The Wimotach Falls Incident
“Carlton Sims left the bowling lanes at quarter till one on Sunday morning. It was the last time anyone saw him alive. In later interviews with witnesses at the scene, it was still unclear how Mr. Sims met his ultimate fate. Reporting live on Pearl Drop Road, Jill Long, Wimotach Falls 35 News.”
Angela Demure, 35, Single, statement to Police Officer Blevins -
“The wind whipped through the alley and shook my car. I never felt something so… I mean it was just like a tornado. You know? So I was like, uh uh, I ain’t stayin here. Not with my babies in the car. No way. So I told Sheila, I said, ‘Sheila, we got to get outta here. This car’s gonna pick up with us and them babies in it.’ And Sheila, she always did like I said, and so she just nodded. You know? So I floored it and we was out of the alley in no time. But that wind kept up Mister. I’m telling you.”
Sheila Charlotte Jackson, 27, Married, statement to Police Officer Shust -
“I don’t know what you want me to say. We wasn’t doing nothing. We was just sitting, and talking. You can’t arrest me. You don’t have anything on me, man. I told her (pointing to Blevins) everything the first time. And I told you already. So why do you want me to tell it again? Oh. For the tape recorder. OK. But we was not doin nothin. We’re innocent. Well I am innocent. I know that much.
Like I said we was just talking in the car, waiting for the babies to fall asleep. On account that they don’t never fall asleep at home, and Angie, she takes them on drives. So she comes by and picks me up when we go driving the babies. They had not made any sound for a while, so we thought maybe they was asleep. So Angie, she turned off by the Ten Pin. And back there behind the grocery store is a little road we used to hang out as teenagers. In High School it was a real active spot. But. Well anyway man, we parked there and talked.
Then, like, this light filled the car. And my first thought was ‘Oh no, don’t wake them babies. They just got to sleep! I can’t take no more cryin tonight.’ So I grabbed a blanket and tossed it over their heads. I guess it helped cause they never did wake up. That light, it was brighter than anything I can ever remember. And I’ve been to a lot of concerts. You know what I mean? Yeah you know.”
George St. John, 74, Retired Air Force, statement to Police Officer Blevins -
“While I was driving a deer ran right in front of me. I’ll be the first to admit my reflexes aren’t what they once were. But I am certain it was a deer and not a man as some of these yahoos are leading you to believe. I know these roads like the veins on my arm. What I don’t know is why a whitetail was this far in town, away from any of the trees and crops out past Arlen’s Place. That’s the place we go. Most of us go there to unwind. Have since we worked the factory. And kept going after the plant closed. And still will long after this mess gets sorted out I hope. Oh my God, it is a mess. What happened to that poor guy?”
Thomas ‘Tommy’ Franks, 68, Retired Shift Worker, statement to Police Officer Blevins -
“Nah, I didn’t see what happened. But, like I told your partner, I seen all the other weird crap that was goin on besides. And I mean weird, lady! Uh, Officer. Look, there was something like this happened back in ’63 up near the Falls. The woods up there are thick, and old, and who knows what. But I’ll bet it’s something like what happened in ‘63.
When I was coming through town, on my way to Arlen’s, I seen George’s Ford stopped there in the middle of the intersection. Up roars this little PT Cruiser with two chicks, and they didn’t see me or George in the intersection, I guess, cause they screeched to a dead stop just inches from that… that… Well, what’s left of Sims I guess.
That splatter of blood and bone and hair could be the deer George seen I guess. But I’ve bagged a lot of deer. Hit a few too, up on Yuletide Pass, and they never did make a mess like that. Deer stay together. I don’t mean like in a herd. I mean like, they stay in one piece when you smack ’em with your truck. Even if it was just a Ford, I guess it couldn’t never do nothin that bad to a deer. Or to a man.
But like I said, I was rolling out to meet up with the guys, and had Bob Seger cranked up to eleven. I love the Silver Bullet Band. You know what I mean? Well just about the time Ol’ Bob gets that pretty little thing up into them Hollywood hills, wham! Lightning explodes up ahead of me. I thought the lights at the crossing must have blown. Like they do in the movies. But then a huge wind whipped up and drowned out my music. I slow down too, because that wind is rocking my truck now, and the gusts are so bad they are fixin to fish tail me into a light pole.
And that’s when I seen it. Just a moment. Just a glimpse. But it was just like I always heard the guys had seen back in ’63. Straight ahead in the middle of the road I saw a man standing. He was looking up, staring at the place that bright light came from. The blown out lights. OK? And a second later. He was gone! I skidded to a stop, right where you see my truck now. And I got out to see George sitting in his truck stunned silent.”
THE END