| General Fiction posted July 12, 2017 |
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The storm after the calm...
Sleepy Madison
by Heather Knight
Madison was a sleepy town. Nothing ever happened there.
The people of Madison went about their daily business in a leisurely way, never in a hurry, never too fast.
And then, all of a sudden, things changed.
One morning, in mid-December, Mrs Davidson, the butcher's wife, walked out of her home, with a mug in her hand, ready to drink her morning tea.
The sight that welcomed her was so horrifying that she dropped her mug. A young owl had been impaled and left to bleed on her porch. Its eyes were wide with fright and its beak was half-open as if it was begging for mercy.
'Walter! Walter!' Mrs Davidson screamed.
Her husband came out, half-dressed and surprised, as he was not used to being summoned in such a way.
'What in the Lord's name is that?'
'I don't know... It's so awful, Walter. I think I'm going to throw up...'
'Do you think we should call the sheriff?'
'Please do. I want him to catch the beast who did this.'
The sheriff was called, the owl was removed from the Davidsons' porch and given a proper burial and calm returned to Madison. For a few days...
The next strange event took place at the post office. It was a Monday and when Miss Larsen opened the door, thousands of letters fell on top of her.
It took her half an hour to get out from under the pile. She would later tell the sheriff it was the worst half hour of her life. She said she thought she was going to die.
'It was as if the letters had a life of their own. They were pushing down on my arms and legs, you know.'
If she had said such a thing before the owl incident, the sheriff would have thought she was nuts, but now he believed her.
A couple of weeks went by and Madison seemed to be Madison again. Everybody started to relax and be happy as usual. But then Reverend Wilson got sick...
When the doctor came to see him, he noticed he had a very high temperature. He also noticed he was hallucinating.
'Get him out of here! Tell him to leave me alone.'
'Who are you talking about?'
'Farmer Leigh.'
'Farmer Leigh is dead, Charles.'
'Well, he's standing at the foot of my bed. And he's the one who's made me sick.'
The doctor didn't know what to do. He sat by the reverend, wondering how to cure him, when he noticed something crawling under the sick man's skin. It was long and thin, like a worm, and it was moving up his arm.
'What the heck is that?'
The doctor was horrified. He stood still, his eyes wide open. The thing moved towards the reverend's neck and once there tightened its grasp on its victim.
'I can't breathe,' the reverend said in a small voice.
Just then, the doctor heard a cruel laugh and the reverend breathed his last.
The doctor didn't call the sheriff. He didn't want the people of Madison to think he had lost his mind. However, the horrible death he had watched that day made him skittish and highly strung.
Rumors started circulating around the town. About the owl. And the letters. And the reverend's death. So unexpected. He was so young and healthy. Full of life.
The people of Madison started looking over their shoulders. Parents told their children to walk in groups. Lovers stopped going to the nearby forest after dark. And Matilda Dobson, the town librarian started digging into Madison's past.
'I don't believe in ghosts, Matilda,' her mother told her. 'I think we have a prankster amongst us, that's all.'
'And how do you explain the pressure Miss Larsen felt?'
'I don't know. I just think you ask too many questions. You know what they say... Let sleeping dogs...'
A week went by and then one day, Matilda Dobson disappeared. Her mother went into her room to wake her up and found her nightgown neatly folded on the bed, but no sign of Matilda. On the floor of her room, there was a human bone, an index finger, and a pile of dust.
Matilda's mother cried and the sheriff looked around, mystified. He hadn't had much practice being a sheriff so he didn't know what to do next.
'I told her to let things be. I told her...'
'Don't worry, Mrs Dobson. We'll find your daughter.'
The sheriff decided to do something he had never done before. He went to visit the town clairvoyant, Madame Lafayette.
'I would like to ask you about the incidents...'
'I know why you're here.'
'Oh! Of course. So can you help me?'
'Yes. You should go to the graveyard and have Farmer Leigh's body exhumed.'
'Eh?'
'And, by the way, you should know you'll never find Matilda Dobson.'
The sheriff left Madame Lafayette's shop in a state of shock. It wasn't the first time he had heard Farmer Leigh's name connected to strange events.
So, even though he was embarrassed, he decided to go to the judge and ask him for a licence to exhume the body. The judge gave his permission, even though he was unconvinced, because his wife told him to and he always did what she said to avoid conflict.
A whole month went by, because the bureaucracy in Madison was still slow. A very strange month indeed. Some more dead animals were found on porches and the widow Smith said her husband's portrait had been stolen and then found with the eyes missing.
'Heartless, heartless is what I call this,' she told everybody.
The day of the exhumation finally arrived and the whole of Madison congregated around Farmer Leigh's grave, which was not surprising as there wasn't much in the way of entertainment in the town. Not even a cinema.
The workers lifted the heavy headstone and then took out the coffin. The wood was still intact despite the fact that Farmer Leigh had been dead for twenty years.
Then, slowly, the sheriff and his assistant opened the lid.The white silk inside shone in the winter sun, but the casket... the casket was empty.
Even though an investigation was opened and the FBI were called, the body was never found.
Madison is not a sleepy town anymore. Children disappear on a regular basis, pets get killed... and those who have the money leave and never come back.
Horror Story Writing Contest contest entry
Madison was a sleepy town. Nothing ever happened there.
The people of Madison went about their daily business in a leisurely way, never in a hurry, never too fast.
And then, all of a sudden, things changed.
One morning, in mid-December, Mrs Davidson, the butcher's wife, walked out of her home, with a mug in her hand, ready to drink her morning tea.
The sight that welcomed her was so horrifying that she dropped her mug. A young owl had been impaled and left to bleed on her porch. Its eyes were wide with fright and its beak was half-open as if it was begging for mercy.
'Walter! Walter!' Mrs Davidson screamed.
Her husband came out, half-dressed and surprised, as he was not used to being summoned in such a way.
'What in the Lord's name is that?'
'I don't know... It's so awful, Walter. I think I'm going to throw up...'
'Do you think we should call the sheriff?'
'Please do. I want him to catch the beast who did this.'
The sheriff was called, the owl was removed from the Davidsons' porch and given a proper burial and calm returned to Madison. For a few days...
The next strange event took place at the post office. It was a Monday and when Miss Larsen opened the door, thousands of letters fell on top of her.
It took her half an hour to get out from under the pile. She would later tell the sheriff it was the worst half hour of her life. She said she thought she was going to die.
'It was as if the letters had a life of their own. They were pushing down on my arms and legs, you know.'
If she had said such a thing before the owl incident, the sheriff would have thought she was nuts, but now he believed her.
A couple of weeks went by and Madison seemed to be Madison again. Everybody started to relax and be happy as usual. But then Reverend Wilson got sick...
When the doctor came to see him, he noticed he had a very high temperature. He also noticed he was hallucinating.
'Get him out of here! Tell him to leave me alone.'
'Who are you talking about?'
'Farmer Leigh.'
'Farmer Leigh is dead, Charles.'
'Well, he's standing at the foot of my bed. And he's the one who's made me sick.'
The doctor didn't know what to do. He sat by the reverend, wondering how to cure him, when he noticed something crawling under the sick man's skin. It was long and thin, like a worm, and it was moving up his arm.
'What the heck is that?'
The doctor was horrified. He stood still, his eyes wide open. The thing moved towards the reverend's neck and once there tightened its grasp on its victim.
'I can't breathe,' the reverend said in a small voice.
Just then, the doctor heard a cruel laugh and the reverend breathed his last.
The doctor didn't call the sheriff. He didn't want the people of Madison to think he had lost his mind. However, the horrible death he had watched that day made him skittish and highly strung.
Rumors started circulating around the town. About the owl. And the letters. And the reverend's death. So unexpected. He was so young and healthy. Full of life.
The people of Madison started looking over their shoulders. Parents told their children to walk in groups. Lovers stopped going to the nearby forest after dark. And Matilda Dobson, the town librarian started digging into Madison's past.
'I don't believe in ghosts, Matilda,' her mother told her. 'I think we have a prankster amongst us, that's all.'
'And how do you explain the pressure Miss Larsen felt?'
'I don't know. I just think you ask too many questions. You know what they say... Let sleeping dogs...'
A week went by and then one day, Matilda Dobson disappeared. Her mother went into her room to wake her up and found her nightgown neatly folded on the bed, but no sign of Matilda. On the floor of her room, there was a human bone, an index finger, and a pile of dust.
Matilda's mother cried and the sheriff looked around, mystified. He hadn't had much practice being a sheriff so he didn't know what to do next.
'I told her to let things be. I told her...'
'Don't worry, Mrs Dobson. We'll find your daughter.'
The sheriff decided to do something he had never done before. He went to visit the town clairvoyant, Madame Lafayette.
'I would like to ask you about the incidents...'
'I know why you're here.'
'Oh! Of course. So can you help me?'
'Yes. You should go to the graveyard and have Farmer Leigh's body exhumed.'
'Eh?'
'And, by the way, you should know you'll never find Matilda Dobson.'
The sheriff left Madame Lafayette's shop in a state of shock. It wasn't the first time he had heard Farmer Leigh's name connected to strange events.
So, even though he was embarrassed, he decided to go to the judge and ask him for a licence to exhume the body. The judge gave his permission, even though he was unconvinced, because his wife told him to and he always did what she said to avoid conflict.
A whole month went by, because the bureaucracy in Madison was still slow. A very strange month indeed. Some more dead animals were found on porches and the widow Smith said her husband's portrait had been stolen and then found with the eyes missing.
'Heartless, heartless is what I call this,' she told everybody.
The day of the exhumation finally arrived and the whole of Madison congregated around Farmer Leigh's grave, which was not surprising as there wasn't much in the way of entertainment in the town. Not even a cinema.
The workers lifted the heavy headstone and then took out the coffin. The wood was still intact despite the fact that Farmer Leigh had been dead for twenty years.
Then, slowly, the sheriff and his assistant opened the lid.The white silk inside shone in the winter sun, but the casket... the casket was empty.
Even though an investigation was opened and the FBI were called, the body was never found.
Madison is not a sleepy town anymore. Children disappear on a regular basis, pets get killed... and those who have the money leave and never come back.
The people of Madison went about their daily business in a leisurely way, never in a hurry, never too fast.
And then, all of a sudden, things changed.
One morning, in mid-December, Mrs Davidson, the butcher's wife, walked out of her home, with a mug in her hand, ready to drink her morning tea.
The sight that welcomed her was so horrifying that she dropped her mug. A young owl had been impaled and left to bleed on her porch. Its eyes were wide with fright and its beak was half-open as if it was begging for mercy.
'Walter! Walter!' Mrs Davidson screamed.
Her husband came out, half-dressed and surprised, as he was not used to being summoned in such a way.
'What in the Lord's name is that?'
'I don't know... It's so awful, Walter. I think I'm going to throw up...'
'Do you think we should call the sheriff?'
'Please do. I want him to catch the beast who did this.'
The sheriff was called, the owl was removed from the Davidsons' porch and given a proper burial and calm returned to Madison. For a few days...
The next strange event took place at the post office. It was a Monday and when Miss Larsen opened the door, thousands of letters fell on top of her.
It took her half an hour to get out from under the pile. She would later tell the sheriff it was the worst half hour of her life. She said she thought she was going to die.
'It was as if the letters had a life of their own. They were pushing down on my arms and legs, you know.'
If she had said such a thing before the owl incident, the sheriff would have thought she was nuts, but now he believed her.
A couple of weeks went by and Madison seemed to be Madison again. Everybody started to relax and be happy as usual. But then Reverend Wilson got sick...
When the doctor came to see him, he noticed he had a very high temperature. He also noticed he was hallucinating.
'Get him out of here! Tell him to leave me alone.'
'Who are you talking about?'
'Farmer Leigh.'
'Farmer Leigh is dead, Charles.'
'Well, he's standing at the foot of my bed. And he's the one who's made me sick.'
The doctor didn't know what to do. He sat by the reverend, wondering how to cure him, when he noticed something crawling under the sick man's skin. It was long and thin, like a worm, and it was moving up his arm.
'What the heck is that?'
The doctor was horrified. He stood still, his eyes wide open. The thing moved towards the reverend's neck and once there tightened its grasp on its victim.
'I can't breathe,' the reverend said in a small voice.
Just then, the doctor heard a cruel laugh and the reverend breathed his last.
The doctor didn't call the sheriff. He didn't want the people of Madison to think he had lost his mind. However, the horrible death he had watched that day made him skittish and highly strung.
Rumors started circulating around the town. About the owl. And the letters. And the reverend's death. So unexpected. He was so young and healthy. Full of life.
The people of Madison started looking over their shoulders. Parents told their children to walk in groups. Lovers stopped going to the nearby forest after dark. And Matilda Dobson, the town librarian started digging into Madison's past.
'I don't believe in ghosts, Matilda,' her mother told her. 'I think we have a prankster amongst us, that's all.'
'And how do you explain the pressure Miss Larsen felt?'
'I don't know. I just think you ask too many questions. You know what they say... Let sleeping dogs...'
A week went by and then one day, Matilda Dobson disappeared. Her mother went into her room to wake her up and found her nightgown neatly folded on the bed, but no sign of Matilda. On the floor of her room, there was a human bone, an index finger, and a pile of dust.
Matilda's mother cried and the sheriff looked around, mystified. He hadn't had much practice being a sheriff so he didn't know what to do next.
'I told her to let things be. I told her...'
'Don't worry, Mrs Dobson. We'll find your daughter.'
The sheriff decided to do something he had never done before. He went to visit the town clairvoyant, Madame Lafayette.
'I would like to ask you about the incidents...'
'I know why you're here.'
'Oh! Of course. So can you help me?'
'Yes. You should go to the graveyard and have Farmer Leigh's body exhumed.'
'Eh?'
'And, by the way, you should know you'll never find Matilda Dobson.'
The sheriff left Madame Lafayette's shop in a state of shock. It wasn't the first time he had heard Farmer Leigh's name connected to strange events.
So, even though he was embarrassed, he decided to go to the judge and ask him for a licence to exhume the body. The judge gave his permission, even though he was unconvinced, because his wife told him to and he always did what she said to avoid conflict.
A whole month went by, because the bureaucracy in Madison was still slow. A very strange month indeed. Some more dead animals were found on porches and the widow Smith said her husband's portrait had been stolen and then found with the eyes missing.
'Heartless, heartless is what I call this,' she told everybody.
The day of the exhumation finally arrived and the whole of Madison congregated around Farmer Leigh's grave, which was not surprising as there wasn't much in the way of entertainment in the town. Not even a cinema.
The workers lifted the heavy headstone and then took out the coffin. The wood was still intact despite the fact that Farmer Leigh had been dead for twenty years.
Then, slowly, the sheriff and his assistant opened the lid.The white silk inside shone in the winter sun, but the casket... the casket was empty.
Even though an investigation was opened and the FBI were called, the body was never found.
Madison is not a sleepy town anymore. Children disappear on a regular basis, pets get killed... and those who have the money leave and never come back.
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