This is a complete work. It is very short fiction and the first time I am releasing it to the public. Enjoy.
“Sam let it go,” Ray tells his friend. He watches as the boy stares into the darkness of the hole. “You’re never gonna find it. Let’s just go home.”
Sam looks away from the hole to meet his friend’s eyes. “You don’t understand Ray. My grandfather gave me that necklace. If my mom finds out I lost it she’s gonna kill me.”
“It was an accident,” Ray huffs. “You can’t even see into that hole and you have no idea what’s down there. You don’t even know how deep it is. What if there’s some kind of animal in there Sam? This isn’t a good idea.”
Sam sighs with frustration. He pays another glance towards the hole. It is dark. He has no idea how deep it is, and Ray is right. He doesn’t know what’s down there. He does know his grandpa’s necklace is in there though, and he can’t let that go. “Alright,” he says. “I have an idea.”
Ray frowns. “I hope it’s to go home. That would be the best idea you’ve ever had.”
Sam nods. “Let’s go,” he says. He heads out of the tunnel, away from the hole and his necklace, and back to the street. Ray closes his eyes, and sighs with relief. He follows quickly behind.
When they get back to Sam’s house, the boy creeps silently through the front door. Ray walks in behind him, looking at him curiously. Sam can see his mother hanging laundry on the clothesline in the backyard. He hopes that she can’t see him.
Keeping his head down, he fumbles through a drawer in the kitchen until he comes up with a flashlight. As soon as he does, his friend sighs. “I gotta try,” Sam tells him. “Now be quiet or my mother will hear you. If she comes in then I’m not going anywhere for the rest of my life.”
“I just wish you’d give up on this.”
“I know,” Sam says. He heads stealthily to the door to the basement. Paying a glance towards the back to make sure his mother’s not watching, he opens the door and heads downstairs.
“What are you doing?” Ray calls quietly from the top of the stairs. Sam doesn’t answer. He opens his father’s tackle kit and retrieves some fishing line and a hook. Then he makes his way quietly back up to the top, where his friend is waiting nervously for him. “What if I go home Sam? Will you leave the hole alone then?”
“No,” Sam says. He heads back to the front door and out to the street. Ray huffs again and follows him.
“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?” Ray asks, as the boys head back to the tunnel where the hole lays waiting for them.
“No,” Sam says. He runs into the tunnel and drops to his knees in front of the hole. He clicks on the flashlight in a hurry, and squints into the darkness.
“Doesn’t help much, does it?” Ray asks, walking over.
“No,” Sam frowns. “It’s still dark, even with the flashlight. I wish I knew how deep it was.”
“Well, you don’t. Can we go now?”
“Wait,” Sam says, drawing another sigh from his friend. “I gotta at least try.” He ties one end of the fishing line to the hook and the other to a stick he finds on the ground. Ray paces around the tunnel nervously behind him.
He makes several attempts to lower the hook into the dark void and then pull it back out. He’s hoping on luck to help him snag the necklace. Ray stops pacing and watches intently.
Sam tries to pull the hook out of the hole so he can give it another go, but he finds it’s caught on something. “Damn. It’s stuck,” he says.
Ray’s eyes widen. “Let it go Sam. You tried. Come on.”
Sam doesn’t answer. He leans back and pulls as hard as he can. He can feel it give a little, but he still can’t see the hook. “Let it go Sam!” Ray yells now.
Sam tugs even harder. Finally he gets a glimpse at what he snagged with the hook. His mouth falls open and tears fill his eyes.
“Bandit?” he says through tears before he watches the kitten’s body break free of the hook and fall back into the darkness. Looking at Ray, he says, “You told me Bandit ran away when you were watching him for me.”
“Guess he fell in the hole,” Ray shrugs.
“No.” Sam stands up and faces his friend. “He was smart. He would have seen it. You said there might be an animal down there. You knew what I’d find didn’t you? You said he ran away.”
Ray sighs again. “I also said you should let the necklace go. Of course, you didn’t listen, and now I’m gonna have to find a bigger hole.”
Sam knows what the other boy means. His mouth falls open and his eyes grow wide. Before he gets the chance to run, Ray’s hands are around his throat.
The Butcher's Boy
- 2011 Readers Favorite Award Silver Medal Winner in Horror - Fiction
A Paranormal/Chiller by Michael Robb
Thirty-one years ago, Buxly the Butcher went to trial for killing h
Pray for the light. Pray that you last that long. The Long Hour Before Light is a classic collection of Horror tales, re-mastered by Champagne Book Group
