Haunted

Christmas of 1976, my parents gave me a wonderful present-a radio...not just an ordinary radio, but a multi-band radio. This new GE "Monitor 10" radio was/is awesome. It came with two high frequency bands as wells as two short wave bands. Toss in AM/FM and Weather and you can see that this radio had the goods.

I loved my radio, and I spent hours stroking the shortwave bands in the slipping hours of the night. My world broadened as I listened to South African Radio, BBC World Service, and Radio Moscow. Hours upon hours, I listened to the English transmissions of Radio Moscow, and they seductively encouraged me to contact them. With the Cold War still hard on, I hesitated, but in the end, I sent them a letter asking for program information.

One day, I received a striped international letter that was unsealed. It was from Moscow, USSR. Inside, I was bathed in radio show schedules and special features of flowers in the hair of fair maidens. Thanks, to Radio Moscow, I knew when to catch their English broadcasts, and I had an unique insight into world events.

Several days later, a dark sedan parked in front of my house. Cigar smoke radiated from the cracked window. A dark, sihloutetted fedora nodded gracefully as he non-chalantly flicked ash from his stogie. I knew, between the slit in my living room curtains, that I was being watched.

To be continued...