Our next prompt is a line of dialogue (mostly). And our first story up is by Jessica VanderWerff. The prompt we are working with is, "It was just the wind." Jessica's story is eerie and creepy and perfect for the Halloween season. Please enjoy and feel free to please comment!!
Trigger Warning: Abuse and Gore
Amy
was happy for her mom. She hadn’t seen her smile like that since before Amy’s
father died. She had forgotten just how beautiful her mother’s smile was. But
men certainly noticed. One man in particular, Davy: a broad shouldered, barrel
chested rich man who drove into town on a Harley one day. No one knew where
he’d come from, no one knew how he’d made all his money. He stayed at The
Little Hoosier Inn for a few months before he started dating Amy’s mom,
Candice. Davy moved into their house pretty quickly, his clothes occupying the
space in the dresser that used to belong to Amy’s dad. Amy felt a bit of
sadness at first, like a tiny pinch deep in her gut, but she quickly got over
it. She loved her mom. She loved her more than anyone else in the world, even
more than anyone else probably ever could.
The
warning signs crept in slowly, like how fall slowly creeps up on you at the end
of summer: the slight chill in the air in the morning, then the leaves start to
change color way sooner that you think they should. First, Davy would raise his
voice, or slam his first on the table if Candice had opinions that differed
from his, then Davy bought a new car, then another, then another, till their
driveway was full of luxury cars. But Davy never did offer to help pay the
bills, and since he had no job that anyone knew of, they had no idea where he
was getting all that money from. Candice never asked though, because she
swiftly began to fear the man who had made her smile during the early days of
their relationship. Amy wasn’t surprised at all the day her mom came downstairs
to the breakfast table with a black eye. Candice knew Amy saw it. Amy knew
better than to say anything about it. After months of hearing her mother cry at
night, and seeing her covering up bruises with makeup, while Davy came and went
as he pleased, treating Amy like a little Cinderella and taking it out on her
mom when Amy didn’t clean up after him, Amy decided she’d had enough. She
needed to get rid of Davy. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew she just had to.
One
day, Amy sat alone in the cornfield, smiling at the crows standing right on top
of the scarecrow. Nothing scared them at all! One crow, bigger than all the rest,
jumped down from the scarecrow’s head and pranced right next to Amy. Everything
around her went silent. The other crows stopped cawing, the wind stopped
blowing. She turned and looked into the crow’s eyes, not black but a deep blue.
How had she never noticed before that a crow could have blue eyes? When he
finally spoke to her, Amy didn’t hear his voice out loud, nor in her head.
Rather, she felt his words deep within the marrow of her bones.
We will eat.
You will dig.
Amy
nodded and abruptly stood up. There was no time to waste. She went inside and
told Candice to take advantage of Davy being out.
“Treat
yourself, Mom. Go get your hair done.”
Amy
handed her mother a wad of cash.
“Amy,
I can’t take your babysitting money!” her mother protested. “You know all Davy
does is spend. He used to have a lot but it’s all gone now and he doesn’t help
with bills, honey. This money is yours.”
“Mom,
no offense but your greys are growing out like two inches from your head.
Please get your hair colored. I miss seeing it how you used to have it. It
would make me happy.”
“Ok.
You’re right. I deserve it, don’t I?”
Amy
nodded and without another word, her mom got in her old Jeep and drove away.
Amy ran upstairs to the closet in her mom and Davy’s room. She took out Davy’s
duffel bag and stuffed it with clothes from his dresser. She had to make it
seem like he’d left in a hurry. Then she went out to the shed and got the
biggest shovel her mom had. She went out to the edge of the cornfield and began
to dig. She dug until sweat poured down her face and into her eyes, she dug
until her hands bled, she dug until her lungs burned from the exertion of it
all. Just as Davy was pulling his Cadillac into the driveway, Amy threw the
duffel bag into the grave.
Davy
stumbled out of his car. As he came closer, she could smell the alcohol on his
breath.
“Where’s
your damn mother?” he growled.
Amy
didn’t answer. She shrugged and grinned. Without any warning. Davy slapped her
across the face. “I don’t like that damn look you gave me, girl.”
Amy
winced for just a second, tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn’t let him
see her cry. Instead, when she looked up at him, she gave him her biggest
smile. Without a word, Amy turned and ran into the cornfield. Davy stumbled after
her. Amy looked up. Her friends were on their way. She could barely make out
the outline of the approaching crows in the night sky. By the time Davy caught
up to her and grabbed her shoulder, he was bitten by the first crow.
“Son
of a bitch!” he screamed.
Then
another crow bit, then another, then another. Davy tried swatting at them, but
they were too fast.
“What
the hell is this?”
He
was crying now. Good, Amy thought. Soon this will be done with. Amy
turned and walked calmly out of the cornfield. Her friends were flying in a
frenzy around her, but they never even touched her. She stood with her back to
the field. Davy’s cries soon turned into a gurgling noise, then nothing at all.
Amy sighed and hugged herself. One by one the crows landed in front of her,
like an army awaiting her next command. She nodded at the biggest crow. He
nodded back. Amy turned and walked back into the field. She took the shovel and
pushed what was left of Davy into the grave, right on top of his duffel bag of
clothes. (He was a lot lighter now.) Then she filled in the grave.
Amy
sighed and headed back into the house. She went into the bathroom and started a
hot shower. She scrubbed away all the dirt and scraped the muck from under her
nails, then she threw her clothes and shoes into the washing machine. She
wanted to get rid of every piece of evidence. Even if her mother found out,
she’d never tell, but the last thing Amy wanted was to have her mother
implicated in her crime. Who would believe it anyway? A man being picked to
shreds by crows. Highly unlikely. As Amy put on clean clothes, she relaxed even
further. No one will ever know. Amy heard her mother’s Jeep pull back
into the driveway. Amy got downstairs just as her mother was walking through
the front door. Candice carefully peeked her head in. Amy smiled.
“Don’t
worry, Davy is gone.”
“When
will he be back?” Candice asked.
“I don’t think he’s coming back. Some guy
picked him up at the end of the driveway. Davy looked panicked, like he was in
a big hurry. He only brought one bag of things with him but I don’t think he’s
coming back.”
“Well,
he’s probably on the run from the law. His cars are either stolen or he
probably bought it with money from selling drugs or something like that,”
Candice said.
After
that evening, life carried on as it had before Davy’s arrival. Candice and Amy
spent their evenings eating dinner together and watching their favorite movies.
Amy was happy again. So was Candice. Every so often, they’d hear screams in the
night. Not loudly, of course, but like they were floating in from far away.
The
first few times they heard it, Candice jumped up and screamed: “Oh God, what is
that terrible noise?”
“Don’t
worry, mom, it’s just the wind,” Amy explained.
