Clovis (612 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.5 on 22 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by StereoTypist (View user info) at 2007-10-04 16:49:30 EDT
I was only five years old. A child. Of course that's how most of these things start, right? Some childhood mishap that imbeds itself in ones psyche causing us to either repress it, let it out in slow drips or open the floodgates and let loose the demons within?
It was a warm summer day and my mother had instructed me stay inside and avoid the hot sun. I'm allergic to the sun, see, - or at least that's what my mommy says. She told me to play quietly in the living room, the only room that had an air conditioner. I had to be quiet, mind you, because my father was asleep on the couch, his thick meaty arms crossed over his heaving chest as he lay silent.
Slipping on her white shoes my mother grabbed her purse, smiled, and headed off for the evening shift at the hospital. Daddy was unemployed and mommy had to pick up as many hours as she could to keep us housed and fed.
The cool breeze from the air conditioner kissed the sweat away from my skin with such vigor that I had to shiver. Seated in a circle around the old chipped tea-pot my mother had given me and the matching white ivory cups with the cracks down the side I served my stuffed animals tea like a good little hostess.
"More tea Mr. Clovis?" I asked my stuffed cat, the most prized of my stuffed animals, "Maybe some more cookies then?"
Clovis was such a fussy eater. I had gotten him a year ago from a local toy store. It had taken me months to save up the money. Well, actually it only took a few weeks but my daddy kept taking money from my piggy bank when he'd come home in the middle of the night smelling like bourbon.
Clovis was special to me because he was the first new toy I had ever gotten. Everything else in my toy box was a hand-me-down from cousins or other friends. Clovis didn't have any tears in his black and white fur. He wasn't missing his cute pink plastic nose. He wasn't matted and stained. He was perfect.
"You have to eat something Mr. Clovis," I implored. Clovis snubbed me once again when I offered him an imaginary biscuit. He preferred scones.
"Whothefuckareyoutalkingto," my father grumbled at me as he rolled over to face the couch.
"Clovis daddy," I said petting his soft and shiny plastic fur, "he won't eat anything."
"For Christ sake Natalie," he said with a hint of anger in his voice, "it's a fucking stuffed cat. Of course he's not going to fucking eat anything."
I hugged Clovis a little tighter. Usually that tone of voice meant I was going to get into trouble. I looked longingly at the front door where my mother had left through just a few moments before. Maybe I could catch up to her, spend the night at the hospital with her. I liked the hospital. I was there a lot because sometimes I would get heat exhaustion and they would put needles in my arms and make me drink lots of water. Still, they were nice to me there and I always got lots of Jell-O.
"I-I know that," I responded, almost defeated, "B-but I like to pretend he is."
"Then why don't you 'pretend' to talk to the fucking thing and let me get some GOD DAMN SLEEP!"
I buried my face in Clovis' fur, whimpering only slightly. He was getting angrier now. I wished my bedroom wasn't so far in the back of the house. The sun was high in the sky now and my little make-shift bedroom seemed to be the sun's only target. It was too hot to hide in there and I wasn't allowed outside. I had no where to go. I whimpered again.
"Jesus Christ, don't start your fucking bawling," he said to me angrily, "you know I can't fucking stand that."
I sniffled and tried to hold back my sobs, tears running down my face and onto Clovis' back. I knew my daddy didn't like me very much. He always told me and my mommy that life was so much better before I came around.
"For fucks sake," he said sitting up and rubbing his eyes hard with the palms of his hands.
I froze.
"Look," my daddy said, his eyes red from sleep and too much alcohol, "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret."
I shifted slightly, my ears perking up at the word "secret". No one ever told me secrets. I didn't have any friends other than Clovis. At school during recess all the kids were allowed to play outside. I wasn't allowed outside when the sun was out so I never got to play with the other kids. I always envied the other little girls who sat around at recess and whispered untold stories into each others ears, giggling the whole time. The only secrets I ever had I told to Clovis.
"W-what secret?" I stammered.
"You see that black box in the kitchen on the counter?" he asked me.
"You mean the microwave?" I asked glancing into the kitchen.
"Yeah. The microwave. You know what that's for?"
"Umm," I was careful to answer, not entirely sure what he was getting at, "Cookings things?"
"That's right," my father said in a tone that I would later in life discover was condescending, "but do you know how it cooks things?"
I paused again and looked back into the kitchen. All I knew was that mommy put things into it, pushed buttons and the food came out hot. And it could turn little biddy popcorn kernels into big fluffy pieces of popcorn.
I shook my head no. I didn't know how it worked.
"Magic," my father said in that same mock-amazement tone.
My ears perked up again.
"Really?" I said, enthralled by the idea.
"Oh yes," my father continued, "and do you know what ELSE that magic microwave can do?"
I shook my head no, enamored still by the idea that there was a magic box in my house.
"It can give things life," he said in a whisper.
I gaped at him.
"All you have to do," he said leaning towards me conspiratorially, "is put something inside that you want to be alive... say... a stuffed cat maybe?"
My eyes widened and my mouth grew wider.
"Then close the door, press some buttons and watch it come alive!" he finished.
I felt tears swelling up behind my eyes. I had always wanted a real kitty - that was why I bought Clovis. He looked like a real cat and now, it seemed, he would be one!
Grabbing my furry friend I ran into the kitchen just as my father laid back down to continue his nap. I pulled one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter, climbed up and placed my only friend into the magic box. Closing the door I struggled with reading the words on the keypad. None of them looked like they said kitty.
"Daddy!" I called out, "Which one is the kitty button?"
There was no answer.
I pushed one of the buttons. It beeped but nothing happened. I pushed another button. Another beep but no movement from inside of the microwave. The third time is a charm, as they say, because my final choice was a button that said "Start". And start it did. The light in the microwave came on and I watched Clovis start to spin around on the plate.
Smiling and giggling I thought how wonderful it would be to have a real life kitty to be friends with. My cousin Shelly had a pretty orange tabby cat that I would play with whenever I went over to her house and I remember how soft he was and how nice he felt when he purred and gave me a kitty smile.
Staring at Clovis as he spun around I imagined him with a happy kitty smile. He spun, and spun, and spun and after several rotations it seemed his face was getting some expression but... it was more like.... a frown...
I watched in horror as Clovis' face spun into view and those blue plastic eyes of his began to sag and melt down his little kitty face. His perfect pink nose had bubbled and it, too, was melting. His shiny perfect hair was becoming matted and brown as it dissolved.
Ripping the microwave door opened I pulled Clovis out, screaming as his melted fur and features burned my skin. I dropped him unintentionally and cried harder as I realized I had let my beloved kitty fall to the floor. Picking him up once more and ignoring the burning pain I ran into the living room, tears streaming down my face.
"Daddy!" I cried, "Daaaaddy!"
My father slowly opened his eyes, a small smile on his face.
"What is it Natalie?" he asked with mock interest, "why are you crying?"
"It...it... didn't work," I said between sobs, "It didn't work! Why didn't it work!"
"Oh, Natalie," My father said sitting up and patting my back, "Honey, it didn't work because you didn't believe enough."
I sniffled and looked at my father with confusion. I didn't believe enough? But... I did believe... I really believed. I believed more in Clovis becoming a real cat more than I did in Santa, the Easter Bunny and God combined!
"I believed!" I cried, collapsing into my fathers arms, "I swear I believed!"
"Oh Natalie," my father said, still patting my back, "you only thought you did. It's no ones fault but your own that your kitty is dead now."
I cried even harder.
"Come on now," He said pulling me away from him, my small body wracking with sobs, "stop that crying. You have no one to blame but yourself."
I squeezed my eyes tightly together.
"I... I want mommy," I said softly.
"Oh no," my father said looking at me with a stern face, "you can't tell mommy about this. She would be very, very angry with you!"
"She would?" I asked scared.
"Oh yes," my father said, "she would be devastated. Knowing that her only daughter is a cat killer? Tsk tsk tsk."
I squeezed my eyes tightly together and tried to stop the tears.
"Now," my father said picking up Clovis from the floor - I hadn't even realized I dropped him again - and handing him back to me, "you go into the shed, get a shovel and burry Clovis out in the backyard like a good girl."
"But... mommy said I'm not allowed to go outside when the sun is out."
"Well, would you rather mommy be mad at you for going outside of for being a murderer?"
I wiped my nose with my hand and nodded.
"There's a good girl," my father said and patted me once more on the back before he laid back down for the rest of his nap.
I cradled Clovis gingerly in my arms as I took the heavy metal shovel from inside the shed. My skin burned from the hot sun as I walked as far down the yard as possible towards the large trees that lined our property.
I placed Clovis on the ground, gently, before beginning my assault on the hard soil. I dug as deep a hole as I could, sweat dripping from every part of me.
Wiping my brow I lifted Clovis, again as gently as I could, and placed one gentle kiss on his melted pink nose. I lowered him into the makeshift grave and muttered the only prayer I knew for the only friend I had ever had.
"Now I lay me down to sleep..."
I shoveled the last of the dirt into the hole that would now and forever be Clovis' home sooner than I thought I would. Sitting down on the warm grass I stared at the big, brown patch. I had no tears left to shed, my body tired and my mouth parched. I swayed from side to side, dizziness taking over my senses. I closed my eyes to block out the bright sun and slipped slowly into darkness.
User Reviews
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2007-10-07 07:32:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Hmmm.
Not bad, but I don't buy the father's transformation from drunken lout to subtle deceptive mastermind. It's just too easy.
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2007-10-05 16:00:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
First I looked at the comments and I'm glad I went back up to read the whole thing. Super!!
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-10-05 11:26:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Very good.
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2007-10-05 10:22:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That kind of sounds like something someone would do to someone else's kid, or the mother would also be abusive to have chosen to make life with someone that sadistic.
Actually that's very common you know, I'm surprised we don't see more stories about both parents being abusive to the children. I guess it's just a rather dark and hopeless situation. Actually happened with this family down the street from where I grew up; the mum and dad and all the kids whaling on one another. Produced some pretty dangerous criminal types and the youngest was gay but kind of straight edged.
All generally pretty tripped out.
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2007-10-05 10:20:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
kissed the sweat away from my skin with such vigor
***
Kissed the sweat away from my skin with such vigor?
Submitted by lover101 (user info) at 2007-10-05 09:57:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-10-05 09:11:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Empathetic (user info) at 2007-10-04 18:34:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Sicosemen Alter auto -2.
_______
Whoever StereoTypist is, he/she/it doesn't write like Sico. Have you ever read anything Sico has written?
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-10-05 09:00:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Disturbingly chilling.
Submitted by SGRPUSS (user info) at 2007-10-05 08:15:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
good story
Submitted by Kent_Weirdo (user info) at 2007-10-05 03:00:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good work.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-10-05 02:16:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Disturbing story.
Wonderfully written
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2007-10-04 22:07:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this was good
Submitted by Bohme (user info) at 2007-10-04 20:41:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Empathetic (user info) at 2007-10-04 18:34:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Sicosemen Alter auto -2.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-10-04 18:21:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-10-04 18:14:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What triangle man said. It bugged me too. But not enough that I'm planning on docking you any points for it, though.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-10-04 17:55:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
freaky
Submitted by ChaosJester (user info) at 2007-10-04 17:14:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Perhaps it's because I am well and truly drunk, but this almost made me cry.
Daddy is a total dick.
Do more of this sort of thing and I'll forgive your inauspicious beginnings.
Submitted by triangle_man (user info) at 2007-10-04 17:13:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ok now I read it.
very disturbing...sad pic too
strong emotional baggage rates a 2
Submitted by triangle_man (user info) at 2007-10-04 17:01:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Only one problem.
It's really a bit of a technicality
Microwaves, at the frequency required to heat items that contain water, pass harmlessly through plastic.
Hence, Clovis would emerge quite unharmed.
Sorry I'm a bit of a techy
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-10-04 16:59:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I am impressed.
While reading, this quote came to mind:
"If a kid ever asks you how Santa Claus can live forever, I think a good answer is that he drinks blood."
Nice work.
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2007-10-04 16:55:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment