like a good first step, so John and Matt agreed.
When they reached the car, they all decided to meet up again the following Saturday. Darcy would gather the equipment she needed to run her experiments. They also agreed not to discuss what they had found with others.
Matt didn’t sleep well that night. He couldn’t shake the idea of informing the NSA about what the three of them had found in the woods. The next day, despite their agreement, he made the call.
The woman he spoke to seemed personable. She told Matt to expect a visit from two agents at his office that afternoon. Matt ended the call, confident he had done the right thing.
It was Wednesday evening when John received a call from Darcy.
“John, I just had a visit from a couple of agents asking me questions about Matt.”
“Really? What were they asking?”
“They were asking about his character. Personal stuff like how reliable he was and who he hung out with. How involved was I with him? Stuff like that.”
“What did you tell them?”
“Not much. I don’t know him that well. They were searching for something. I gave them as little information as possible. Something’s not right. I can feel it.”
“Is Matt involved in any of the Portland riots? Maybe they’re trying to see if he has connections with any of the rioters. Does he talk much about politics?”
“Like I said, I hardly know him. I really don’t know what he’s into.”
“Have you mentioned this to him?”
“No, not yet. I wasn’t sure if I should.”
“I would. See if he knows anything. Who knows, maybe he’s applied for a new position somewhere, and this is just a reference check. Anything’s possible.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I’ll ask him and see what he has to say.”
“Let me know if anything else unusual happens, and keep me posted on what Matt says.”
“I will. Thanks for the advice.” Darcy hung up the phone, and John reflected on the call he had just received from her.
It might have been nothing. He hoped it was nothing. Why would someone be trying to get information on Matt? How did they know to go to Darcy? The more John thought about it, the more he shrugged it off as nothing more than a routine reference check. No reason to get paranoid over nothing.
It was early Friday afternoon. John was working from his home office when he heard a knock at his front door. He was in the middle of an assignment and didn’t want to lose his train of thought, but the knocking was persistent. He reluctantly closed his laptop and went to answer the door.
When he opened it, he was confronted by two men in suits. His first thought was that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. He quickly said, “Not interested,” and began to close the door until a foot blocked it from latching.
“John Hindle,” called out one of the men.
John reopened the door. “John Hindle?” one of the men asked again.
His response was hesitant. “Yes.”
“We have a couple of questions to ask you concerning Professor Matt Dane. Do you have a minute?”
“I’m in the middle of working at the moment. I don’t have a lot of time.”
“Good,” the man replied. “This won’t take more than a minute or two. May we come inside?”
“No, you can ask your questions from where you are,” John replied.
“Fine, have it your way,” one of the men said. “Do you know a Matt Dane?”
“I’m acquainted with him. Why?”
They ignored John’s inquiry. The men weren’t there to answer questions, only to ask.
“Do you consider him to be an honest person?”
“I don’t know him that well. Maybe, I guess.”
“Have you ever known him to exaggerate or blow things out of proportion?”
John had to think fast. If these were the same men Darcy had mentioned, they wouldn’t be here for a reference check. Something else was up. His suspicions were growing. He wondered if Matt had said something to someone. He decided to lie.
“Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I have noticed that about him.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Hmm, let me think. The last time I saw him, he told me about seeing Bigfoot in the woods. He said he could take me to the exact spot, and I could see the tracks it left in the mud.”
“How do you know he was lying?”
“Because I took him up on it, and we drove out to the area. Turns out he couldn’t remember exactly where it was. We hiked in circles for several hours looking for the spot. It was obvious he was bullshitting me.”
The second man spoke up. “Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
“Like I said, I don’t know him very well. I don’t know what else I can tell you. I do have a question for you, though. Who are you, and can I see some ID?”
They walked off, ignoring that question as well.
John closed the door, returned to his office, and called Darcy.
“Darcy, I just had a visit from your suits. They pretty much asked me the same questions they asked you.”
“Do you still think it’s a follow-up on a referral?” asked Darcy.
“No, it’s more than that. I’m wondering if Matt didn’t say something to someone. Do you think he would do that?”
“I don’t know. He was a little standoffish in class this morning. I just figured he was busy.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. We’ll see what he’s like tomorrow. See you in the morning, right?”
“Matt and I will be there bright and early.”
John planned to confront Matt about the visitors at his door when he saw him in the morning. He needed to think about how to approach him. He didn’t want to offend him if there was a legitimate reason for it.
The following morning, a canary yellow Camaro pulled into the driveway. John stepped out of the house just as Darcy got out of her car.
“Nice ride! '69?”
“Yes, an early graduation gift from my father.”
“Sweet. You must have an awesome dad. Where’s Matt?”
“He called late last night. Said he was too busy to go with us today.”
“Too busy? Really? Oh well, his loss. Did you bring the equipment? We’ll take my car. I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving yours parked along the side of the road all day.”
Darcy didn’t argue. She grabbed her backpack and locked her car. “It’s all in here. A couple of frequency reading meters, cameras, and a laptop. Let’s go.”
Along the way, the two compared notes about the door knockers. They concluded that it was more than a reference check; they were on some sort of official business. John told Darcy about the Bigfoot story he had made up, hoping it would give them a reason to question Matt’s reliability.
“I’m under the impression Matt changed his mind and called the NSA about our find. They were probably trying to figure out how far they wanted to go with it. I hope I gave them a reason to doubt him. I hate to sound paranoid, but we need to keep our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. If those were Feds at our door...”
John didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t have to. Darcy knew exactly what he meant.
Darcy changed the subject. “We need to come up with a name for this thing.”
“A name? That sounds like fun. I’d go with Stargate if it weren’t already taken,” replied John with a smile.
“Well, that’s original,” quipped Darcy. “I was thinking of something like Rockport or Stepping Stone.”
“Well, it’s not Stargate,” John replied playfully. “Although I kind of like Stepping Stone. Steps made of stone. Stepping from a stone into the unknown. Stepping Stone, yeah, I like it.”
“So do I,” Darcy said. “OK, Stepping Stone it is.”
Once they reached the site, Darcy went right to work. First, she checked to see if the Stepping Stone emitted any detectable radiation. She checked for electromagnetic and radio frequencies. Her meters couldn’t detect either. She had John toss a rock through the opening while she measured for any disturbance. Nothing showed up. She walked her meter around the staircase. Again, nothing.
“This is amazing,” remarked Darcy. “Nothing registers. It’s as if this thing doesn’t even exist.”
“Maybe that’s the way it was intended to be,” John replied as he walked back down to the bottom of the stairs.
“Maybe, but if that’s the case, I’ll have to assume there’s no control panel on this end. If there were some sort of control panel, I would think there would be some sort of reading. Don’t you agree?”
“Possibly, if we were dealing with 21st-century technology. I think this is way beyond that. I believe this technology is somewhere in the quantum realm or beyond. We have to assume there are controls here; we just can’t see them. Even if we could, I doubt we would have a clue as to how to use them. I do wonder why it was left on.”
“Good question. Even if we did know how to use them, I wouldn’t touch them,” Darcy said as she put away her meters and pulled out a camera and her laptop. “Now let’s have some fun.”
“What’s the plan?” John asked as Darcy handed him the camera and a retractable pole.
“Fasten the camera onto the end of the pole. I’m going to watch the laptop as you stick the camera through the opening. Hopefully, something will show up.”
John fastened the camera onto the pole as they climbed to the top of the stairs. “Let me know when you’re ready. What if this does something to me? Like shocks me or something?”
“It’s a fiberglass pole. You should be alright. I’m ready; stick it in.”
John looked over at Darcy. “That didn't sound right.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, mister.”
“Sorry, here goes.”
John poked the camera through the opening, and it disappeared. The pole felt as if it were being pulled by someone or something. He held on tight. “Do you see anything?”
“No, nothing. It's total darkness.”
John pulled the camera back out. It was still attached. “Well, that's disappointing. Oh, shit, wait a minute. I forgot to turn it on. My bad. Let's try this again.” He turned on the camera and set it to video mode before poking it back through the opening. He felt the tugging once again.
“Anything? Darcy?”
She didn't answer, almost speechless for nearly a minute. “This is incredible. I can't believe this. This is incredible.”
“What is? What's so incredible?”
“Don't move, not yet. Hold it steady. Incredible!”
“What? What are you seeing?”
After several minutes, Darcy called out to John. “Quick! Pull back the camera. You've got to see this.”
Darcy started the video from the beginning, and they both stared at the monitor in disbelief.
The camera had poked through the opening. On the other side was a manicured grassy area with medium-sized trees. The leaves were a vibrant red and gold. The sun shone brightly, and several people walked along a groomed trail around the grassy area. In the distance was the skyline of a modern city, its tall buildings adorned with reflective surfaces. The sky was a beautiful blue, unlike anything they had ever seen before, dotted with a few puffy white clouds. The people looked normal, all of them very well-dressed. It resembled a very affluent society.
Someone noticed the camera and began to walk toward it. That's when Darcy called for John to pull it back.
John couldn't believe what he was seeing. “Play it again. This is unbelievable. It looks like it could be anywhere on Earth.”
Darcy agreed. “Maybe it is. Everything we see suggests Earth. But is it?”
“Let's think about what we see,” Darcy said. “The Stepping Stone seems to be more of a portal than a wormhole. It's only a couple of feet to the other side. What we see there looks like here. The people look similar. They look friendly. Maybe it is Earth... but in the future.”
“I did notice something peculiar.” Darcy rewound the video. “Look at this person here, and this one. They're wearing some sort of choker with a small blue light on it. See it?”
“A choker? What's a choker?”
“It's like a necklace, only tight around the neck. They were popular back in the 1960s.”
“Maybe they're popular again. Fads do tend to come back around,” replied John.
“It just seems strange that they're all the same. That's not normal. All may not be as it seems at first glance.”
“That's an interesting statement. What are you thinking? Slaves? Automatons?”
“I don't know,” replied John. “It just seems out of place.” He glanced at the time. “I hate to end this conversation, but it's getting late, and we need to think about heading out. Let's pack this stuff up.”
“Before we go, I want to do one more thing,” suggested Darcy. “I have a trail cam I want to set up. I can view it from my computer while we're away, just in case something happens while we're gone.”
“Like what?”
“I don't know. Someone noticed us. Someone saw the camera.”
“True,” replied John. “I wonder what it looked like. Was it just floating in mid-air in the middle of the park?”
“That would be bizarre. No wonder someone took notice.”
Darcy set up the trail cam where it wouldn't be seen, and the two of them headed out.
On the way, Darcy commented, “I can't wait to show Matt what we have. He'll be jealous.”
“I would hold off on showing him for now. I'm still thinking he may have said something to someone. Until we know for sure, we should keep quiet about all this. If he asks, tell him we took readings and that was it.”
When they reached the logging road, John asked Darcy if she had another trail cam. “Yes. I have one more.”
“Good, let's set it up off to the side here. If someone walks past, we'll see if they keep going or turn off the trail.”
“Who do you think might be coming up here?”
“It's like I said. I don't fully trust Matt.”
The camera was set in place. Darcy and John continued on to the car and headed back to town.
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Deep in the Oregon wilderness, a hidden staircase rises from the forest floor—steps leading to a previously unknown portal. On the other side can be found a society eerily similar to your own—Where darkness has been disguised as light, and true freedom has been hidden from the masses. <Read it Here For FREE>
A full length novel by Scott A. Gese
The day Sarah McKinney finally escaped the clutches of her abusive husband, she and her adopted son, Jason, began a perilous journey and a new life on the run. The future hangs in the balance as their unhappy past and the man they left behind threatens to catch up with them.
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Struggling With Balance Issues Could Become a Downfall for Older Adults
RDNE Stock Project/PexelsAs we age, maintaining balance becomes increasingly vital to our overall well-being. While mental and emotional balance is essential for a fulfilling retirement lifestyle, physical balance plays a crucial role in staying active, independent, and injury-free.<Read The Full Article Here>
Newest Short Story
An Unlikely Friendship
By Scott A. Gese
Graduation Teen/PixelsA high school jock comes to the aid of a classmate being bullied. <Read The Full Story Here>
Newest Classic Film
Kansas City Confidential
(1952) John Payne and Coleen Gray.
Four robbers hold up an armored truck getting away with over a million dollars in cash.