by: Margaret

A large black-and-white television monitor froze, and the aerial picture of a family in
distress became like wallpaper in the far corner of the darkened room. The Smoking Man
took in a large cloud of nicotine from his half-burnt cigarette and held it for a while
before finally letting the smoke out through his nostrils. He stared at Fox Mulder’s
enlarged frozen form. Cringing in the corner, flinching at the sight of the cell phone,
Mulder portrayed through his demeanor the childlike fear he had kept secret from the
world for so long. The Smoking Man would have never guessed that the key to his
enemy’s weakness lay in the nightmares of his childhood. What an auspicious day this
was indeed! You could not buy information this good.
He brought his cigarette to his lips, sucked at the paper filter again, and gazed at Bo
Duke’s confused expression. He smiled and swallowed before letting his breath out. This
one wasn’t as difficult to read. The young fair-haired farmer wore his emotions like the
medals on a General’s fancy jacket ~ right out in the open. In many ways, Bo Duke
reminded him of Patricia. There was nothing hidden there. All patterns and emotions of
the heart were laid bare, and hurting him would not only be easy… but amusing.
The old man reached into his pocket and felt the metal casing of a remote control.
Using his thumb, he traced the outline of an elongated button, and when he punched it,
the spotlights in the auditorium switched on. Then, he turned around and faced the
people behind him.
It was like being in a theatrical play with him as the main Shakespearean star. The
audience was a large group. Sitting semicircle in rows of chairs that circled upwards like
the mouth of a funnel, the men and women of the Secret Society watched the film of the
Dukes with distant, scientific fascination. The eclectic crowd came from everywhere:
Asia, South America, the Middle East, and yes, even America. All in all, THEY
numbered a little over a hundred and represented only a thin slice of the Secret Society’s
population. It was an intimidating sight. Here in this room sat the most dangerous, the
most secret, and the most powerful men and women on the face of the earth.

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by: Kristy Duke

Pain screams loudly within me and I find myself holding my breath as Luke helps me to slowly sit down upon the well used wheelchair that Uncle Jesse holds in place for me. Looking from Luke, who has moved to grab my boots a few feet away, up to Jesse, and at the empty hospital bed that lies besides me, a river of emotions runs through me. Emotions of happiness and excitement at the thought of after a week and a half of being trapped in the hospital bed and tied to machines, of finally being released and able to return to the farm I had grew up at. Though with thoughts of returning home, also means facing Shawn once more only to send dread and fear soaring violently within me with thoughts of what the near future will hold with him at the farm. I sigh heavily as I struggle to shove away the negative emotions only to cough harshly for a short moment to send pain flaring in my lungs and both Jesse and Luke looks at me with concern.

“You OK?” Luke looks up at me after gently placing my left cowboy boot upon my foot and standing back up with my right boot still in his hand.

I nod silently for a moment before the pain forces me to sit still once more. “I’m fine,” I finally gasp aloud, looking beyond Luke and at the closed door. “Let’s go.”

“Well you heard the man, let’s go,” Luke forces a smile at me before motioning Jesse to the door while he rushes over to open the door and Jesse begins to wheel me out into the brightly lit hallway to find Doctor Millard leaning against the hall opposite of the hall of my room

Millard smiles before he walks over to approach us. “Daisy’s got the crutches and the medicine already loaded and ready to go. Now it looks like they got you ready to go as well,” Millard smiles down at me, “Before you leave, how you feel?”

“You asked me that a few minutes ago and nothing has changed,” I snap at him and Jesse places a hand upon my shoulder to redirect my answer, and I slowly continue, “I’m fine.”

“Just making sure,” Millard responds before looking up at Jesse, “feel free to give me a call, day or night, if he gets worse or if you have any questions or concerns. Otherwise it is important to keep upon on his medicines as directed in order for him to heal and to get better sooner; plus without proper attention, his asthma could quickly turn for the worse.” He looks back at me as he directs his last part of advice to me, “With that said, we all know how much you seemed to dislike your stay here. So, in order for you to stay outta here, you’re going to have to take the medicines and to get regular follow ups until Applebee says they’re not needed any more. As well as to get a lot of rest. OK?”

“Yeah. Sure,” I respond, quickly growing impatient with the doctor.

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By: Brenna “Snakelady” Dawkins

Ratings: R

Daisy took one final appraisal in the mirror before she stepped out the door.  She wore a white halter top with lace at the hem that was cropped short to show off her belly and a blue denim skirt that left little to the imagination.  Top that off with her best cowboy boots and her hair done up and fastened loosely on the top of her head, she felt she was almost ready.

Her cousins hadn’t liked the idea of her being auctioned off to just anybody who had the lucky ticket, even if the proceeds did go to help raise money for Hazzard’s annual Children’s Fair.  Daisy appreciated their concern, but she also grew tired of their over protectiveness at the same time.  She was a big girl now and could handle herself if she got into trouble.  They just didn’t seem to realize that most of the time.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.  “Daisy?”

“Yes, Bo?”  She stopped messing with her hair for a moment, feeling tense, waiting for him to go at it again.

“Daisy, will ya please listen to reason?”

“I will soon as I hear some, Bo.”  She continued to work her hair, her pretty face slanting with a frown.  “I ain’t changin’ my mind, none, so you can just go on and leave me to it, Bo!”

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by: Kristy Duke

Exhaustion and sadness rushes heavily within me as Shawn’s story mixed with what Luke and Jesse had to say seems to echo heavily within me to build vivid images of the youngest Duke boy lying beaten and bruised upon the barn’s ground. Beaten and bruised within his own barn, upon his own ground. Beaten and bruised at the one place you should feel safe and protected from the violence and hatred that seems to plague today’s world; at your home. Anger swells heavily within me as my mind draws vivid pictures of all that had happened to Bo, based on the information we had gotten from Shawn and the rest of the Dukes. Vivid pictures of a violent man filled with hatred running loose and free in Hazzard to do as he pleases, to hurt more innocent citizens of Hazzard; running free while Bo lies trapped within the hospital.

Feeling my heart sink within me with the harsh emotions that races within me, emotions that are fed upon by the vivid scenes my imagination draws, I slowly glance up from staring down at the dirty tiled floor at my feet. Across the room, Luke’s tense body remains standing silent and still in front of the tall and long window, his muscular arms folded across his thick chest. Several feet away from him, Cooter, Shawn, and Daisy sit upon the old blue bench seats that line the far wall; Cooter stares blankly into a well used car magazine that he holds open in his greasy hands while Daisy rests her head upon Shawn’s muscular shoulder, silently talking to him with tears staining her tan cheeks.  Time seems to come to a halt as my eyes falls upon Shawn sitting in his seat, slowly taking in his neat light brown hair and his blood covered body that hangs tightly against his muscular body. His left long leg  is bent over his right knee to send my attention at his heavy leather work boots that seem to be well taken care of.

Taking him in, my thoughts flash to the past and on how wild he had been, but mainly to how close he was to Luke and just how much he seemed to hate Bo. To me his hatred for Bo was visibly apparent, but to the rest of Bo’s family who Shawn treated with respect and honor, they seemed to be blind to it. Blinded by Shawn’s charm that seemed to often times give him what he had wanted, led people believing anything he had to say.

Abruptly my heart comes to a halt in unannounced fear as Shawn looks up from looking at Daisy to eye me with his intense green eyes, sending ice cold chills down my back. I quickly look away from him before I numbly stand up to turn around and face Enos and Boss who remain sitting upon their seats while attempting to ignore Shawn. Attempting to ignore the sharp feeling of fear that his look had forced into me while my thoughts remain frozen with images of a stranger in Hazzard brutally attacking Bo in his own barn, but this time, my mind draws Shawn brutally attacking Bo.  Taking a deep breathe in attempt to shake the images away I quickly break the silence by saying, “I’m done waiting,” I pause as both Enos and Boss look up at me, “I’m going to go and interview Bo. Enos, I want you to come with me.”

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by: Margaret

Bo drove quickly to Rhuebottom’s store. Since most of the day had been spent
checking over the General, and since Rhuebottom shut his store down before any other
business in town, Jesse concluded that shopping for food was the family’s first priority.
Cooter was there for the Dukes 24 hours a day. Rhuebottom was not.
Bo pulled Dixie into the parking lot and came to a slow stop next to an empty yellow
school bus. He felt better now; the queasiness in his stomach had subsided as he drove.
Driving always seemed to ease his worries. He could also see that the whole family was
more relaxed now that they were in town with other people around. Daisy whipped out a
short grocery list from her purse and with graceful ease swung herself out of the car.
“Let’s get this over with, y’all,” she started off.
Luke and Jesse wordlessly followed. Scully stared at the wooden building for a while.
It looked like something out of a western movie. When she realized that she was going to
have to buy her clothes in there, she swallowed hard. However, always one to go with the
flow, the red-haired doctor shook her head and hopped out of the vehicle, following the
others inside.
Mulder stayed behind. Bo cast a curious look at his friend and saw that the agent
stared in dismay at bales of hay that stood next to an outdoor freezer. He couldn’t help a
grin. “Fox, what’s wrong?”
Fox raised his eyebrows, and without breaking his gaze from the hay, replied, “We’re
shopping for food… in there?!”
Bo chuckled. Lord, Fox was such a clueless city slicker. He reached over and playfully
slapped his friend on the shoulder. “Of course we’re shopping in there. It’s the only
grocery store in town.”
Mulder grinned. “Sorry, I just never shopped in a place that sold ice cream and hay in
the same aisle before.”

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