Earl the Monster!

Earl the Monster

By Timothy Michael Ricke

The spring of 59’ was a dry and dusty affair, in Elmhurst, Il; a suburb west of Chicago. Our home sat on an acre with a tall oak tree at the back of the lot with Farmer Stalman’s farm bordering our property. Today our lot is a Keebler Cookie Factory. I can tell you this…… there were no elves in the Oaktree back in our day.


The earth had grown dryer and dryer as the spring became the summer; we walked up the powdered path of earth nearing Earl the Monster domain. After a few steps, we pounded our feet into the soil to raise clouds of tundra behind us. We dare not walk beyond the barbed wired fields but stay the dusty path.

We often wondered if we took the shortcut through the pasture would Earl the Monster catch stepping over the barbed wire onto his territory on the other side? Now, Earl, the Monster, isn’t a monster and it wasn’t his real name. Earl the Monster was the name my brothers and I chose for this massive black bull that seemed to follow our every step as we walked the long way around to avoid him rather than take the shortcut through his domain.

There were days when Jim, my big brother, would taunt him. Earl would scratch the dusty patches of soil between the parched sections of grass. His snort was loud and filled us with fear.

 “Hey, Earl was looking the other way. Come on we can take the shortcut.” Jim, declared. Jim was our hero. He was bigger than Lynn and me and always getting in trouble.

“No way man! Are you nuts? As soon as we step over the barbed wire he’ll be after us.” I declared

“I dare you,” Jim responded. “No, I double dare ya!” as he egged me on. “Come on, we don’t even know if he isn’t more scared of us than we are of him. Has he never come anywhere near us?” as he continued to tempt us.

“Okay, okay, we’ll go but if he makes one step toward us we’re getting back over the fence, okay?” I shook my head up and down. He confirmed the same.

“I’m not goin’” Lynn replied.

“All right. You stay here and we’ll get you on the way back.” Jim replied.

“No! I don’t want to wait all day for you guys.” Lynn said with a bit of frustration.


“Then go with us or sit, suit yourself,” Pulling his foot through the barbed wire and placing it on the opposite side cautiously. 


Lynn looked over toward Earl and Earl just stood there. Lynn’s confidence rose and continued to watch Jim now lowering his other foot and followed by me placing my first foot through.


Jim stood up on the other side and said, “ Are you going to think about it all day?”


With that, I was now standing beside Jim. Lynn found the courage to step through the opening as I held the strands of wire apart.


We began to make our way, with great watchfulness, across the open field. The safety of the other side seemed miles away. Strangely, it looked closer before we stepped through the opening.

“Tim keep an eye on Lynn and don’t let go of his hand,” Jim ordered. “Hold my hand, hold my hand? I’m not a baby!” as he yanked his hand from mine, protesting loudly. Much too loud!

A loud bellow rose in the air. It was Earl and we had his complete attention. His hooves marked time as he snored his disapproval. “Shh, Not so loud. Earl doesn’t look happy.” I whispered. It was too late.


Earl’s upper body seemed to expand in size. Not just a bit, but more than twice his size. He was filling his chest and snoring more, and more as we began to back peddle toward our starting point. We had decided that it was closer than trying to reach the other side.


Earl lowered his head and his eyes glowed like something you would see in a scary movie. Bang! He was off and running right at us. There was no question of who was afraid of whom at this point. 


We jumped back and ran as never before. I, being a runner, set the pace. Jim and Lynn both were several yards behind me as I reached the fence, I could feel Earl’s foot pounding vibration through the ground. The sweat was pouring from our little bodies. I was consumed with fear. I managed to stop and pull apart the barbed wire so Jim and Lynn could step through. They looked as if they were a hundred yards away. I stepped through and held the space open from the safety of the other side.


Jim nearly leaped through while Earl was boring down on Lynn. Lynn had about twelve feet between himself and Earl as reached the safety of the opening. Lynn stepped through the opening when his jeans hung up on the wire. He was halfway through. We had now reached the point of panic as we tried to free his jeans. Most of Lynn was on the wrong side of the fence and he was begging us to get him out of the fence. Jim and I pulled and pulled, but the wire continued to reclaim Lynn with each effort. It was a tug of war and the fence, and what looked like Earl were about to win.

In a final pull, Lynn’s jeans tore and he flew through the hole. We all tumbled across the hardened earth. Relief filled us and we began to laugh unaware that Earl hadn’t quit. He kept pounding away at the fence. He was so mad he didn’t care about the wire anymore. 


Finally, he withdrew about twenty feet. It was at that point that Farmer Stallman pulled up in his horse-drawn wagon loaded with hay.


“What the hell do you kids think you're doing? That bull can kill! I mean that! I have told you and told you to stay clear,” he declared with anger.

No sooner had he made his statement when Earl was running full speed toward the fence, again. “That crazy bull isn’t going to get through that wire, but you kids climb aboard anyway.” He said as he helped each of us up into the hay.

Earl didn’t stop! He did a little jump right over the fence! None of us, including the farmer, could believe our eyes. Farmer Stallman gave the horses a crack of the reins, and we were making space between Earl and ourselves. 

We were lucky until we got home. Farmer Stallman had called dad and told him what we had done. He also made it clear to dad that he had to round up his prize bull because of us. We were lucky to avoid Earl the Monster, but not the leather of Dad’s belt upon our butts that evening. This event could have been a gory story.