Devil's Brew (407 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 0.5 on 8 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <Art> (View user info) at 2007-10-28 18:48:56 EDT
Harold was a curious man, who even as a child enjoyed things considered odd, unconventional... strange.
Harold ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches with glasses of tomato juice, he sniffed men's sneakers in the locker room after everyone had left, and once every day, he would park by the elementary school and watch all the children, skipping and smiling as the dismissal bell echoed through the schoolyard.
Harold was a man who every so often managed to blur the fine line between fantasy and reality.
He would sit in his car as little girls and boys were taken home to the warm contact of family; he dreamt of clutching one in his cold grip. This is why Harold loved Halloween; he would devise his plan weeks in advance, but dream of it year round.
Harold spent a week's salary every Halloween. King size chocolate bars, dollar bills, anything to keep the eager children flocking back year after year. He would watch children's commercials, get the best candy, and manage to successfully bridge the gap between his dreams and the nightmares of child and parent alike, unscathed, year after year.
The morning sun would eventually creep in to Harold's bed on the day of October 31st, only to find it desolate. He could never sleep on the days preceding Halloween, much like a child on the Eve of Christmas.
Besides, there is far too much for Harold to do in his quaintly decorated suburban dwelling. There were pumpkins to be carved, spooky lights to hang from the rafters, cages to be cleaned and prepared in the cellar, and dishes to be filled with delicious treats!
Harold was an eager man. As always, he was prepared far before the trick or treating hour. This was, after all, HALLOWEEN. Harold didn't take the day off of work so he could spend his night alone with his urges, no; Harold was hungry, for something sweet.
DING DONG!
Harold could barely contain his excitement as he made his way from the kitchen to the foyer. He collected himself as he opened the door. "Trick or treat!!" the children sang to the cadence of Harold's enlivened infatuation.
The earlier children were usually younger by rule of thumb, and were almost always closely accompanied by a guardian.
"Well, I see a scary vampire, I sure hope vampires like chocolate bars! And what are you supposed to be precious?" Harold asked to a sewn mound of brown stitching.
"I'm a pony, ponies like gummy bears!" the child giggled.
Oh, how Harold hated to see that one go. The night, however, was still young, and many more supple bodies bursting at the seams with innocence would grace his front porch.
"Halloween seems to get more difficult every year" Harold thought to himself.
"They start so early, and more and more 'concerned' parents come out and ruin my special day every year!"
Harold's incantation was interrupted by the pitter patter of footsteps at his door
DING DONG!
"Trick or treat." Read the monotonous shrill of voices that have grown weary through repetition.
Harold once again looked to eye level with the creatures of the night, disappointed to see ghosts, goblins, princesses, tigers, and power rangers, accompanied by the waists of full grown adults.
Harold forcibly hid his unhallowed urges on the one day he had always felt free to flaunt them.
Behind his torpid eyes laid a mind in the midst combustion, as he looked to his candy dish, nearly empty from the night gone by, then out in to the silent desolation of the resting neighborhood.
Tonight was a night of animated dreams, of living fantasy; unfulfilled expectation was never even considered on what had easily become Harold's favorite holiday, for a reason whose window has been shrinking year after year.
Harold hated to admit it, but the gradual progression of past Halloweens had brought him to this point. He had no choice but to accept it as he sat, alone on the floor of his foyer, with his demoralizing urges, and his mouth wrapped around a cold, metal cylinder, as his fingers unsteadily grazed a patient stock and trigger.
Tears of dissatisfaction swelled in Harold's eyes, as he gathered his undaunted miseries.
DING DONG!
"Visitors at this hour?" he thought. "They must be teenagers. Oh well, at least somebody will have a Happy Halloween".
Harold placed his revolver out of sight and gathered the remnants of his candy dish as he approached the door.
Harold looked straight ahead with a sigh. "TRICK OR TREAT!" The enthused prepubescent shriek was immense
Harold must have been dreaming, because, looking up at him was a little bright eyed trick or treater!
"Well... what's all this! Where is your daddy? Ah, never mind that, do you like candy? There's lot's more yummy candy down in the basement!"
The child, more than convinced by the prospect of a pillow case teeming with candy followed Harold down the creaking steps in to the bleak dampness of the basement. The walls were covered in egg cartons and Harold's work bench would contain all the tools of his sustaining desire. He quickly latched the door shut, and with a grin began his descent in to the dark cellar.
"Now, we're going to have some fun" Harold drooled conspicuously.
"We'll start by playing un-dress-up. Now take off your costume, or I'll hurt you". The child stood motionless, looking at Harold.
"You don't have to be scared, if you just do what I say. Let's start with your silly mask"
Harold reached out to pull the furry mask from the boys face.
He was greeted with a howl of immense pain, as bloodied fangs tore through his resistant frame.
He wrestled with the mask, which had quickly become far more realistic, as his muscle and tissue became sustenance for another creature; he watched as his tendons snapped one by one, his bones being picked clean of all meat.
The gruesome jowls of the four foot creature were foaming over with unquenchable thirst, as Harold's heart was mangled and lacerated until finally making its way out of his chest cavity and in to the horrific creature's abdomen.
Harold's blood ran cold; the last sounds to grace his ear were a burp and a giggle.
User Reviews
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-10-29 09:59:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2007-10-29 03:53:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
You gave away FAR too much at the beggining. So much, that the ending was easily seen coming.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2007-10-29 03:49:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ok.
Submitted by ColchesterDr (user info) at 2007-10-29 02:04:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Good.
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2007-10-28 20:24:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Poorly executed sir
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-10-28 19:54:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This could use a shitload of editing, but I will always give a rating
higher than the prick uniter. He a foo
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-10-28 19:51:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by ConorJS (user info) at 2007-10-28 19:14:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
"Harold ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches with glasses of tomato juice, he sniffed men's sneakers in the locker room after everyone had left, and once every day, he would park by the elementary school and watch all the children, skipping and smiling as the dismissal bell echoed through the schoolyard."
Yeah? What's so weird about that?