Teddy Sutton always liked
old books
He recited the
funny poem he found
etched in the
leathery folio in Grandma Sutton's attic
Down the ladder he came,
his eyes bright
Opened Grandma's throat with a kitchen knife
"
Odd child" whispered the neighbors
Many felt
chills, heard
murmurs, thought
thoughts
They dismissed them as nerves, stress,
an early fall
Hattie Kendall feeds her bridge club a pie made from
a stray cat. She giggles when no one realizes
Thomas Benson notices
blemishes on his skin that
coalesce into swirls, symbols, warts, eyes
And Doyle Cooder's dog grows two extra tongues
Maggie Jacobsen chants
hymns to murder during church
Ed Pryor burns down his house
Things get worse and worse, bit by bit
Obscured whispers from
sewer grates, flocks of
black wasps
A spreading fascination with
bleak prophecy
Saturday night starts
quiet
People start coming out in the street after dark
Ethel Powell eases her old bones onto the sidewalk
Nancy Blue and her kids speak in a
guttural language as
the oldest Tellerton boy cuts out
Ethel's heart
Everyone sings, howls, rages, shrieks
Ranting, chanting, moaning, crying
Red blood, red blood, blood, blood,
blood
A great wind rises, the streetlamps die, our
chittering goes silent
Everyone waits
horrorquest