Hey Survivor,
Happy Monday! I hope you kick down the doors of the apocalypse and take no prisoners this week! That raise? You got it! That date? Went perfect! That kid? Went to bed on time! I hope this week is great for you. I finally think I’ve got my little short-story panic under control. I should be done with one this week and I’ll move on to the other while editing. Since I have short stories on my brain, I thought I would share with you what I think is my most recent published short story, “Neighbor”
We just got a house two years ago, so home and suburban things are new to us, like trash pickup. We’re used to apartment life where you take it to the dumpster or put it outside and someone grabs it. But now I put a week’s worth of trash in a bin and put it on the side of the road, it’s amazing! Except for one part, normally I forget and end up putting a bag in at midnight and it’s dark around here. So my little horror mind always says, “What if someone was waiting for you?”
And from that thought “Neighbor” was born. I hope you enjoy this little creepy tale, if you do you can find it in the “Parish” Extreme Horror Novella at SHOP DEAD or anywhere eBooks are sold.
“Don’t forget to take the trash out.”
Malcolm sighed at the trash can and then rolled his eyes. “If you remembered, why didn’t you do it?” He mumbled.
Rachel’s head popped out from around the corner, “What you say?”
Malcolm jumped, “Damn, nothing.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.” Rachel laughed, “Maybe if you move fast enough I’ll reward you with that thing you like.”
Malcolm quickly pulled the bag out of the can and tied the loops into a knot, “Say less.”
Rachel’s laughter filled the kitchen as Malcolm opened the door to the garage. His fingers hit the light switch, the click filled his ears but he was still in darkness.
“The light’s out-” Malcolm looked back into the kitchen but Rachel was long gone. Getting ready for another night in their very first home. It had only been a month since they moved in but everything was going amazingly well… aside from the yard, that was a monster that Malcolm had no idea how to tame.
Through the darkness, he could see the glowing button for the garage door. Malcolm pushed it and the grinding and cranking filled up the house as the garage door roared to life, lifting up. Malcolm ducked under the door and stepped into the darkness of the front of the house. He tossed the bag into the trash can and pulled it up the driveway.
“Hello, neighbor.” The voice ripped through the silence of the night, and Malcolm stopped cold. He glanced up, and standing at the top of his driveway was a figure.
“Frank?” Malcolm awkwardly laughed, “You scared the piss out of me. Don’t be sneaking up on Black folks like that.” Malcolm continued to pull the trash up the steep driveway.
The closer he got the more detail Malcolm could make out. Unless Frank had lost fifty pounds and grown a foot, the man at the top of the driveway wasn’t Frank.
Malcolm stopped.
“Hello…” the man’s left arm came up slowly and he waved, back and forth, but it looked so mechanical. Malcolm peered closer and as he watched the man waving he could see a painfully large grin on the man’s face. “Neighbor!” The man’s right hand came up with an eight-inch kitchen knife.
“Shit!” Malcolm didn’t let the word hit the cool night air before he turned around to run back to the house, but standing right in front of the garage was a woman, her bright white teeth shined in the moonlight as she stood there with a machete in her hand, waving at Malcolm.
“Neighbor!” The word ripped free from her throat in one jagged motion. Malcolm turned and ran into the tall grass of the yard he kept swearing he would get to. The figures were frantically running behind him with their blades shining in the moonlight and their smiles never fading. They were stretched along their faces like some kind of demonically positive mask.
Malcolm ran up to his back door, his hands twisted the knob but the door didn’t give way. They might have been the only people in the neighborhood who locked their doors. “Get the fuck away from me,” Malcolm shouted as he pulled the grill between him and the two freaks.
“Hello, neighbor!” The male with the massive kitchen knife slashed forward. The grill and man both crumbled to the ground, but Malcolm had no time to celebrate because the woman’s machete came down fast to his left. The sound of metal cracking into stone filled the night.
Malcolm turned back around running through the massive yard thinking he could make it to the front door or a side window. “Baby!” Malcolm screamed. He jumped the bush at the end of his yard. His knees slammed into the ground, there was give and somewhat of a softness to the grass but then a ripple of pain rushed through his body. Malcolm’s knee had landed right on the metal head of his garden hose.
“Fuck!” Malcolm looked down at his bloody knee, the kneecap was to the side of his leg. He placed his hand on it and another jolt of pain ripped through his body.
“Hello Neighbor.” Malcolm looked up to see a crowd of smiling faces slowly making their way from his front yard to him.
Malcolm crawled backward as much as his leg would allow only to bump into the knees of the woman and the man. Malcolm looked up and their smiling faces came down quickly, pinning Malcolm to the ground.
“Get off of me!” Malcolm shouted.
Malcolm took a swing, connecting with the man’s jaw and knocking him to the ground. Before he could even think of doing the same to the woman, she rammed the machete into Malcolm’s bicep. The blade cut through his flesh, severing tendons, craving along the bone, leaving its mark until the tip was driven into the dirt. She had spiked Malcom in place with the machete.
There was too much pain running through Malcolm’s body and mind for him to fully process what was going on, he felt he was having a fever dream or his first glimpse into hell. The woman straddled Malcolm, her hands ran up his shirt until her nails were digging into his chest.
“What do you want!” Malcolm screamed.
The woman’s smile quickly dropped and she stared at Malcolm with a blank look, dead of all emotion. The woman tilted her head back and as she did that, Malcolm could see something pushing free of her stomach, it was almost as if there was a baby that was kicking itself free. But then the movement went from her stomach to her chest. Then it made its way to her neck, which swelled to three times its normal size as she tried to pass this massive object through her throat.
“Oh my God!” Malcolm shouted as the woman’s head snapped forward and her jaw expanded to reveal a large black maggot squirming its way out of her body. Slime dripped down onto Malcolm as the maggot got closer to his face. Malcolm turned his head frantically left and right. He kept his lips pressed tight, but then two hands locked onto his head and forced him to be still. Then the woman’s finger clawed at Malcolm’s lips trying to rip his jaw open. Blood and broken nails. Burning lips and shattered teeth. All of that only kept Malcolm safe for a moment, until those bony fingers got into his mouth and ripped his jaw down. The woman leaned in her mouth pinned open with the massive maggot coming out.
Malcolm’s eyes were wide as the maggot first touched his tongue. The slime-filled every corner of his mouth. The maggot’s body twisted and turned as it forced its way down Malcolm's throat. There was no air. No screams. Just tears and pains.
* * *
The lights in the bedroom went out as did the TV. “What the fuck?” Rachel said as she looked around the room. She had just stepped out of the shower and squeezed into that pink and white teddy lingerie that Malcolm liked. Rachel sat on her knees in the middle of the bed waiting. “Malcolm!” The bedroom door pushed open and Rachel sighed, “What took you so long? The power went out.” She bounced a little on her heels, “But maybe we can worry about that later?” Rachel’s hands went out and then she laughed. “Why are you smiling like that?” The bedroom door closed… “Malcolm? Malcolm? Malcolm!”
I hope you enjoyed that story, I had a lot of fun writing it and my wife thinks about it every time the trash needs to go out. As always, stay safe, stay woke, and stay alive!
Until the Next Nightmare,
And she still makes you go out there?!? 😱