Festering Tales, page 3
An immense relief flooded over Mike and for the first time in so many years, he finally had the courage to whisper, "Kelly . . . I love you."
"I love you too, Mike." Kelly smiled and leaned toward Mike, but suddenly he was unable move for fear he would wake up and find it had all been a dream. But when he felt Kelly's hand gently caressing his cheek, he knew it was real.
Mike closed his eyes as Kelly gently lifted his chin, and they kissed.
They didn't even notice when the storeroom door was opened by a very surprised Terry.
He and Jeanna looked at each other, mouths hanging open, then did the most appropriate thing that came to mind: they clapped.
Kelly and Mike looked up to see Terry and Jeanna grinning madly and applauding them. Mike blushed, but began to feel better when Kelly reached over and held his hand. She always knew how to make him feel better.
Terry grinned at them. "It was about time, you two!"
Kelly smiled and caressed Mike's cheek once again. "Yes, it was."
Twists of Love
"Gribbs!" yelled Michelle, "Give it back!", as she lunged for the Viking Book Love.
"Why should I, Michelle? What's in it for me?" Mitch said mockingly, as he held the book high above his head.
"Just give Michelle the book, Carter!" shouted Jack.
"Don't worry, Franklin, I'll give it back when I'm done!" laughed Mitch as he ran out of the schoolyard followed closely by Mickie and Timmy. Michelle groaned and threw up her hands.
"Don't worry Michelle, we'll get it back." reassured Jack.
"But what if Carter does something before we can get to it?" asked Michelle. Jack looked at his shoes. Michelle sighed, re-adjusted her schoolbag on her back, and walked out the school gate.
"Timmy!" shouted Mitch as he watched Timmy walk away. "Hang on a second! I need you to do something for me."
"Yeah...?" asked Timmy cautiously.
"I need you to hang on to the Book of Love for a while. I just know those Franklin kids are gonna come after it. Go home and hide it." Mitch left Timmy standing on the street corner, the book in his hands. Timmy ran his finger across the intertwined dragons on its cover. smiling he clutched it to his chest and ran home.
Timmy sat on his bed that night as the clock in the hallway chimed seven. It was more than luck that Mitch had entrusted the book to him - it was fate. Timmy lay back, hands still grasping the book. He thought of how her hair shone in the sun. He thought of how beautifully she played the violin. then he though of how soft her lips looked - he felt himself grow hard.
"No. Not. Now." he grunted in a mixture of frustration and pleasure. "It's. Now. Or. Never." He felt his pants sag and he sighed.
"And then he just ran off with the book! Dad, why does he always so stuff like that?" pleaded Michelle.
"Maybe he likes you," Tony replied. Jack began to choke on his dinner.
"It's not funny! He shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!"
"I know, you're right, Michelle. I'll talk to Harold about this first thing in the morning."
"Like that'll achieve anything," muttered Jack.
"Did you say something, Jack?" asked Tony.
"No, Dad." A series of knocks sounded at the door.
"Michelle, can you answer that?" asked Tony.
Michelle went to the front door and groaned as she saw Timmy through the window.
"Just leave me alone!" she shouted as she opened the door. Timmy looked down at the Viking Book of Love, open in his hands, and began to read,
"Looking out to sea, I know what must be must be. I love you with all my heart. I hope you too have been pierced by Cupid's dart."
"I love you, Timmy." Michelle whispered, her eyes sparkling in the non-existant moonlight. Timmy leant in to kiss her, he could feel the salty sea breeze on his cheeks as his face became millimetres away from her's.
"What are you doing, Timmy? And Michelle?!" Jack asked, shocked.
"I love Timmy." Michelle said dreamily.
"That Timmy? Are you insane? He's used the Viking Book of Love on you! Look he's still holding it!" Jack said as he snatched the book out of Timmy's hands. "Goodbye, Timmy." he said as he slammed the door.
"I can't believe you Jack! He was going to kiss me! Timmy wanted to kiss me!" Michelle shouted as tears rolled down her cheeks. Before Jack could reply she ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her. Jack looked at the book in his hands.
Michelle sulked as Jack got in the car seat beside her. The Viking Book of Love peeked out of his schoolbag.
"Look, Michelle, I'm sorry." said Jack. Michelle huffed and looked away.
Jack leapt out of the car as Tony pulled up to the school gate. Michelle dragged her feet as followed him. Timmy wouldn't love her now. It was all Jack's fault. Sullenly, she sat on a bench in the school yard.
Timmy saw Michelle arrive and felt his heart ache. She looked so miserable. He crossed the yard and sat beside her.
"Michelle," he said as he reached for her hand, "I love you." She looked up and her eyes grew wide and sparkled with the enchantment. Timmy felt something inside him deflate sadly. the spell loved him, not Michelle. Michelle kissed his cheek and she smiled at him. He sighed and vowed to enjoy what he had - Michelle wouldn't love him without the spell.
Timmy looked around the school yard. his heart beat faster as he saw Jack, book in hand, with Fiona. Timmy bolted towards them, as Michelle sat stunned.
"Our love is like the seashore, forever more." finished Jack.
"Oh Jack," Fiona sighed dreamily as Timmy collided with Jack, knocking him to the ground.
"No!" Timmy wailed as he beat his fists on the hard bitumen till they began to bleed. Jack brushed himself off and looked at Fiona. She smiled at him and he kissed her, for what Timmy felt was hours. Hot tears ran down his face as Jack and Fiona left him kneeling on the ground.
"Timmy?" said a voice to his left. He looked up and he saw Michelle. His heart sank as he became cruelly aware of what life would now hold for him without the spell. Michelle helped him to his feet, but he kept his eyes downcast.
"Look at me, Timmy," pleaded Michelle, "Please." He looked up and she kissed him on the mouth. They both felt a tingle rush up their spines as they shared their first kiss.
"I love you." whispered Timmy.
"I love you too." whispered Michelle. Timmy searched for a sign of the enchantment but Michelle's eyes were so beautifully clear. He hugged her and held her close. He buried his face in her shoulder and surrounded himself with her scent.
They pulled apart as the school bell rang. Hand-in-hand they walked up the front stairs to the heavy school doors. They both felt happy and fully satisfied in every way to their very core. Timmy had been right - it was fate.
THE CLOWN’S MESSAGE
The clown painting sat on the chair and stared back at us. We had either just gotten it or had it for as long as we lived here.
"That thing is disturbing," Todd shook his head as he said it." Anyway, where'd you get it?"
"Who knows?" I didn't know where it had come from or why it was there.
We heard the storm build up as lightning flashed and thunder blared. The dreary basement smelled of mildew and water dripped through the crack in the storm door.
I sat down and asked, "What time is it?" My question pointed at whomever could answer it.
"Half past six," Todd replied. He stood up and headed for the stairs. "Let's go get something to eat."
Just as he exited the room we heard the boom of thunder and the lights started to flicker. We heard a shatter and a loud cackling noise from above. Then the lights went back to normal and we saw what had happened.
There, hovering above us was the shattered clown picture. The cackling continued and started to grow deafening. Then we heard a loud pounding on the storm door.
"Clang!" We walked past the clown picture and it turned to face us. "CLANG!" It got louder as we made our way to the storm door. "CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!" We held our hands to our ears as the pounding got louder and faster and then I reached out and turned the handle of the door and locked it.
We heard the scratching of our dogs paws against the kitchen tiles and realized the only thing holding the kitchen away from the outside world was a flimsy screen door! Tina started barking and growling at something outside at the back door. The barking continued until it was earsplitting and then a "YELP!" and then there was only silence.
We raced upstairs to see Tina looking at us with evil eyes and growling at us. She had a porcelain clown mask around her neck held by a ribbon. I grabbed at it to try and take it off but she snapped at me in defense.
We walked into the kitchen and Tina growled at us louder. Her teeth looked sharper than anything I had ever seen before.
She now zeroed in on Todd. She backed him against the refrigerator and he reached over and grabbed a knife off the counter.
In fear of what could've happened here I dove across the room and tackled Tina. She fell upon the mask and it shattered. Then, all of a sudden, all the anger and hatred in Tina's eyes were gone.
We still had one more thing to worry about, though, the clown painting. We ran downstairs and saw that the painting had disappeared. In its place lay a puddle of bright red blood and written in the pool of blood were the words: "It CoNTinuEs fOREver" Then, with one last roll of thunder, the storm was over.
But every now and then I still see that clown face, whether it is in my dreams or just in my head. That makes me dwell on those three little words. "It CoNTinuEs fOREver"
I WOKE UP WITH A SUDDEN jolt of terror shrieking through my body. The sheets, sodden with perspiration, stuck to my skin as I stepped off my bed. I walked down the hall of the three-story building. I crept into the upstairs bathroom and washed off my face. I stepped over to the toilet and went to the bathroom. I tiptoed back over to the sink, still not fully awake yet. I peered into the mirror adjacent to me and stepped back in horror. What I saw in that mirror was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was the monster keeping me up at night, the clown zombie of my nightmares. I peered in closer and realized it was just the aftershock of the nightmare that had woken me up with fright this fateful night.
My room felt comforting compared to the horror-filled bathroom I had just been in. I somehow felt safe from all harms as long as I was lying in my bed awake with my imagination as my best friend. I peered out through the window. The moon shown brightly and sent chills down my spine. I soon drifted back to sleep still trying to forget about the nightmare.
The desert frontier was my best friend as I walked past the prickly cactus and through the Mojave Desert. Then a strong arm grabbed my shoulder and I fell to the ground in fear. When I awoke I was in a circus. Looking around at all the faces I realized that they were all staring at me. I felt scared, embarrassed, what was I doing in the circus. Suddenly the clown from all my nightmares burst out laughing. I sat there in the stool trying to move, but compelled to sit still. This was getting me nowhere. The harder I tried to move the harder it became. Then the clown came up to me. My heart was pounding, my legs shaking, my feet dangled from the stool as he stepped closer. I felt scared, horrified. I stared into the crowd looking for comfort when I felt a hard "THUMP" straight across my face. I fell to the floor unconscious as the crowd roared with laughter. I felt another arm grab me and then...
"Did you study for your test today class?" what...I had forgotten all about the social studies test that we were having today. I slouched down into my seat as my hopes sank lower and lower. I got my test and soon later handed it back in feeling ashamed of my stupidity. Then we went to English class with Mr. Marsh.
"Today...we will be studying the art of horror fiction. Does anybody have any ghost true life stories they would like to share with the class?" No one raised his or her hand so he started one of his own. We could always count on Mr. Marsh to give us a good story or two every class. This time he started about true ghost stories.
"There' s this man I used to know. An old man, he lived along in a big house. Every once in a while I would see him standing on the street waiting for the bus for a ride home. Whenever I saw him standing there, I would offer him a ride since it was only down the block from me. So I've known this guy for two years now and we never really talked maybe a greeting once in a while but never too serious so we never really got to know each other. So, I guess it's a Thursday. I am driving home from school and I see him waiting for the bus. I go over to him and say, "Hey, it looks like it's gonna rain, would u like a lift home." He says yeah and I take him home and then he waves goodbye and for the first time he says something different than the usual. He says, "I am gonna go lie in my bed and rest my legs." This is the first time he ever really shared his feelings with me so I'm pretty surprised. So we say our good-byes and then we part. I got home and did the usual routine. Friday night I was just at one of my friend's houses to stop by and he tells me this story about an old man. My buddy is a firefighter so you know he puts out fires. Well, there's this house that caught on fire but it was just a little kitchen fire and they put it out with ease so it wasn't really a big deal around the neighbor hood. He told me that he found an old man lying in the upstairs bedroom. He was dead. His leg muscles had decayed before he even died, that's what the doctors said. This was on Tuesday. I said to him, but today's Friday and I just saw him yesterday and drove him home. What's up with that you're kidding me right. He tells me no and I get home later on wondering if I was really seeing things and then that night I had a dream about the old man. He told me to firmly believe everything that happened in my life. Well that's my story I hope all of you can find something at least 1/4 as scary as that one. Remember, It has to be true."
The whole class was completely mesmerized by this story and couldn't think of anything to do. Then I thought of it. I could just do a story about my dream last night. That's scary enough. I almost wet the bed as if my sweat didn't soak it enough. Well that was it; the end of English class and it was back to homeroom for lunch. After lunch we were going to have gym.
Gym class, the hardest and easiest classes in high school. Hardest because it tests your physical strength; easiest because it give your brain a rest from all the thinking. Today we were going to climb the dreaded "rope". This "rope" isn't an obstacle for me. Every week I climb over it with ease and ring the loud bell at top, as it gongs through the gymnasium I would slide down the rope and watch the rest of the class. This time I went last! I waited Toddiently for my turn watching failures and successes. When my turn finally came up, I anxiously stepped up to the mat and put my hands around it firmly. I wrapped my legs around it while using my upper body strength to pull myself up and when I reached the top I stared at the bell. The clown face appeared to me again, right on the bell. This was the second time I'd seen it ever since that nightmare. I looked at him and he looked at me. I grabbed for the little handle used to ring it but my body was frozen. I looked at him and he opened his mouth, showing four rows of teeth. I felt scared, strangely hypnotized, and I felt stronger than I ever had so instead of taking hold of the bell's handle I let go of the rope to get away from this evil demon.
It felt like I was falling for an eternity, down an endless pit. Then it seemed as I was falling too fast. I fell against the ground, arms, legs trembling I failed to get back up. I lay there like a motionless action figure, being bent out of shape by the way my body was positioned. I gave up hoping that everything would be all right because I knew it wouldn't be all right. I lost all sound and my sight was slowly fading. Then I remembered the clown and that's when I blacked out completely.
The loud cheers from the spectators seemed to wake me up from my sleep and I was in the circus again, like my dream. I stared into the curtain avoiding the crowd. Sweat poured from my forehead. Through the curtain it crawled, a centipede. Long, nasty, and enormous, this centipede flew at me with great speed and bit my neck. I felt the venom flow through my blood stream and started to start feeling dizzy. I looked around the room, swaying and doing flips. When I looked back at the centipede it had a clown face and was spray-painting a sign. I couldn't really see what it said but I could make out the words "It CoNTinuEs fOREver!" then I vaguely remembered the incident with the clown picture down in my basement which had erased from all of our memories ever since it had happened.
A SIMPLE NECKLACE
Jacob was your atypical American living in Staten Island, New York. He was tall and really fit. He always gelled up his black hair and wore some old 90's cloths. He loved that era. Something he didn't like was working. He had been working for his father at the family delicatessen for three years now. He had his bar Mitzvah already and by Jewish law he should start acting like a man. This in his case meant working. Jacob never considered himself to be religious, although his family was; he still wore a necklace with the Star of David on it around his neck every day, even while he slept. Jacob didn't have much free time, aside from the summer.
Otherwise he spent his time doing homework, working for his father, or talking to his girlfriend Janie. She was same height as Jacob except stronger. She was beautiful, with a healthy tan, long brown hair, and freckles on her cheeks. They both went to Red Time High. Jacob was a smart individual who had two great friends, who were named Allen and Eric. They were two goofballs. They were smart but spent they're time acting like five year olds. Allen was black while Eric was Russian. During lunch time at school Jacob sat with his friends like always.
"Are you working at your dad's deli again?" Eric asked.
"Why do you ask when you already know the answer?" Jacob responded.
"We always have hope that you're not busy," Allen replied.
"It's a Jewish tradition, you morons, I should know I help him work."
Janie complained, "It's the only time I have to spend with you."
