The Pyle Inside

One afternoon Jim, Aaron, and Oscar were walking home from Highland High where they attended school. Jim was the smartest of the three brothers and he spent his time studying and deciding on schools he wanted to go to. Aaron was a star athlete and spent his days out on the football field. He is easily angered, especially when people talked about him being thick headed. Oscar was the most hardworking of the three, but due to his lack of talent he always fell short of accomplishing his goals. Their father had passed away when they were young and they were living with their mother Eliza.

That afternoon when they came home they were shocked to see their mother lying on the floor.

“I can’t move my legs,” she yelped. The three boys rushed her to the hospital in their beat-down minivan. At the hospital the doctors said that she had a rare disease and she would need surgery if she were to be able to walk again.

The news was grim. When they got home, Oscar wheeled his mother inside.

“What are we going to do? We have no money to pay for surgery,” said Aaron.

No one could come up with anything better than sighs and moans so they decided to drop it.

Later that night, Jim was reading the newspaper when he noticed an article about a robbery that took place at one of their local banks. The thieves made off with over $500,000.

“Oh, how nice it would be to have that money right now,” Jim thought to himself.

All of the sudden there was an excruciating, sound of sirens piercing through the night outside of the house. A man wearing dark clothing streaked across the front lawn and in one quick motion leaped over the fence in the backyard. Jim noticed that when the mysterious man had hopped the fence something had fallen from his pocket. When Jim thought the coast was clear he went outside and saw a piece of paper lying on the grass. Jim was surprised to see writing on it, 1771 Arvill Ave. Jim knew he should throw it away or report it to the police, but his curiosity got the better of him and he put it on his desk.

The next morning, they were watching the news and the news man had a report on the robbery. The man had been wearing all black clothing, and had been caught only a block away from their house. Jim looked back at the paper on his desk with curiosity.

The very next day when they were on their way to school, Jim said, ¨I think I left my science homework at home.¨

He started strutting backwards. He got into the minivan and started the car as quietly as he could. He was heading straight for Arvill Ave. When he arrived at 1771 it was an old office building ready for demolition. He knew he shouldn’t go in, but his curiosity got the better of him. When he walked up to the massive spiraling door. He tried pushing on it but it wouldn’t budge. To his right, he noticed a small opening in the pavement big enough for a person to slip through. When he walked up to the hole he heard muttering from inside.

¨Yes, he was caught last night,” spoke the first man.

¨We need to complete the mission,” said another person.

¨But what about the money,” said yet another mysterious man.

On his way home Jim came to a realization that the man who had ran through his front lawn last night was one of the criminals that stole the $500,000 from the local bank and the people below the abandoned building must be the other criminals.

Later that night he was talking with Aaron, Oscar and their mother, he said that there was a large sum of money under an abandoned building on Arvill Ave.

¨Great we should use that money to pay for the surgery,” Aaron blurted out.

¨We should go into the building at night,” suggested Oscar.

Jim and Eliza didn’t like the idea but Jim started thinking about his mother, and never being able to walk again.

He hesitated and said, ¨I will do it.”

They spent an hour preparing, and the three brothers went down to Arvill Ave. in the minivan. They walked up to 1771 and listened through the opening in the pavement. There was silence. Then Aaron and Jim slipped through but when it was Oscar’s turn he got stuck. Then Jim and Aaron pulled down on his legs and Oscar hit the floor as loud as a beating drum. Jim was sure they had been caught and Aaron was ready to fight. After a few moments of panic Jim came to his wits and looked around. They were in a dark room with 3 doors in it. He calmed down Oscar and Aaron.

Aaron wanted to try the door on the left and Oscar wanted to go through the door on the right. They were both sure that their way was the correct one. Jim sat and thought for a while, he noticed that when he held the paper dropped by the thief up to the light more writing appeared. It was a map of the tunnel system that ran under the abandoned building. He studied the map for a while and said, “We need to go straight.”

“Straight? That’s way too obvious to be right.”

Jim showed him the map but he still didn’t understand his logic. Eventually Jim was able to convince his two brothers to follow him through the door. Once they were through the door, Jim led them into the tunnel system. After making a few turns Oscar was getting nervous.

“We should turn back,” Oscar said.

“We can’t turn back when we’re this far,” said Aaron.

Jim continued through the tunnels. The three of them were like mice creeping through the walls, always careful that they weren’t being followed. Jim led them to the end of the tunnel system.

They arrived at a large room with nothing in it. “Where’s the money?” asked

Aaron.

“I don’t know,” answered Jim.

Aaron hit the wall out of frustration. There was an ear blasting smash, followed by the fast footsteps of three people coming through the tunnels towards them. Then Oscar was hit in the head by a large briefcase that felt as heavy as a brick. The case hit the floor and cracked open. It was the cash! Aaron did some quick thinking and picked up the briefcase before the money fell out. The three brothers prepared to fight the men coming through the tunnels.

They ran as fast as their legs would take them and they rushed passed the three men before they could come to their senses. The three of them reached the original room where they hoisted each other up and out of the building. It was in the nick of time to because right as Oscar squeezed through, the building collapsed. They had escaped with the money and their lives.

They drove home in the beat down minivan and they told their mother that they had the money to pay for her surgery. She was as happy that she would be able to walk again.