Episodes 29-31 of The Lake Demon by Ken David Stewart

Next Scene:

After two long days of traveling, John, Ryan and Stephanie finally arrived at Aunt Meg's place in Kelowna, British Columbia.

“Well, we made it here in one piece,” said John. “I told you that the old Taurus would get us here.”

“Yep, miracles do happen,” said Ryan grinning.

Aunt Meg owned a large beautiful house that resembled a log cabin. It reminded Stephanie of the main lodge at Camp Woodlands. There would certainly be plenty of room for everyone. The house was surrounded by trees on all sides except for the gravel road that led to it. The place was very peaceably secluded with Lake Okanagan was very close by.

Meg heard the car coming and was already outside waiting to greet the family. The two dogs, Scruffy and Skippy leaped out of the car and ran up to greet Meg. They were both friendly dogs that like people.

“You're just in time for lunch,” said Meg.”You guys must be both hungry and exhausted.”

“We haven't been eating very healthy food the last couple of days,” said John. John, Stephanie and Ryan all loved junk food.

“Yeah, you should see our dad on car trips. He drives ten to twelve hours per day with very few pit stops,” said Stephanie.

“That's right. Dad just stops for gas and we run into the convenience store to buy potato chips, chocolate bars, coffee and soft drinks. Around suppertime he'll stop at some hamburger place along the way to have dinner,” said Ryan.

“It sounds like your dad hasn't changed at all. That's exactly how I remember it when I went on road trips with him,” said Meg.“Which hotel did you stay at overnight?”

“Motel 6,” said John.

“That's just like you,too. John. Always trying to save a buck,” said Meg.

“That's right. I'm not making the type of coin I used to when I was teaching public school full time,” said John. “Subbing pays poorly and writing fiction pays worse.”

“I thought you told us that your cousin Ronnie left you a substantial inheritance,” said Ryan.

“It was a pretty large chunk of money but I didn't win the lottery. I'll need to use some of the inheritance money to pay the bills that my subbing and writing efforts don't cover,” John answered.

Next Scene:

After Roland and Natasha finished telling Ryan and his friends their Ogopogo story it was time for the couple to leave. They had a dinner date scheduled at Natasha's parents place that evening.

“Do you believe their story?” asked Ian.

“I think they're telling the truth. I noticed that Natasha turned pale and her hands started to tremble when Roland told the story,” answered Ryan.

“Yeah, the chick was scared out of her wits, probably traumatized by the experience,” offered Jasmine.

“I have some exciting news for you guys,” said Ryan.” I was just talking to Professor Phelge and-”

“Did you call him on your cell phone when you were in the bathroom?” asked Keisha.

Ryan laughed. “ No, he's here on the other side of the pub. I had a chance to talk to him for about fifteen minutes and pitched our research project to him.”

“Man, you have guts, Ryan,” said Brendon.

“Yes, you are the man,” Kyle agreed.

“That's why he's the first string quarterback on the football team,” said Keisha.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. Now let's get serious. It turns out that Dr. Phelge is starting a one year sabbatical today,” said Ian.

“That's really fortunate for him especially if it's his performance review year,” added Kyle.

“Yeah, the old guy hasn't been himself since his wife passed away,” said Keisha.

“Are you taking any of his classes this year?” asked Jasmine.

“Yes, I'm taking a second year marine biology class with him. Last year I took his introductory course. You wouldn't believe the difference in him from this year to last year,” said Keisha.

“Yeah, I'm in the same class with Keisha. Professor Phelge has definitely lost his spark. Last year he taught intro biology like a man possessed. He had such energy and passion for his subject. And this year the fire has gone out. He teaches like he's in a daze most of the time. It's as if he can't wait for the class to be over,” said Kyle.

“It sounds like he's depressed. He's probably still grieving the loss of his wife,” said Ian.

“So, how is the professor going to be of any use to us in the state that he's in?” asked Brendon.

“When I first sat down with Dr. Phelge he did seem sad and preoccupied, but when I started telling him about our research project, he perked right up,” answered Ryan.

Next Scene:

Garry Phelge knew what he had to do. He had to go to Kelowna, British Columbia to see his Uncle Ray and Aunt June. He had saved up enough money to purchase a bus ticket. Garry had many good childhood memories of traveling to B.C. with his parents to visit with his aunt and uncle. The residual effects of Garry's last dose of medications were starting to wear off and he was beginning to decompensate or lose contact with reality. He kept it together long enough to buy a one way bus ticket to Kelowna. On a few occasions Garry had tried to tell the staff at The House of Hope in Winnipeg that his parents were reptilian creatures from outer space. He had also discussed this particular delusion with his psychiatrist. Both the staff at The House of Hope and his psychiatrist had tried to explain to Garry that his belief that his parents were extraterrestrial reptiles was a manifestation of his illness. Garry now felt that both the staff at the mental rehabilitation facility and his therapist were “on board” with his parents and were lying to him.

Garry desperately needed someone to believe his story. His delusion first started when Garry watched his father, Dr. Lionel Phelge, being interviewed by a local television network. The television show was about flying saucers and extraterrestrials and Garry's father was considered to be an expert on this topic. During his interview on this show, Dr. Phelge had stated that he had once seen a UFO or more correctly, a squadron of UFOs flying in formation.

In Garry's way of thinking, his father only said this because he and his wife are from another planet or another solar system.

Garry thought that both his Uncle Ray and Aunt June were somehow privy to this knowledge about his parents. He was sure that they would confirm his belief when he saw them in person at Kelowna.

Garry felt very uncomfortable during the bus ride to Kelowna. He was starting to withdraw from the lorazepam in his system. The sudden withdrawal caused Garry's state of anxiety to significantly increase. He also began to have both visual and auditory hallucinations during the bus ride as the residual effects of his anti psychotic medications wore off..Garry was certain that the other passengers on the bus knew the secret about Garry's parents. He also believed that a few passengers were also reptilians from the same planet as his parents. Garry's auditory hallucinations involved other people on the bus talking about him. He heard the ones that he thought were extraterrestrials talking about how they would sabotage Garry's efforts to talk to his aunt and uncle.