Harvest Moon
Melissa L. Webb
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Melissa L. Webb
All rights reserved.
Discover other titles by Melissa L. Webb:
Dark Flutters: Stories For A Moonless Night
Blinky, The Great Halloween Fish
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This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Harvest is upon us
The fires are burning
I hope this season delivers
All that you’re yearning.
The Girl Who Isn’t Me
The girl I see staring back at me is not me. It should be, but it’s not. I don’t know why she’s there, lurking beyond that glass, filling me with dread with those eyes.
I thought it was my imagination. That I was only assuming I see someone else, but I do. She is really there. Who is she? Why does she stand and stare every time I’m near?
At first, she was only in the bathroom mirror, a faint grin covering her lips as she watched me. But soon, she started turning up in the other mirrors around my home. I couldn’t stand it, walking into a room and coming face to face with the girl who is not me.
I couldn’t cope. Something had to be done. I got rid of all the mirrors; threw them out like the garbage they had become. I thought I was safe then. I was terribly mistaken.
I started seeing her in every reflective surface in my house. I can’t possibly get rid of everything, and she knows it. All I can do is sit in the dark and pray no light shines through the windows to anything around me. I know if I see her one more time, she’ll step into our world, following through with the dark plan she has. I have to find a way to stop this. To free myself and the world from the darkness lurking near.
Maybe I should gouge out my eyes.
The Pool
The water sparkled, reflecting the sun like diamonds, as it rippled in the morning breeze. Addie barely noticed as she watched from the chaise she was currently occupying. Her focus was on the dark shape resting on the bottom of the pool.
It hunkered in a corner, never moving. It was the size of a person, but what it was, she had no idea. People couldn’t live in the deep end of a pool.
“Come on, Ad,” her brother called, making his way once again to the high dive. “Are you just going to sit there all day?”
“Do you guys see that shadow in the pool?” she asked, fearing ridicule as she did.
“What shadow, Addie?” their older sister, Margret, asked.
“The one in the deep end.”
Margret looked at their brother standing on the high dive board. “Do you see anything, Stuart?”
Glancing below him, he shook his head. “There’s nothing down there,” he called before cannonballing into the pool.
Water splashed Margret and she giggled in delight before jumping into the pool herself.
“Come on,” Stuart said, breaking the surface of the water. “Don’t just sit there. We didn’t talk Mom and Dad into buying a house with a pool just so we can look at it.”
“Don’t waste your time, Stu. Addie’s just being a baby again. She’s not happy unless she can find something to be afraid of,” her older sister told him as she treaded water.
Addie remained silent as they went back to splashing in the water, playing in the cooling pool they wanted so badly. Her eyes never left the shape in the pool. It stayed in the corner, only moving slightly as her brother and sister disturbed the water repeatedly.
Whatever this shape was, she knew it was watching and waiting, playing a game of Russian roulette with her siblings. Anyone of their next dives could be their last.
The Nothing Men
The warm breeze blew through the air, catching the leaves scattered around Radcliffe Heights Park. They floated off the ground, twirling, almost magically, around the two girls as they walked.
“Don’t you just love this time of year?” Kim asked, dancing with the leaves.
“No, not really,” Tammy told her, adjusting the purse on her shoulder.
Kim frowned at her best friend. “Don’t be such a grouch. It’s our senior year, we just watched the most amazing baseball game of our boyfriends’ lives, and Halloween is in three days. What is there not to be happy about?”
Tammy felt a shiver slither down her spine, despite the heat. “I don’t know. I’ve been a little creeped out lately.”
“Of course, you’ve been creeped out. This is the time of year when ghouls and ghosts come out to play,” her friend said in a sinister voice.
“I’m serious, Kimmy. I keep feeling like someone’s watching me.”
Kim looked all around them as they walked down the street. “Who?” she whispered, afraid someone might hear her.
“I don’t know, but I feel them. It’s like someone is always five steps behind me,” Tammy said, shivering again.
Kim looked over her shoulder. “Now you’ve got me creeped out, too.”
“I’m sorry,” she said as they stepped into her yard. “But you asked.”
“I’ll get over it. Call you later.” Kim turned, heading down the sidewalk to her house. “Don’t scare yourself too much,” she said over her shoulder.
Shaking her head, Tammy went inside. Leave it to Kimmy to rub it in. Tossing her purse on the living room couch, she looked around. Her parents weren’t home. She could spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on her favorite show. Clicking the TV on, she put the last disc in the player. She sure hoped Connor and Maria stayed together.
As the disc was doing its thing, she headed into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of diet coke. She brought it into the living room, the ice clinking in the glass, and sat it on the coffee table.
“I wonder if there is any leftovers?” she muttered to herself, heading back into the kitchen in search of food. The leftovers were gone, but she returned with a sandwich in hand and settled into the chair with the remote.
Hitting play, she absently reached for her drink. Her fingers closed on empty air. “What?” She looked down at the empty coffee table. Her drink was gone.
She stood up, sitting her plate down. Where could it have gone? Did she accidentally take it back into the kitchen? She knew she was a little distracted lately, but this was pathetic. She returned to the kitchen, checking everywhere for a sign of her missing soda. But it was no use, it was gone.
Hands on hips, Tammy let out a deep breath of frustration. Well, who knows where she had set it. By the time she found it, it would probably be flat anyway. She poured herself a new glass and settled once again in the chair.
She reached down for the remote and gasped in shock. There was a bite missing out of her sandwich. A huge one. She hadn’t made it. Of that, she was sure. She had left a whole sandwich sitting there. That left only one choice.
Someone was in the house.
Tammy stood up, drink forgotten in her hand, and looked around. Was someone playing a trick on her? Had Kim crept in the house when she wasn’t looking? “Okay, this isn’t funny,” she called.
No one answered her. She stood there in undisturbed silence.
“Who is in my house?” she asked, anger dripping from her voice. “Come out or I’m calling the police.”
“Tammy,” a voice spoke from somewhere in the living room. It was deep and gravelly. It was a voice she had never heard before; not even in her darkest nightmares.
Screaming, she ran for the front door. She didn’t make it. Her feet got tangled in each other and she went down, hard, the soda glass flying out of her hand.
She watched it soar, the liquid flowing freely from it. It came down, like dirty rain, and coated a silhouette of a person.
Someone she couldn’t see was standing there.
Tammy was off the floor in an instant, racing for her bedroom. She couldn’t let that thing touch her. God only knew what it would do.
She made it into her room, slamming the door; locking it behind her. She sat down, her back against the bed, waiting. Her body shook violently as she listened for any movement in the house. No wonder she thought someone had been watching her. How long had he been in her house? In this very room as she slept?
No. This was not right. She needed help. She quickly dialed Kim’s number. Her best friend would know what to do. She’d bring the whole town to her rescue if she asked.
Listening as the phone rang, Tammy’s heart pounded in her chest. “Come on, Kimmy. Answer your phone.”
The ringing stopped, the line sitting open with an emptiness she could almost feel. “Hello? Kimmy?”
Static crackled in her ear. It popped and fizzed before a harsh voice cut through it. “Nothing Men need company, too,” it said, a distorted cadence layering the words, as if they wouldn’t fit right in the speaker’s mouth.
Tammy dropped the phone. Fear seared onto her brain, causing the world to go fuzzy at the edges. What was going on? Who was in her house?
Her head snapped up as she heard a shuffling thump coming down the hall. It moved closer to her door, causing her stomach to cramp up in panic. It knew where she was. Would that door be enough to stop it? Some how she doubted it would.
The doorknob rattled as someone tested it.
Tammy leaned back against the bed and braced herself for the worst. She didn’t know what a Nothing Man was; but she had a feeling she was about to find out.
LOST AND FOUND
“I found your wallet,” the woman’s voice carried across the line. Relief flooded through Morgan as she held the cell phone to her ear. It had been almost three days since she had last seen it; she had begun to think it was gone forever.
“Oh, thank God,” she breathed into the phone. “I was so worried. My whole life is in that thing.”
“Well, you can stop worrying now, dear. It’s safe and sound,” the woman told her. “If you want you can come over now and get it.”
“Thank you,” Morgan said. “I’ll feel so much better once it’s back in my hands.”
The woman chuckled. “I bet you will. And I’ll bet you’ll think twice before taking it to the beach again.”
“Yes,” Morgan admitted sheepishly. “It was a foolish thing to do, leaving it on a log like that.”
“We all live and learn, dear. No harm done.” The woman gave her directions before hanging up.
Morgan hurried to her car. It would be a relief to have that wallet back. She could put the incident behind her and move on, learning from this mistake.
She followed the woman’s directions, pulling up outside the house. It was a small little blue thing with red and pink roses surrounding it. It screamed grandmotherly. No wonder she had insisted on returning the wallet. The right thing always came easy to this kind of person. The world needed more people like her in it.
She hurried up to the front door. It opened before she even made it up to the front porch.
“Morgan?” the elderly woman asked, stepping out the door
“Yes,” she spoke as she approached her. “Thank you again for finding my wallet.”
The woman smiled brightly. “I’m just glad I did. I could imagine the trouble a young woman like you would be in if I hadn’t.” She motioned her forward. “Come inside, dear. I’ll get your wallet for you.”
She nodded and followed the woman inside.
***
Morgan stepped out the front door and headed back to her car. It was so kind of the woman to return her wallet. Nothing was missing from it. She couldn’t say the same thing for the old woman’s house. She made sure she had taken all the jewelry and cash she could find.
She laughed as she tossed the heavy canvas grocery bag in the back seat. No one would miss the batty old woman. She bet it would be weeks before the body was even found.
She pulled away from the curb and heading downtown, towards the park. It was time to place the wallet again. This time she would leave it where it would be found right away. There were more honest people in this world. She would take care of them. It was time to start the game again.
The Dead Guy
My uncle sat across from me, his face pale in the flickering firelight. “So, you want another story?” he asked, looking around at all of us surrounding the campfire.
My friends nodded eagerly as I grinned. My uncle was a hotshot journalist who traveled all over the world. He would always return with the wildest tales of the supernatural, and my friends loved him for it.
“Okay, I’ll tell one more story,” he said, glancing up at the cabins we had rented for the week, then over at me. “I’m sure your parents don’t really care how late I keep you guys up.”
I nodded in agreement. My family did this summer ritual every year. My uncle would come home, I would grab as many friends as I could, and we would join my family on a weeklong camping trip. We would hike, fish, and relax along the river during the day and at night my uncle would entertain us with the stories he collected from all over the world. This trip was no exception.
“Okay, the other stories I have told you tonight have been ones I heard from the people I’ve met, but this one I know is true,” he told us. “This one happened to me.”
There were slight gasp around the campfire as my friends digested that. My grin grew even larger. I wonder what my uncle had up his sleeve. He always loved to end his story sessions with a bang.
He looked around the circle once more, his eyes searching our faces. “I have a question for you first. Do you believe in curses?”
I watched as my friends shifted on their logs under my uncle’s scrutiny. “It depends,” my best friend Matt spoke, “on what the circumstances are.”
My uncle nodded. “I guess that’s true. I suppose all of you won’t believe what I’m about to tell you, but I do. I know curses exist,” he said softly as he stared into the flames. “I know, because I have been cursed.”
There were light chuckles as my friends tried to lessen the dread that had settled around us at my uncle’s words.
He smiled, his lips completely devoid of humor. “Go ahead and laugh. It’s not an easy thing to believe. I know it.”
“Come on, guy,” I told my friends. “Let’s hear him out.” I turned to my uncle. This was the first I’d heard of a curse. I wanted to know. “What happened? Where did this curse come from?”
He sighed. “It happened six months ago. I was in Africa at the time. I had some downtime and decided to a little sightseeing. I went with a group of people to Victoria Falls. They snuck us out to Livingstone Island, where we spent the night, partying.”
“Awesome,” several of my friends spoke in admiration.
“It started out that way, but several people decided to swim out to the Devil’s Pool.”
“Devil’s Pool?” I asked. Now I knew he was making stuff up.
“Yeah. It’s a safe pool where you can swim right next to the falls. Everything would have been fine, but they had been drinking way too much. One of the guys started drowning. The others shouted for my help. They knew I had been on the swim team and could handle myself in the water.” He looked away from us, a darkness creeping into his eyes. “I panicked. I had been drinking just as much as the guy had, maybe more. I didn’t want to end up in trouble, too. So, I stayed there on the bank and watched the whole thing. I watched that man die.” He looked back at us, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “I might have been able to save him, but I decided my life was more important than his.”
“You were cursed because of that?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. Essentially, I killed that man. Something like that always comes with a consequence.”
“It’s all in your mind, man,” Matt told him. “There’s no curse. It’s only your guilt eating away at you.”
My uncle shook his head. “I wish that’s all it was. Two nights later, I was in a hotel in Zambia, trying to come to terms with what happened. It was late at night and I couldn’t sleep. I kept seeing that man drowning every time I closed my eyes. I was catching up on work, trying to occupy my mind with other things, when I heard a shuffling outside the door of my hotel room. I ignored it at first and it stopped.” He took a deep breath. “It started again. This time it was coming from my bathroom. I got up to investigate, not knowing what the sound could be. Before I could even cross the room, the bathroom door slammed open and that man stumbled out.”
“The dead guy?” I asked him in shock.
“Yes, it was him. His body was bloated and water ran off him as he moved, soaking the carpet underneath him. He reached his hand out as he closed in on me, his mouth opened as words formed. ‘Your life is mine,’ he said to me. I grabbed my things and hurried out of that room before he could take it, and I’ve been running every since.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded by the story I had just heard. It explained a lot, like why we hadn’t heard from him in the last six months, or why he had been acting so jumpy since we got here. But it couldn’t be real, could it? It was just one of his great campfire tales.
“Do you really think he wants to kill you?” Matt asked him.
“Yes,” my uncle replied. “It’s only fair, isn’t it? I could have saved him, but all I was thinking about was myself. I let him die . That creates something. Something that won’t rest until it’s revenged.”
“Come on, that story’s not real,” one of the other guys spoke up. “Ghosts don’t really exist.”
My uncle shrugged. “I told you not all of you would believe this. But it is true.” He turned and looked at the dark woods surrounding us. “I know he’s out there right now, watching and waiting. He’s looking for the perfect opportunity to get the vengeance he so desperately craves. And he will get it. I’m sure of it. My days are numbered.” He rose slowly from the log he was sitting on. “That dead man will kill me. He might go after anyone nearby when he does, just to satisfy his anger,” he spoke softly before looking back at us. “Good night all. Hopefully, I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned around and headed for the cabins, slipping in one for the night.
I sat there, staring at the guys around me. What had just happened? Had my uncle told us his deepest and darkest secret or had he just woven one heck of a ghost story? I wasn’t really sure and I could tell my friends weren’t either. A twig snapped in the darkness around us, causing us all to jump. It was going to be a long night.
Images Of The Past
Callie held the old photograph album open across her knees. Carefully, she studied each photo before her, taking her time as her eyes moved over every detail they offered. Even as a little girl, she would do the same thing; staring at them over and over. Time stopped around her when she was immersed in the images of the past.
Everything in these photos called to her; the clothes, the homes. These were simpler times, where you knew where you belonged and worked hard to get there. She wished she had been a part of it. The past seemed so nurturing, so welcoming, nothing like the harsh future in front of her.
“Are you ready to go?” a voice demanded suddenly.
Looking up at the man standing in the parlor doorway, she a felt a rush of bitterness rise up in her throat. Why had she agreed to this? What had convinced her he was her savior?
Her future husband was worse than her family. He demanded so much more than they ever did. She had been a prisoner in her family; but with him, she was property, nothing more than a slave.
Her fiancé continued glaring at her. “Well? Are you done? I want to go.”
Nodding sadly, she resigned herself to the fate she’d become sealed into. “I’ll be there in a second. I just need to put these albums away.”
Grunting, he turned away. “You have five minutes. Not a second longer,” he warned as he walked away.
Callie felt moisture invade her eyes as she turned her gaze on her ancestor’s photo album once more. The smiles on their faces told her all she needed to know. These people were happy. Really happy. She knew once she left here, happiness would only be something she dreamed about. How she wished she could join the people in the pictures. A tear dripped down her cheek as she closed her eyes, mourning for the life she could never have.
The tear slid from her skin, falling on the opened album, soaking into a picture and disappearing completely. The book vibrated under her fingertips.
Callie eyes snapped open. Her gazed sought the pages before her. A blue light shone from them, washing over her as it did. Her look of shock ebbed and wonder replaced it as she stared deep into the light. She knew everything would be all right now.
***
Luis walked down the hall to the parlor. How dare she keep him waiting? If she thought this was the way their marriage was going to work, she was sadly mistaken.
“We need to leave now,” he told her, stepping into the parlor. Stopping, he looked around the empty room. She was gone. He turned quickly, anger boiling in his eyes. So, she thought she could play games with him, did she? It was time to teach her a lesson.
He left the room, not noticing the open photo album on the couch. Or the extra person in the photos, smiling as if she was having the time of her life.
Memory Flush
I woke up this morning convinced I’d forgotten something. I knew I had. I could feel it in my bones. All day, I kept waiting for the memory to return to me. It wouldn’t though, no matter how hard I tried to excavate it.
Whatever it was, I knew it was important. Things don’t eat at your soul if they’re not. What was left behind during the night had been very important to me. Maybe even the most important thing in my life.
I looked around my apartment. It was cold and hollow, as if someone had gutted out the very heart of it, and maybe they had. I couldn’t remember. I went to work and suffered through the motions, all the while searching for something to trigger a memory. Was the forgotten thing here? Could I be so upset over something at work? Somehow I doubted it.
I returned, alone, to my apartment. I had no place to go, no one to see, so I settled in front of the TV. Sadness brimmed in me as I searched the channels. I don’t see myself as a couch potato. I thought there was something I was supposed to be doing, someone I should be doing it with, but I couldn’t think of what it might be.
Is that what I have forgotten? My real life. Is it possible someone could have taken it from me, leaving me with nothing but a nagging feeling?
Frustrated, I turned off the TV, heading to bed. I know I have forgotten something, but I’m too tired to think anymore. Tomorrow, I’ll wake up and start the worry all over again.
Stranger In The Night
I saw the man again last night. He stands at the end of the driveway, staring up at the house. He never moves. He just stands there and stares.
This is the third time I’ve seen him in the last week. This time I called the cops. They sent someone by, but I knew they wouldn’t find him. He left as soon as I took my eyes off him.
He seems to be here for only one thing and one thing alone. Me. He doesn’t want anyone else brought into this. I don’t know why that is, it just is. What I can’t figure out is what he wants from me. What have I done to draw his attention? I live a quiet life. I bother no one. I keep to myself. So, why does this man stand and stare at my house? What has made me a target for this stranger in the night?
It’s getting late. Night is growing closer. I’m afraid. I know the man will be back and I fear it may be tonight. I should leave, but I know it won’t matter. He’ll find me where ever I go.
And the next time he comes, I know he won’t just stand and stare. I feel the certainty of that deep in my bones. Next time he’s here, he’ll come right in.
Take Backs
It started with the pollen. There wasn’t one person in Merritt County that wasn’t suffering from allergies this year. The amount of hacking and sneezing around town was alone enough to make anyone sick. But the pollen took care of that. It worked its way into everyone’s systems until they were too weak to fight back.
That’s when the plants started to grow. Little plants no one could identify. They sprouted up all over the world. In yards, in gardens, anywhere there was a patch of dirt, those plants appeared.
It was amazing at first. A new species of plant appearing from nowhere. It was the scientific find of the 21st Century. The world celebrated a new era, but the celebration didn’t last very long. Dread quickly replaced the wonder in people. Because…these plants didn’t stop growing.
They became thicker. They reached out, spreading across the lands, entangling with the vegetation we already called our own. That’s when our trees and plants turned on us. They, too, spread out, choking the life from our towns and cities. Their growth covered the world in a mass blanket of suffocation.
Our population dwindled. Nature was getting the revenge it needed. The revenge it deserved.
Those of us left knew the only way to save our species would be the eradication of all plant life. But they had that covered, too. How can we destroy something, if the very air we breathe depends on it?
Echo Park
The rusty gate squeaked loudly, shattering the silence the area offered. Elena cringed as she slipped through, pausing to look around her. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself. She wanted the world to forget she even existed and she couldn’t do that if she gave herself away.
The path before her beckoned, calling her into the overgrown trees which lay beyond. Silence once again filled the air, wrapping the woods like a protective blanket. The metal’s squeak changed nothing. She was alone.
She followed the path, her skin soaking up the bright sun. This was a new start for her. No longer would she have to bow down to the strict rules her parents demanded of her. She couldn’t live like that, being the person they wanted her to be. It was killing her. She needed to be free to live her own life. And this was her first step; Conquering her fears.
Elena needed somewhere to stay while she plotted out her next moves. This was the first place that came to her mind. No one would ever look for her here. Everyone knew how terrified she was of the place.
But this was the new Elena. An Elena who wasn’t afraid to be out on her own and the old abandoned amusement park north of town would serve as her haven in her time of need.
Plastic eyes stared out of the trees at her as she neared what was left of the midway. She shivered at the sight of the forgotten creatures as they silently welcomed her to their world. She pulled her eyes away, determined not to scare herself already. Fiberglass and plastic couldn’t hurt her and that’s all this place was. A hollow echo of happiness gone by.
She kept moving forward. The rusty spokes of the Ferris wheel poked out of the trees above her. The empty seats swayed slightly in the breeze. She ignored it, moving forward, looking for a shelter of some kind. A small building stood past the skeletal remains of the bumper cars. Pulling the flashlight from the backpack she was carrying, Elena went inside.
It had been a diner in the park’s heyday. Dirty booths surrounded the long bar separating the kitchen from the dining area. A broken jukebox stood in a corner like a refugee from the end of the world. Looking around, she realized all her fear was gone. How could she be afraid of something that had been so welcoming in its day?
Tossing her backpack on a damaged table, she headed further in, exploring the forgotten place. She saw a door to the left. She pulled it open and stepped in, shining the light around. The door closed with a gentle click and she stood there in shock. She was in a bathroom. A perfectly clean, well-lit bathroom.
Shutting off the flashlight, Elena looked around her. How could this be? There was no way this one room could have power. She quickly turned and pushed open the door, nearly knocking over some woman.
“You should be more careful, dear,” the woman said before disappearing into the bathroom.
Elena stood there, staring at the busy diner. Around her, customers waited for their food and servers hurried about. Music wafted from the perfect jukebox adding just the right ambiance.
“Order up!” a cook called from the kitchen.
She shook her head slightly as she watched him, trying to free herself from this delusion. What was going on here? She walked over to the door and peered out. Laughter filled the air as she took in the crowded midway. All the rides were in motion, their lights twinkling brightly. She was now standing in the middle of a running amusement park.
Stepping back into the diner, she returned to the empty booth with her backpack. She slid in, trying to make sense of everything.
“There you are. I was beginning to wonder where you went,” a waitress spoke, sliding a plate of food in front of her.
Elena stared at the burger and fries. Her stomach growled loudly at the sight of it.
The waitress laughed. “Sounds like someone’s hungry. When’s the last time you had something to eat?” she asked, setting a malted milkshake next to her plate.
“It’s been a while, I guess.”
“Well, eat up, sugar. There’s more where that came from.”
Elena looked up at her. “Thank you,” she spoke softly.
“It’s my pleasure. Did you give any thought to what I said?”
“What you said?” she asked around a mouth full of fries.
“Yes. About you working here? We don’t get too many people like you in here. I think you could really liven up the place. What do you say?”
Elena bit into the burger, marveling at the juiciness of it. This place was better then she could have ever hoped for. A life here would be awesome. She could be something new, something better. Just like this park. It could be a life of second chances. “Sure. You have yourself a new waitress,” she told her and settled back, enjoying her first taste of her new life.
Midnight Fixin’s At The Zombie Bowl-O-Rama
The gravel crunched loudly under the tires as the truck made its way down the old road. I swung my flashlight across the side of the road. The beam caught a rusty Harley overturned in the ditch. It sat there, a pathetic reminder of what the world had become.