Going To Penn's House

Going To Penn's House

I had been on the stake-out for three weeks straight and needed to close the case before I was noticed in front of Penn's house in the undercover fire hydrant disguised bat mobile. A very bright red and oddly shaped ride.

I finally got sick and tired of listening to the screams of torture emitting from within. I went to Penn's door and then used the phone and went back to the other door, that was instructed for visitors to do when going to Penn's house.

Batman was not paying any attention at his post. I was giving the secret whistle and throwing tennis shoes at him and nothing could draw his gaze from the bronze-colored desert in the sunset. But that wasn't an issue at the moment. I had other pressing things to think about. Like, why was I on a stake out in front of Penn's house in the first place. I had forgotten what we were supposed to be looking for. I had decided that just asking a few questions would be standard procedure.

When I finally gave up on watching Penn's house, I went to investigate the screams while Batman had disappeared into the night. I grabbed my flashlight and haltingly went out towards the desert. It was pitch black and I could almost sense the foreboding of subterranean creatures. I kept thinking of the tales I had heard back at the circus casino and the carnival military base. Those same tales from years ago about a buzzard that ate human flesh and lived in a cave off the desert road among many other bizarre legends. I was trying to not listen as the screams got louder. I was shaking with fear when a blonde prophet man in Roman garb and sandals spoke.

"Are you lost, my child?" He said.
"Uh, sure." I answered after I had come back from running away and dropping my flashlight.
"Where are you trying to get to?" He asked me, smiling.
"Penn's house."
"I'll take you there."
"Wait. . ."
"What's that?"
"I'm sorry, father, but I'm also looking for my partner. I seemed to have lost him, your honor."
"Was it a bat?"
"Sorta. He's a crime-fighter, you know. But the desert has made him loony and he's probably in a cave. He thinks he's a bat. He makes me call him Batman. It's a very tragic thing."

The blonde man fell silent and pondered the words spoken. Then he shrugged and walked away. I had noticed the screams had died down and there was a comfortable silent breeze in the air. I didn't like this. I went back to Penn's front door and rang the doorbell. I knocked.

Nothing.

I went back to the phone and then to another door. Then I went back to the car. I watched as Penn answered the front door and looked around in confusion. I stared with frustration as he shut the door. I went back into the desert behind Penn's house and called for my partner. Batman came into view, looking rather exhausted.

"What happened?" I asked. "We've got to get out of here!"
"I was stuck on the roof of Penn's house." Batman told me in short breaths as he picked a few buzzard feathers off his shoulder.
"Tsk! I was stuck at his front door, trying to use the phone."
"Bad reception?"
"No. His front door suggested it, so I tried to call it. It's probably a lonely front door, but a bit shy."
"Do you want me to try?"
"No. Because I think he's already got company. An emperor guy or something."
"This doesn't look good."

Batman and I tried to call Penn's house and when the other end of line picked up, there was a dead silence. Then suddenly screams blared out from the phone as Batman and myself screamed in unison with the scream on the other end. Dropping the phone and running for our very lives, we ran and ran in zigzag patterns. Behind us we could hear the screams were getting louder. The air running out of our lungs, our knees weak, shaking with terror.

Penn opened the front door again and we gathered ourselves up and said 'Hello, we'd like to ask a few questions.'

"Sure, come on in." Penn said.

~ ~ ~

Written on August 2, 2004