Sydney Lockhart Creative Writing Professor Carr March 4, 2011 Legends

The stories about the station were numerous. A married couple was found

dead forty years ago and suddenly its not just a gas station. Everyone knew the stories, just not the same story. The man killed his wife in a fit of rage and was shot down by the cops. The woman murdered her husband and then herself because she thought he was cheating on her. They were apart of the mafia and pissed off the Don, so he had them whacked. The more people were allowed to dwell on it, the crazier the stories became. No one looked at the place more than a glance, but already they had years of personal memories hatched up. Four boys were piled in a maroon 1986 Volkswagen Golf heading down a

four-lane highway. The driver was Quint. He was the oldest, nineteen, and was the brother of the blonde in the seat next to him named Liam. Liam was almost fourteen, but he could probably pass for a fourth grader if he wanted to. Behind Liam sat Ander, Liams best friend. Ander was fourteen and looked nowhere near as young as Liam. And lastly, Quints friend and the person who least wanted to be in the car at the time, Caleb. Caleb was eighteen and had absolutely no interest in seeing the gas station. The stories were just too ridiculous and he thought going would just be a huge waste of time. Nevertheless, here he was, because someone

 didnt want to be stuck with his little brother and jittery best friend for a two and a half hour car ride. The boys were going to find some irrefutable proof of the ghosts that

haunted the gas station. They were equipped with Anders dads video camera, four flashlights, a two liter bottle of Coke, and four sandwiches made by Quint and Liams mom for when they got hungry. Well, this is foolproof, thought Caleb dejectedly, leaning his head back against the seat. No way this could possibly fail. The car puttered to a stop as they arrived at their destination. It was almost

seven oclock, so the sun was just beginning to set on the hot summer day. They slowly peeled themselves off the leather seats and stretched their abused limbs. Quint, man, you really need to think about investing in a car that could

possibly fit humans, Caleb said, walking around the car and standing next to his friend. Quint scoffed at him, patting the car. Give up my pride and joy here that I oh

so love to own? Caleb, when money starts pouring out of my ass, then the first thing Im going to do is buy a car that appeases you. Caleb rolled his eyes. He went around the back of the car to the trunk,

grabbing his flashlight and opening the cooler to get some of the Coke. He glanced at the gas station they arrived at and had to admit, it had a certain something about it that just made it downright eerie. Ander and Liam already had their equipment and were walking toward the

dingy building. They were chattering away about the possibilities of what could

happen in this place. Caleb could only catch some of it, something about a man in a chair and a woman in the window. They probably shouldnt go in alone, Caleb told Quint. Why, the ghosts might snatch them up? Quint taunted, smirking. Caleb once again rolled his eyes at his friend. No, how about the forty year

old building thats been abandoned and could fall apart at any moment. You dont want your brother going home with a piece of wood sticking out of his head. go. The older boys walked into the run down station to find the younger boys Quint stopped smirking and turned toward the station. Yeah, alright lets

hadnt gone very far. The place looked extremely neat for an abandoned building. Granted, the amount of dust and dirt could cover the Sahara desert, but other than that, everything seemed to have a place. The car parts were along the wall to the left, behind the register. There were two small aisles with some canned goods neatly stacked and other dry products. While the others looked around for the ghosts, Caleb was more interested in the fact that the place looked so neat and tidy. No way could someone have been murdered here. He saw a little door in the back of the store and went through. He found a room with a queen sized bed and a small nightstand. There was a little dresser along the right wall with pictures on top of it, pictures of a man and a woman. But they looked happy. They looked like they were in love, not like theyd kill each other. He opened the top drawer to find a single scrapbook. He brushed the dust off and opened it. It was the couples entire life in a book, down to every award they won and anniversary they shared. Caleb couldnt

help but smile at how blatantly wrong everyone was. These people seemed to be in a healthy relationship and loved each other until the day they died. He replaced the book and walked out of the back room. The other boys had been searching the main room, waiting for something

supernatural to happen. Caleb was secretly hoping they didnt get anything because he wanted this place to be left alone. It was the home of two sweet people who didnt deserve a bunch of trespassers lurking around. Caleb wanted them left alone. After about forty-five minutes, the kids got bored and gave up so everyone

headed back to the car. Caleb was the last to get there and was throwing his flashlight into the trunk, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at the gas station and froze. A man sat in the chair beside the station, looking at nothing, and a woman

was leaning out of the window. The man looked at her and smiled, standing up and turning towards her. They shared a kiss before they disappeared into thin air. Caleb stood, staring at the scene that just occurred in front of him. His lips

quirked into a small smile and he slowly shut the trunk. The boys were grumbling about not finding anything when Caleb got into the

car. He just looked back out the window, still smiling. No one needed to know what he saw.