31 Days of Halloween Tales - Food For Thought

A short story entitled:

Food For Thought

You can't ever go back, Tam.

Tammy didn't want to go back, not now not ever.

Tammy loaded up the trunk and the back seat of the car with everything that she managed to salvage from the small two bedroom trailer.

The last three years of her life had been a nightmare. The death of her father four years before had started the wheels turning in the wrong direction and then her mother died a year later. Tammy spent six months in foster care which hadn't been a picnic either until her brother, Arthur managed to gain custody of her.

At first Tammy thought everything was going to be alright but by then Art had married Drew and things went from bad to worse.  With more than enough encouragement from his wife, Art began to dabble in drugs and it wasn't long before  the abuse began. It was bearable at first but as it began to occur more frequently and with greater violence, Tammy realized it was only a matter for time before they killed her, either on purpose or accidentally.

Tammy was tough and it is possible that she could have endured it a while longer if it hadn't been for Belle.  The sweet yellow lab was nothing more than a punching bag for her brother and Drew didn't bother to feed her most of the time. Yeah, maybe she could have lasted a while longer but she was pretty sure Belle couldn't.

She slipped on her backpack and grabbed Belle's leash. The yellow lab would never be hungry again, not as long as Tammy was alive anyway. The backpack was filled with the few valuables her mother had left behind and whatever money Tammy had been able to find hidden in the trailer. It wasn't much but it was enough to get them into California before dark.

Tammy climbed behind the steering wheel of the old Chevy Cavalier and scratched the ears of the dog in the passenger seat next to her. Behind them the last of the trailer burned in the early morning dawn.

It had been six months since Art and Drew disappeared and not one single person had stopped by to see where they were. Someone might come looking eventually, they might even wonder whatever happened to good old Art and Drew.

They wouldn't find them however. They were completely gone.

Belle belched softly in the seat next to her, her tummy full and round once again. Tammy laughed, and realized how ironic it was that while Art and Drew might not have cared for Belle when they were alive, in death, they cared for her more than they would have ever imagined.

Tammy pulled away without giving them another thought leaving the dirt lot and the burning embers behind.

31 Days of Halloween Tales - Invisible Whispers

A little tale entitled:

Invisible Whispers

"He's not imaginary, he's real!!

"Thomas, there is no one here in this room but you."

Thomas turned away from his mom and buried his face in his pillow. Why didn't she believe him?

Kristin touched her son's head, and try to smooth the out of control cowlick from his dark hair.  He needed to stop this, his step-father got so angry when Thomas made stuff up.

"Tomorrow night is Halloween, Thomas. If you want to go Trick or Treating you shouldn't say anything to Rick about Freddie, okay? We don't want him getting upset again."

 Thomas fingered the bruises on his wrist and the round circle of the cigarette burn on his arm. No, he wouldn't mention Freddie. He and his mother were both still recovering from the last time Rick got "upset." And besides, Freddie had told him the same thing.

Freddie showed up three days earlier when Thomas was sick and running a high fever and hadn't left when the fever did. He told Thomas he couldn't leave until it was over. Whatever "it" was. Thomas didn't know what he meant by that exactly, but he was more than a little afraid.

Thomas pulled the covers up around his neck, closed his eyes and tried to pretend not to hear Freddie whispering in his ear.

*****

"Mrs. Shine, did you see what happened?"

Detective Garcia wasn't sure the woman was going to be able to answer the question but he had to ask her anyway.

The woman gazed back at him with the all too familiar deer in the headlights look that the Detective saw often enough to realize she wouldn't be much help just yet.  He could come back to her later. After she had a little time.

"Officer Reese, can you please sit with Mrs. Shine until I can get a statement? Maybe get her a cup of tea or something?'

He watched Officer Penny Reese whisper to the woman and then gather her up as they both headed towards the kitchen. It would give her something to do for a few minutes, get her mind working and then he could try questioning her again.

The little boy was another matter. He seemed very willing to talk but most of what he said didn't make much sense.

"Now Thomas. Tell me again about Freddie and why you think he did this."

Thomas gazed out the window to the tree in the backyard where until a few minutes ago, Rick had been hanging, the rope from Thomas' tire swing wrapped carefully around his neck.

He thought it was alright to tell the police about his friend. Freddie was gone now anyway and the whispering had stopped.

"Freddie told me he would take care of Rick, that he would never hurt me or  my mother again."

Detective Garcia stared down at Thomas searching his face for the tell-tale signs of a lie but saw nothing more than honest innocence.

"What else did Freddie say to you, Thomas?

Thomas smiled slightly, shook his head and whispered, "Nothing."

Thomas turned his gaze back towards the window and away from the detective, somethings were best kept to himself.

There had been more of course, much more. Freddie had plenty to say. But like the vision of the man hanging from the tree, much of the whisperings of Freddie had disappeared into the child's memory and it was already getting difficult for Thomas to remember any of it at all.