Words by Lilli Hertel “C’mon Bender, just do it!” He could see the faintest light fall on Tom and Carry’s faces from inside the dingy movie set. It was after baseball practice and Tom filled them in about his newest hide out. “Tom, I don’t think this was one of your best ideas.” Bender stood outside the set and watched the other two standing impatiently inside. “Maybe not, but it could be cool. We could find some old movie props, or ghosts.” Tom waved his hand, gesturing for Bender to join them. So he did. As Bender climbed through the jagged hole, the smell of feces and dead raccoon filled his lungs. Bender gagged, “Tom! This is disgusting! I can’t breathe in here.” The more he tried to suck in fresh air the worse the stench got. “Yeah, you’ll get used to it.” Tom shrugged him off. They started walking further into the darkened set. Bender kept his mouth covered with his baseball rag and followed close behind Carry. Tom led them further into the building, looking around himself every so often. …