The bus that I’m on is one of several that I have ridden, this Halloween day.  The bus then stops at a small gas station.  I get off the bus and go into what appears to be a small store, the office for the gas station.  I find a smelly, hairy, drunken man.  I tell the man, “I’m bound for an old mansion, in the swamp.  I need directions to the mansion.”

The man eyes me for a bit and then tells me, “There is a mansion, in the swamp.  If you find the mansion, you will also find your death, there.  I know of what I speak.  I’m a conjure man.”

I tell the man, “I’m bound for a mansion, in the swamp.  Those for whom I work for have sent me into death, shall we say more than one time.  Many have tried to kill me, but I still live.”

The self described conjure man eyes me for a bit.  He then says, “I don’t like to send a man to his death.  But then, you’re not just a man.”

I reply, “You see more than I thought you would.  I need to go to the mansion.  I need to find the trail that will lead me to the mansion.  I have not the time to search for the trail.  I can obtain the information, from you, if I must.”

The self described conjure man again eyes me for a bit.  He then says, “If you wish information, what is the information worth to you?”

I carefully reply, “The information that I seek is worth a life, your life if you wish to be stubborn.”

The self described conjure man again eyes me for a bit.  He then says, “If you kill me, how then will you get the information?”

I lecture, “The death that you think awaits me, in the old mansion is not just a man.  I am not just a man.  I can obtain the information from you, if you are alive or if you are dead.”

The self described conjure man again eyes me for a bit.  He then says, “You will not kill me, I will kill you.”  With that the man draws a knife, from his shabby clothes.

I draw Glyr, from my backpack, using the handle that projects from the backpack.  I lecture, “I am not just a man.  My sword is not just a sword.”

The conjure man says, “Your sword is indeed more than a sword.  However, I have magic too.”  The conjure man then utters a few words.  In response to the conjure man’s words a mist forms,  The mist would hide the conjure man from a human’s eyes, but then, I’m not a human.

The conjure man then slides this way and that, seeking a clear path to me.

Glyr and I shift to meet each trial advance of the conjure man.

The conjure man then rasps again, “That is not just a sword.”

I reply, “No, my sword is not just a sword, conjure man, it’s your death.”

The conjure man laughs, a wild and evil sort of laugh.  “This is your death, city boy!”  With that, the conjure man leaps at me, with his knife leading the way.

Glyr parries the knife, and diverts the charge of the conjure man.  Glyr snarls, “Conjure man has a knife with a bit of magic.  I have better magic!  With that I’m prompted to thrust Glyr into conjure man.  Glyr kills conjure man, but the dead man’s knife still wants to tumble into me.”

I kick the tumbling knife and propel it into a wall of the office, point first.

The knife sticks in the wall and Glyr then cuts the handle off the knife.  A muted shriek issues from the knife or the handle.  The handle then rolls dead on the floor.

Glyr then muses, mind to mind, “He was indeed a conjure man.  His knife also contained a bit of magic.  He was more dangerous than he appeared.”

I lecture Glyr, mind to mind, “We obtained the path, through the swamp, to the mansion, from the conjure man’s mind.  He was indeed more dangerous that he appeared.  However, conjure man was also a very poor employee.”

Glyr asks me, “How is that?”

I reply, “This is a gas station.  He never attempted to sell me gasoline.”

Glyr then summarizes, “It’s so hard to get good help, this far into the boondocks.”

I reply, “The problem that you cite is not just a problem in the boondocks, it’s found in a lot of places and seems to be spreading.”