Grüeberfest 2007: “Evening Half-light” (517 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: Grueberfest
Rating: 1.88 on 20 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Uncle B. (View user info) at 2007-10-03 19:56:08 EDT
Evening Half-light
It was the gloaming hour, the evening half-light. The last rays of the sunlight touched the tops of the trees and set them ablaze with color to match the vibrant hues that streaked the sky with reds and oranges fading into the blues and murky dark purple of night.
I loved living in the Carolina countryside, with its rolling hills and excellent rustic views across the valleys between the hills. Lost in the beauty of it all, something darted out into the lane.
"Holy shit," I cried as I stomped on the brakes, my wheels locked up and tires squealed, and I heard a thump right before I put my car into the ditch. My car plowed deep into the ditch, the undercarriage and axels screamed about their abuse as gravel was ground beneath.
My heart raced as I peeled my white-knuckled death grip from the steering wheel. What the fuck had I just hit?
"Please don't be a kid, please don't be a kid, please don't be a kid," I chanted to myself and I clambered out of my car window and ran back as fast as I could. There crouched over a small furry form was a young girl about 8 years old.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
She shook her head, her mousey brown hair flipped back and forth across her pixie like face. I could see her tears and a little bubble of snot was coming from her nose that inflated slightly with each sob.
Relieved that I hadn't hurt the little girl I had to check on her pet. I kneeled down and gently felt the little puppy's body. His heart beat was steady, and his breathing didn't seem to be ragged or labored. One of the little guy's eyes was swollen shut with a large knot. I fumbled for a moment in my pockets and produced a dog treat (usually reserved for my own dog) and waved it gently under the pup's nose. It wasn't long before the dog acted like a dog again and he woke up with a surprised yip and pounced on the treat.
"You're a Magic Man," the little girl exclaimed in awe and she cuddled with her newly revived puppy.
"I'm nothing of the sort little lady, I'm just glad you're alright," I smiled, "but now that your little buddy is O.K. I need to get my car out of this ditch." I pulled out my cell phone and sighed as I saw the display.
"What's wrong Mister?"
"No signal for my phone, so I can't call for help with my car."
"You can use the phone at my house, I'm sure my parents won't mind."
"Well that's mighty nice of you Miss...what's your name little girl?"
"My name is Sally, what's yours?"
"My name is Brian, but most people call me Uncle B."
"Nice to meet you Uncle B. it isn't far to my house and if we hurry we can get there before it gets dark and it gets scary when it is dark."
"Don't you worry about thing little lady we'll get there just fine, I'll protect you."
She smiled and took my hand and led me down the road her little dog nipped at my heels and ran around us as we turned off the road onto a gravel driveway. The sunset was faded slowly and surrendered to a moonless night.
"How far is it to your house?"
"Around the bend and then up to the top of the hill, you can already see some of the lights from here." She pointed towards a few flickers of light barely visible through the trees.
The darkness was closing in on us and there was a chill in the air, and those distant lights looked inviting. They flickered and twitched like will-o-wisps, their light was almost hypnotic, and I had almost deciphered the pattern when I felt a tug at my hand.
"You just gonna stand there?" Sally chided. I hadn't realized I had stopped. She tugged at my hand again and smiled. I matched her pace easily and the whole time the dog was at our heels.
"Uncle B., do you have any kids?"
The innocent question of this precocious child stabbed deeply and unexpectedly into my heart and stopped me in my tracks.
"Yes, I had a daughter, and a beautiful wife too...," I paused for a moment to collect myself, this child didn't need to see me grieve, "but there was an accident and I lost them both."
"That's very sad," she comforted me by squeezing her hand around my fingers, and patted it gently, "Are they in Heaven?"
"I like to think so."
"Do you think you'll go to Heaven when you die?"
"I think so. I have tried to live my life well, try to help those in need, and I do my best not to hurt anyone. If have lived my life right I am sure I will go to Heaven."
"Will I go to Heaven if I die?"
"Sure, I don't see why not, you're an innocent, and they always get in, it's in Bible somewhere."
"We're almost there, let's race!" and she darted into the darkness little dog yipping crazily after her. She had only taken a few steps when she went down hard to the ground and cried out. I found her at the base of the steps that led up the house. The lights and the smoke trickling from the chimney implied warmth within.
The wind blew even harder stripping the last warmth from my body
"I hurt my ankle," she winced when she moved it from side to side slightly.
"Well that's no good, here hop on," I picked her up carefully and helped get into piggy back position. Her tiny arms held tightly and her breath chilled the back of my neck as I carried her up the stairs.
"Uncle B. my Mama said I can have friends for dinner, would you like to stay?
"We'll ask your mother to be sure, but it has been a while since I had a good home cooked meal, but if she says yes, then, yes I will stay for dinner."
"Oh, goody!" she exclaimed cheerily.
My heart was pounding and my face was flush when I arrived at the top of the stairs and walked across the porch. Boards creaked and groaned announcing our arrival to the house with eerie squawks and chirps. The front door was ajar, and I looked for a knocker or bell.
"Just go in, the squeaker boards let Mama know we're here."
I pushed the door open and stepped inside, the dog nipped at my heels as I crossed the threshold. The house was old, and the flickering lights were candles set in heavily tarnished holders. Layers upon layers of dust covered everything. Foot prints of various sizes and shapes were in the dust on the floor. They all led to a set of double doors at the end of the anteroom.
"Through there is dining room and the phone, Mama probably has already set the table for us."
I walked through the doors and was stopped in my tracks.
At the head of the table she sat, long since withered and desiccated, the corpse of Sally's mother. Wearing a floral print dress, and a string of pearls, the empty eye sockets of Sally's mother and the angle of her head made her appear almost philosophical in death.
"Sally what the hell is...," I felt her arms clench with supernatural strength as I felt her teeth sink into my neck. I fell to my knees, and Sally caught me before I fell back.
My vision dimmed as she cradled me in my last moments, my life blood draining away.
"You're going to Heaven Uncle B." was the last thing I heard as I slipped into oblivion.
The dog was still nipping at my heels.
User Reviews
Submitted by tatersninja (user info) at 2008-09-18 16:39:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-11-08 00:06:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Ya know... no one ever got the one really subtle ubersite related joke...
Little Sally is a deceptive blood sucking bitch...a little bite of uberculture per se.
I guess it was too subtle.
B.
Submitted by ColchesterDr (user info) at 2007-10-07 12:39:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I dug this.
Could have been longer, though.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2007-10-06 21:09:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
that snot-nosed little bitch
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2007-10-06 20:28:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was thinking of doing a 1.75 or some shit, but fuck it. This was a breezy read. Could use some cleaning up, but who am I to talk? Liked it.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-10-05 20:47:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Easy but interesting read, good surprise. Love the Munch, too. Yeah.
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-10-04 20:17:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks for the compliments ya'll, I through this together in about 3 hours total.
ELG gave me three titles, I started working on Last Blue Moon as a classic werewolf tale, the twisty horrific ending though was the newly born werewolf was trapped and forced to star in Teen Wolf 3.
Submitted by Lib (user info) at 2007-10-04 12:37:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2007-10-04 12:25:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Never trust little girls.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-10-04 11:27:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-04 10:22:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I really liked this... I thought I had the ending pegged and then was thourouly surprised for a change. nice work
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-10-04 11:01:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I was going to give it a +1 for unusual usage of vampires in a Moon Phase kind of way, but referencing your own username bumped you up to a +2
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-10-04 10:22:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I really liked this... I thought I had the ending pegged and then was thourouly surprised for a change. nice work.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-10-04 09:57:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Predictable, but well written. I liked it.
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-10-04 09:04:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very good
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2007-10-04 08:57:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Creepy.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2007-10-04 06:06:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2007-10-04 04:45:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Really good, kept me guessing to the end.
Submitted by ilikesteak (user info) at 2007-10-03 20:31:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Not the best written, but it reminds me of something.
Submitted by ELG (user info) at 2007-10-03 20:30:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh man, yours is way better then mine.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-10-03 20:27:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice fluid style. Easy to read. Actually got a chill, too. First story to do that, but I've only read about four of them.