Where's Waldo? The True Story

An old wrinkly faced woman was awakened by a terrifying crash that echoed from her backyard. It was quite late at night, nine o’clock to be precise, so she was surprised that anyone would be visiting her at such an hour. Plus, why would they come from the back way? Pulling the curtains slightly back, she peeks outside her window to see where the sound has come from. The woman happens to catch a glimpse of a figure dressed in brash red and bland white striped matching sweater and hat set. He was running towards the abandoned house behind the woman’s lot, dragging what seemed to be a huge burlap bag. Alarmed, but not frighten the older women scurries over to her phone and then nervously dialed 911.1

You see over the past few weeks, pretty much all of the news outlets have been warning the general public about a craze serial killer who has been on the loose for months now. Every single law enforcement known to man is looking for this criminal. Grandma what’s-her face might of just gotten her big break. She figures that if she is the one to capture the cold blooded murder, she might just get a nice huge reward. This could be her way out of this dump, she calls a home. Her house has too many hurtful memories.2

“Hello, you have reached the 22nd Police Percent, what might I assist with you this evening?” said the voice of a much younger man.3

“Good evening sir. A few minutes ago I heard some crashing in my backyard and so I got up to see what the noise was…” stammered the older women.4

“Listen Ma‘am-you probably just had a raccoon or something. Now if you want me to give you the number of animal control…”5

“Listen boy, do not sass talk me! I know what I heard and I know what I saw. Do you know any raccoon with a matching red and white stripped sweater and hat?”6

The phone went silent, “I am, I am so sorry ma’am. Did you say a red and white matching outfit? Stripped? This is very serious ma‘am…you might of just found Waldo.”7

The young officer rapidly takes down the woman’s information. He tells her that there will be police force as soon as possible and to not to leave her house. The older woman hangs up the phone and patiently waits by the window to see if she can get a glimpse of the felon. She waits.8

Five minutes later, squad cars were standing in front of the woman’s house. She runs outside to the porch of her house to nastily whisper, “I am no genius, but I think it would be for the best if you turn your sirens off.”9

The cops then turned their wailing sirens off and slowly started casing the place. Guns out of their hoisters and flashlights in their hands, they slyly fill into the women’s backyard. Crouching in the yard of the uncut grassy plains, the police officers were searching for the felon. The search went on for at least another fifteen minutes. One of the officers wandered over to the abandoned house behind the older woman’s yard. He had thought that he had heard some racket in that direction, as though someone was going in and out of doors in the house. So being the over achiever that he is, he enter into the creepy old house to see where the suspicious sound was coming from. Using his flashlight as guidance he broke into the basement through the single panned window. Once inside, all he could see through the cloud of dust and dirt where lumpy figures of furniture hiding in the shadows. Immediately the smell of cooked shrimp hit him right smack in his nose. It seemed like someone was cooking upstairs above the basement, which is quite odd for an house that is suppose to be vacant. And then in the corner of his eye he happens to catch a figure moving in the dark. His ears heard the shuffling of feet.10

He yelled nervously, “Who goes there?”11

There was complete silence. The officer once again hollers, “Who goes there, god damn it, I will SHOT you if you do not come out and show yourself.”12

In literally three seconds, a flash of red and white movement sped by the young officer, almost knocking him off his feet. Stunned and alarmed the young officer rushes out of the abandoned basement and back on the old women’s legal property. His captain asked him where he has been, and all he could reply with was with a shrug. And that heated the commanding officer. He smacked the rookie in the back of his neck and told him to get back to the station house. This case was getting cold, and they all figured that this old lady was a kook. There was no Waldo, just a huge vacant lot that seriously was in a need of a chop.13

Pissed that the officers wasted almost an half of hour, they somberly return back to their vehicles and drove back to their station house. The old woman was very upset that the cops did not believe that she saw Waldo. She knows what she saw, and what she saw was the craze killer of the ten o’clock news. Too frighten to go back to sleep, the woman decided to make a nice cup of Camille tea. In the midst of the excitement she had gain such a thirst.14

So as she brewed a nice cup of tea, she decided to turn on the T.V to see what was on this Wednesday night. Flipping through the channels, she could not find a single thing enjoyable. She decided to keep on some mindless T.V program so she can get her thoughts off of the at large murderer. The sudden high pitch scream of the tea pot gave the old lady a scare. She quickly jumped out of her armchair and rushed over into the kitchen. As she poured the water into a mug and then mixed the tea solution, she started to worry again about Waldo. Now that he knows that she called the police on him, will he come back to retaliate? She now fears the worst as she takes her tea back into the living room. She sits and sips her tea as she cruised through more mindless television. Around nine forty she started nodding off again, and then quickly falls into a deep slumber.15

The painful cry of help fills the ears of the old woman who is quickly awaken from her cat nap. She turns to see if the sound came from her television, just to be let down by consumer commercial for cheap cleaning deodorant. The alarm clock said ten thirty. She then runs to her upstairs window to see if maybe the sound comes from her backyard. The woman see’s the abandoned basement light on, this very mellow shade of yellow. It has been years since the woman has seen a light on in that house. Years ago, a nice young family use to live there. A father, a mother, and a young little boy happily lived there for almost ten years. Sometimes the woman use to baby-sit the boy when his parents where away. She also had a child, a daughter, so she was able to keep the little boy company. Sadly the house was badly burned down one day when the young family was away on business. It was severely damaged, but luckily the frame was still left of the house. Some of the neighbors had heard rumors that the father was in bad waters with a lot of angry shark loans. But many believed that it was the workings the old woman’s daughter. As soon as the fire took place, the family packed up and left. Never to be seen again, along with her daughter as well.16

Since the house was destroyed pretty badly, it was pretty hard for the real estate officers to sell it. Eventually the neighborhood kids went around saying that the house was haunted and that nobody could step foot in it. For someone reason children horror stories always seem to have an impression on new members to the neighborhood.17

Instead of calling the police again, the old lady decides to be a little more proactive. This time around she calls the FBI because she figures they probably have their shit together. A little bit more professional, the FBI is also looking for the escapee, Waldo. What makes them better is not that they are more instructed in these types of cases; it is that their reward is so much grander. A cool five hundred thousand grander.18

So as she waits for the operator to instruct her to the right agency, she ponders out her window to see if she can get a glance of the criminal. The basement light was still slightly dimmed and it seemed like a figure was lurking in the background. Finally she was connected to actual person.19

“Good evening, you have reached the office of Agent Bourne. I am his secretary Jonnie so how may I assist you today?” said the voice of an overly cheerful woman at only eleven at night.20

“I would like to report a disturbance in my neighborhood…a disturbance that might be seen on national security level”, said the older women sheepishly.21

“Ma’ma, you would need to specify on what you are actually talking about. If it concerns your neighborhood, like a break in or a marital spat, then it would be best if you called your local law enforcement”, said sarcastically Jonnie.22

“Listen girl, I do not have time to deal with your smartass remarks. I have already dealt with my local law enforcement and they really do not seem too worried about catching Wild Waldo.” snapped back the old bag. 23

“Ma’am, I was not being rude, I was only pointing out that many people have called here with very unimportant issues. Now with the case of spotting Waldo, I need every bit of detail and evidence you have that can help prove you really found him. You are about the tenth call tonight for a Waldo spotting”, said Jonnie calmly.24

The old women recounts her story again to the secretary, this time adding in the new information about the dim light in the abandoned basement. After ten minutes Jonnie figures that what the old lady was saying was true. She then switches over to another line to inform her boss, Agent Bourne, that there is a lead on the Waldo case. When she switches back over to the older lady’s line she advises her to stay put and watch out for any further movements in the abandoned area. Agent Bourne and some back up would be on the scene as soon as possible, so it would be for the best if grandma would stay out of the way. So the old woman waits at her bedroom window to occasionally glimpse over to see if she can see Waldo. The light still shined on in the basement.25

At around eleven thirty, a shinny black car appeared in front of the ladies yard. Two men dressed quite sharply exit the car door with dark shady glasses. The walk up to the woman’s front porch and rang the door bell. The bell would only ring once because the old woman rushed to the front door to greet the two federal agents. One of agents introduced himself to the woman.26

“Hello Ma’am, my name is Agent Bourne, and this is my partner Agent Cool, and I am aware that you have some very important information for us considering the whereabouts of Waldo”, said Agent Bourne in a booming monotone voice.27

“Like I was telling Ms. Jonnie before, I heard a high pitch scream from the abandoned house behind my lot. I also saw the basement light on, which has not been on for years. You hear me years!” 28

“Well that all sounds pretty terrifying ma‘am, but I would like to know about the information on the whereabouts of Mr. Waldo. Did you actually see him, or that maybe you might of saw an illusion?”29

Angered that the agent would even think she was making up stories, the old woman slammed the front door in both men faces. Once again she was dealing with incompetent A-holes who nothing about their profession. What ever happen to a society where justice was being served? For the last three hours, this old lady feels like she has been jerked around. She saw Waldo, and was pretty sure he was in the abandoned house behind her backyard. 30

Agent Bourne and Agent Cool were pretty piss that this old woman called and made a false statement on the whereabouts of Waldo. The FBI has been trying to catch the felon for weeks. They know local law enforcements are also trying to find the mask criminal, but this case could make or break the agents’ career. Bourne knew that if he could break this case he could be moved up chief of his department. He could finally leave his dimwitted partner, Cool.31

Agent Cool, not the brightest of the bunch, was tired of playing second banana to Bourne. He also knows that catching Waldo could enhance his career. So when Bourne enter back into the car to take a business call, Cool decided to stay back and check around the perimeters of the old lady’s house. He silently crept around the side of the woman’s house, only to find a broken law mower and dead weeds. Almost turning back to the car, he hears, what he thinks to be a cry for help. More intrigue with the cry of help, he slowly walked over in the backyard of the woman’s property. In the distance he sees a single dim light, shinning from a broken window from the basement. He rips out his pistol from his hoister and quickly moves closer to the shinning light.32

When he was finally close enough to get a look inside, he was contemplating on whether he should go inside the creepy basement alone. He wants to be a hero, but he was not sure if he should take the risk of possible death. So Cool climbs into the tiny window and then almost falls into a pile of broken chair legs. When he finally catches his balance, he almost screamed a girly scream when he saw what was lurking in front of him. A man, unconscious and stripped down naked to his underwear, was tied tightly to a metal chair. His body was covered in deep knife like cuts, which uncannily resembled horizontal strips. Is it possible that this could be the workings of mass murderer Waldo?33

Agent Cool’s face lit up in a huge flame of furry. He first instinct was to run away screaming, but instead he decided to stay and help this man. So Cool quickly tried to untie the knots that were tightly waned around the bleeding man.34

“What the hell, was he in the boy scouts or something? These knots are tied like some damn navy seal or something.” said Cool quite irritable.35

Right before Agent Cool was able to untie the last knot; he saw a dark figure moving from the corner of his eye. Cool stopped untying the knots as he slowly reached for his gun and held on the trigger. When he noticed that the figure was in view sight, he quickly spun around so he could reveal his gun to the culprit. The horizontally red and white bandit stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself. Underneath his hat was a lump of craze frizzy hair. His round rimmed glasses had a glare to it, so it was very hard to see his eyes. Yet somehow, because you could not see them, it made him appear more sinister and demented. 36

“It seems to me that tonight’s the night everyone has finally gotten a clue. How long has it been? Almost a year, right? I just find it funny that you guys try so hard to find me, but never really took the time to do the research. But I guess today is your lucky day”, said Waldo with a sinister smile.37

“Listen Waldo, a lot people are looking for you. Sure it has been a year, but today is the day that you will stop hiding from us all like some [in put bad word] and be a [in put bad word] man. Because really, do you think it is funny to scare old ladies out of their wits? “, said Agent Cool in a very uneven tone.38

“This is suppose to be my downfall, and all they bring is the scrap metal? What are you some local rookie cop?” sarcastically said Waldo. 39

Angered by Waldo’s rude comments, Agent Cool swiftly charged towards Waldo. Before he can make any contact, Waldo pulled out a huge pipe line and knocked him in his shins. Cool was then sent down on his knees. Waldo then was about to send Cool into a coma, until the sound of an unfamiliar jiggle filled the silent room. 40

It was Agent Cool’s cell phone and it was Agent Bourne calling. He could tell by the silly ringtone that he assign to him. Cool knew that this was the only way he might be able to save himself, yet it might also cost him the case. 41

“You better not pick up that phone, or I will slice you from the single fibers of your head to the tips of your…”42

“It is my partner, and if I do not pick up my phone he will come looking for me. He is only a few yards away”, interrupted Cool.43

Agent Bourne did not notice that Agent Cool has been gone for some time. He was too busy on his cell phone making some important calls to higher up officials. Bourne was trying to get some dirt on the woman who called to make the complaint on Waldo. Pulling up her file was actually quite helpful. Years ago the woman had a daughter by the name of Lilly Julian, her adopted child. When Lilly was younger she ran away from home. It was said that she was dead, but a few months ago her name was found on the radar. She had gotten married somewhere out in Colorado. This connection was important because Lilly was found missing around the same time the strange fire took place at her neighbor’s house. 44

“Damn, fine. Pick up your phone, but let me, do the talking. I have a few request.” said Waldo fiercely. 45

Waldo grabs Agent Cool’s phone before the fourth ring. He picks it up and says, “Well hello there, Mr.…Agent Bourne? No, this is not Agent Cool. Oh well he’s a little tied up at the moment. You see, he was screwing around in my basement, so now he has to pay for trespassing.”46

Waldo pauses as he waits to hear Bourne’s reaction, “Oh would you not like to know who this is big shot? He laughs, “This is the infamous Waldo and I am hear to tell you that if you call for any backup, I will kill your little partner here as bonus, because really I was only planning on killing one guy. That is what is wrong with you people, you assume I am a killer just because I want vengeance on one guy? So for in exchange for you partner, I want you to find me Lillian Julian by midnight. And that is all”.47

He then hangs up the phone. He stares at his watch. It was eleven fifty. Sure the idea of Agent Bourne looking for a missing person in ten minutes was kind of rash, but Waldo did not care. He was probably going to kill Agent Cool anyway.48

Nine minutes went by, and Waldo started getting antsy. He figured that Agent Bourne was not going to fulfill his wish, so he thought that if he kills Cool now, he might have enough time to take the tied up man and leave the scene. But before he could grab the tied up man he heard a small wrap on the basement door. Silence filled the room.49

“Who goes there?” said Waldo in a disguising voice.50

There was another brief period of silence followed by the quiet voice of a female, “Hello there Winston. Your voice was not to convincing, seeing how I was able to figure it was you. And it seems like the police or the FBI did not really do any real investigation. They could not even figure out where you use to live. I guess you really never did change after all these years.”51

Stunned that this woman knew his real name he answered her, “You think that you are very clever, but you do not know shit about me. I thought I told that partner of yours NOT to call backup.” screamed Waldo towards the door than towards Cool.52

“Still in denial Winston Waldo Finder? Oh wait you go by the infamous Waldo now. There is no backup baby. There is just you, me, and a little thing I call a lie. You ran me out of my hometown ten years ago. I can not believe you put the blame on me about the fire, when you know it was you. And know even when I am trying to get on with my life; you once again try to ruin it. What did my husband Jon ever do to you?”53

Waldo turns to look up at the unconscious man. Sure her husband never did anything to him, but steals the only woman he loved. 54

“Lilly…” he said softly. “I never meant to hurt you; I just thought that this was the only way I could have got your attention. Please, will you forgive me on my stupidity? I don’t want to loose you again.”55

The basement door quickly slammed open and a frail beautiful woman stood in the doorway. It was Lillian Julian. But in a flash, a bloom of smoke filled the small basement room. The power of the gas was too much for Waldo, so he passed out on the ground. The woman rushed into the room to grab her unconscious husband. Agent Cool went to help the woman, and then quickly limped out of the room with both of them. When the three of them was finally out of the abandoned house, there stood Agent Bourne, who was surrounded by closely hidden snipers. 56

“You must have wanted me dead Bourne”, said Agent Cool is a single breath.57

“Well Cool I knew that is was impossible to find Ms. Julian in only ten minutes. That is when I knew the Waldo was a nutcase. But luckily it must have been fate when she showed up at her adoptive mother’s house and I was still waiting for your ass. So where is he anyway?” Bourne chuckled.58

“I was only able to grab Lillian and Jon after she threw the gas bomb. Waldo is still in there unconscious.59

So as Agent Cool went to get some emergency help with Lillian and her unconscious husband Jon, Agent Bourne and a team of professional snipers went into the house to look for Waldo. After almost ten minutes of trashing through the abandoned house, Waldo was no where to be found.60

“Damn that little prick did it again. How the hell did he get out of there? That gas is strong enough to knock out a hundred horses”, said Bourne infuriately.61

“That is because he is Waldo. I did not make the connection before, but he is still the same little boy I use to baby-sit all those years ago. His favorite game was hide and seek. Sometimes it would be hours before he would show up, and that was usually after everyone stopped looking for him. So you see this is just a huge game of hide and seek for him. Sure you might be able to find him, but that does not mean you will be able to capture him. That is a completely different story”, said the old woman walking from her backyard.62

And with a glance, the old woman looked in the direction of the old house and then turned around to see the face of her much older lost long daughter. They might not have the same blood, but they shared the same insight. She knew that after all these years her Lilly was still alive. The two women then embraced each other in a warm forgiving hug. Lilly than looked up at a banded house and whispered, “Waldo, I have finally found you, so will you please finally go home.”