I got the ladder braced, one hand on a lower rung and the other on a rung
above my head, my shoulder and back pressed against the rough wood, the
ladder pointing almost straight up into the sky. "Okay, ready when you
are," I told him.
He mounted the ladder and climbed slowly and carefully, his weight
pressing the wood against me. He moved past my head, to the top of the
ladder and then stopped. I heard him repeat, "Thank you, son," and he
started climbing again. "Thank you, so very much," he said and oddly
enough, it sounded as if his voice was somehow fading away.
"All right, pops," I said with a grimace, as the ladder was beginning to
press rather painfully into my shoulder. "I think it's about time you
came back down and---"
Without warning, the weight on the ladder disappeared and being suddenly
overbalanced, I nearly fell over and was just able to keep from dropping
both the ladder and myself to the ground. I quickly looked up and found
the ladder empty, so turned to see where the old man had landed. I
turned and looked the other way and then slowly turned completely around.
There was no sign of the old man.
I looked back up to the top of the ladder, still pointed toward the sky
and just above the top rung, for just an instant, I saw...something. The
air wavered a bit, almost as if a small ripple had formed and then was
gone; like looking up at the surface of a still lake from beneath the
water as a breath of wind touches the surface.
Whatever it was, it was there and then vanished almost before I noticed
it. I shook my head and lay the ladder back down in the grass, then
turned and gazed out over the field, once again. The old man had
actually disappeared. He was gone--there could be no doubt of that. I
dropped to the ground and sat there next to the ladder, trying to
determine just what it was that had really happened.
