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    The Iconic Series
    The Iconic Series
    The Iconic Series
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    The Iconic Series

    By Steve Akley

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    About this ebook

    Bigfoot.

    Paul Bunyan.

    Abraham Lincoln.

    The legendary and mysterious Cliff Cave in suburban St. Louis County.

    The Iconic Series features three of Steve Akley’s short stories involving iconic lexicons from popular culture, folklore and American history. These tales come from Steve Akley’s Commuter Series – the perfect length for one or two rides to work. Each has a unique approach and different storytelling style.

    Included in this book are the following short stories:

    Bigfoot vs. Paul Bunyan
    Pine Cone Woods is a remote community outside of Yakima, Washington. When the residents of P.C.W. began to encounter Bigfoot, they were intrigued at first. After all, they were amazed to find out the legendary monster was real!

    As the creature became more aggressive towards them, they began to search for ways to address their problem without drawing too much attention to their “off-the-grid” lifestyle. Seemingly there was only one person to help them. Of course their solution was a legendary logger who has long since left the spotlight who wasn’t interested leaving his self-imposed retirement from the public eye.

    Can the residents of P.C.W. lure Paul Bunyan out of retirement in Bemidji, Minnesota to help them out? It’s going to take a lot of convincing and perhaps a little bit of luck. With the Bigfoot attacks increasing in intensity and frequency they really don’t have any time to spare in their quest to have Paul Bunyan take on Bigfoot!

    The Lincoln Stalker
    For an individual whom has been written about and studied as much as Abraham Lincoln, you wouldn’t think there wouldn’t be any mysteries left surrounding our 16th president. Despite all of the interest and documentation available on the life of Lincoln, a few questions remain.

    A chance discovery of journals on an Indiana farm from an individual who knew Lincoln for over 45 years, sheds some light on a few aspects which hadn’t been covered before. Thorton Andrew Davis VIII, the great-great-great-great-great grandson of the man who wrote the journals partnered with noted author Steve Akley to present these stories to the public for the first time. You will be shocked, amazed and intrigued as these firsthand accounts clear up some of the loose ends about the life of Abraham Lincoln.

    The Vampire of Cliff Cave
    Have you ever met an actual vampire?

    Do you know the stories of any actual vampires, or is your only point of reference what you have seen on TV, the movies or what you’ve read in books?

    The Vampire of Cliff Cave takes a look at the memoirs of a real vampire sharing his everyday interactions with regular people. In these humor-filled encounters, some of the layers, and mysteries, to all of the bad P.R. vampires receive are peeled away.

    Be sure to check out the rest of the stories in Steve Akley’s Commuter Series!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteve Akley
    Release dateMay 21, 2015
    ISBN9781310851575
    The Iconic Series
    Author

    Steve Akley

    Steve Akley is a lifelong St. Louis resident. He grew up in, and now lives with his family in the south St. Louis county community of Oakville.While it took him more than 40 years (okay, 45) to get his first book published, doing so has caused a flurry of creative ideas for new works. With a simple direction of writing about subject matter that he likes, he has a lot of potential material to write about.He looks forward to getting more of his ideas out there for others to enjoy.He thanks you for your interest in his work!

    Read more from Steve Akley

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      Book preview

      The Iconic Series - Steve Akley

      Chapter 1 – Bigfoot vs. Paul Bunyan

      Help, help, woman down!

      The voice coming over the radio at Pine Cone Woods headquarters was instantly recognizable. It was Cathy Lowry, the mother of two. Mayor Daryl Pagano picked up his radio and responded back, Cathy, what happened? Are you okay?

      Yes, she called back. It was Andre, again. I was taking a load of laundry to wash in the river. He came running at me and knocked me down. He then picked me up and threw me. I started yelling, and he ran back into the woods. I twisted my ankle when he hit me the first time. I don’t think I can make it back to my house. Can you send someone? I’m right at the river bank.

      Will do, responded Pagano. He continued, Just stay put; we’ll get someone to you right away.

      Mayor Pagano knew he had a real problem. He started an off-the-grid community on 323 acres 70 miles northeast of Yakima, Washington. While not recognized as a city by the State of Washington, with a population of 126 in 43 houses on the property, the community was thriving. As the owner of the land, Mayor Daryl Pagano served as the community’s leader and father figure.

      Recently, his isle in the woods, which had been billed as a safe haven from the government and crime associated with city living, was having a problem. Something more heinous than the issues of weather, challenges of living in the woods and even the government, which they feared so much. Pine Cone Woods was under attack.

      Not by the government, terrorists or criminals. They were under attack by a 12 foot tall male bigfoot. That’s right, not only is bigfoot real, it has been terrorizing the citizens of Pine Cone Woods.

      They know it is a single animal as the description is always the same. It’s a brown-haired male bigfoot with a large scar on his chest and a swatch of jet black hair in the center of his forehead (kind of like Jay Leno).

      Residents started calling the animal Andre after the famous wrestler Andre the Giant. When someone brought up the fact that Andre had played bigfoot in an old episode of the Six Million Dollar Man, the name stuck.

      As fun as the name is, Andre is no pet. The troubling part of the situation is the animal is not only aggressive, it is seemingly getting bolder with each human encounter. Initially, he was spotted stealing goats under the cover of darkness from some of the homeowners. Then, it started walking right up to steal feed with people around, pursuing the individuals who tried to stop these thefts.

      The incident just called in by Cathy Lowry is particularly disturbing as it takes Andre’s aggression to a new level. She didn’t have any food on her, yet he still attacked.

      The residents have been debating how to handle this situation. They don’t like the idea of shooting an animal trying to live its life in its natural habitat, but they don’t want to live their lives under the threat of death, either.

      They are also having some issues with the government at the moment. Killing a bigfoot would bring some heat on them. Whether its actual trouble from the government, or bad publicity with the public at-large, notoriety isn’t something a group in the woods typically wants to do.

      Despite all of this, for now, the problem isn’t Andre. The most pressing matter at the moment is getting Cathy Lowry back to her cabin safely.

      Mayor Pagano leaves his office to join the team in getting her back to camp.

      Off-the-grid.

      Three small words.

      Depending on whom you ask, those three words can have a very different meaning. At its most basic form, off-the-grid literally means not being connected to public utilities.

      If you ask most Americans, they will likely tell you off-the-grid is more than just being disconnected from the conventional utilities system; it’s a lifestyle. People who choose to subsist without utilities, also tend to live off of the land, shun technology and generally disassociate themselves from the general population.

      Ask the U.S. Government what off-the-grid means and you will likely get a story which will agree with what is shared by most Americans but will take it a step further. Sure, on the record they will likely have no comment, but if you can get a public official to speak off the record, they will tell you off-the-grid equals trouble.

      Serious trouble.

      In the eyes of the U.S. Government, those living off-the-grid are even more troubling than foreign terrorists, who are always going to be at arm’s length based on the logistics of not being domiciled in this country.

      That’s not to say one person with a couple of solar panels and a large garden is being watched by the Feds. Truthfully, that’s not the problem. Those lone wolves, as the government has called them, aren’t something the government watches because of terroristic threats. They watch them collectively for trends. Should the numbers increase significantly, they do represent a problem for the government.

      The reason?

      People who aren’t buying utilities, shopping at Wal-Mart or earning a living aren’t generating taxes. Well, at least not very much. Sure, they may be paying minimal taxes locally for property tax and contributing a bit from pensions or investments, but the numbers are small compared to those living the conventional American lifestyle.

      The lone wolves are such tiny numbers compared to the population as a whole, they barely even register on the government’s watch lists.

      Those who band together to form communities eschewing the traditional American lifestyle? That’s a different story entirely.

      In the eyes of the government, they do represent trouble. It may go back to the conspiracists’ notions that the government doesn’t want citizens forming successful communities where they aren’t holding jobs, buying consumer goods and paying for their utilities in U.S. cities. If this lifestyle would ever become the norm, the government as we know would go away along with all of the paychecks and benefits for the bureaucrats. Clearly, they are going to put up a fight to stop that from happening.

      Then again, it may be the result of the fact domestic terrorists tend to band together and like to do so away from the prying eyes of normal citizens. Going off-the-grid further insulates a group from the outside world and does create a perfect scenario for those looking to avoid contact from the general population and in particular, the Feds.

      The U.S. Government has even gone so far as to profile the communities of individuals living off-the-grid based upon where they are living. Here’s a look at their three identified groups and an explanation about them along with a look at the perceived threat of each:

      Desert Rats

      Where they Live: Literally in the desert. Areas like the Mojave and Black Rock Desert are popular.

      The Government’s Off the Record One Word Evaluation of these Groups: Hippies

      Example: The group living in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada which puts on the yearly Burning Man Festival

      Terrorist Threat Rating (0 – 10/0 = No Threat and 10 = Terrorist Band): 3

      The Skinny: With their vegan diets, minimalistic approach, peaceful lifestyle and outspoken stance against guns, these groups tend to pose very little threat.

      City Dwellers

      Where they Live: The outskirts of large cities.

      The Government’s Off the Record One Word Evaluation of these Groups: Cults

      Example: David Koresh’s Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas

      Terrorist Threat Rating (0 – 10/0 = No Threat and 10 = Terrorist Band): 7

      The Skinny: The city dwellers are often bound by some belief (religious or otherwise). They tend to be on the outskirts of large cities to provide a recruiting base for these groups. The

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