Mrs. Johnson

Good ol' Mrs. Johnson, as she was known to the people of Morrison, in Jefferson County, Colorado, was your typical sweet grandmother type to the residents of the town. She often gave out candy and coins to the children that purposely passed in her direction. Always had a smile on her face, sitting on her front porch sipping on her lemonade glass that never seemed to empty. As most people of her age did, she enjoyed knitting and reading the morning paper to see what trouble today's youth had caused now. As for who lived with her, well it was just her and her daughter who was in her 30's, but you wouldn't of believed it.

Nancy was the daughters name, named after her grandmother. She lived a very sheltered life, even now as an adult she wasn't allowed do things that most women her age wouldn't even have to ask to do. She worked at the local grocery store and after her shift she would come home and eat Mamma's dinner that she would only just about tolerate, then go for a short walk around the town and back to the house where her and her mother would enjoy some television before bedtime.

Mrs. Johnson didn't like her engaging too much with people outside of their home but reminded her that if contact is made then it's important to pass yourself in a friendly manner so they won't talk, something Nancy obeyed all her life. The hierarchy in this household was clear and never challenged.

When it came to Nancy dating, this was a total no-go subject, as boys, as Mrs. Johnson referred to them as, were bad news and would leave her daughter heartbroken and messed up. For the most part Nancy did stick to this rule of thumb, she had a crush on numerous guys growing up but nothing Mrs. Johnson couldn't quickly squash. 

As Nancy's 34th birthday was coming up, she asked her mom of it was ok to ask a boy around for a couple of hours, someone she worked with. Mrs. Johnson agreed only on the terms that they were just as friends and they had to be around her all the time, Nancy nodded her head smiling "Thanks Mamma". This sudden change of attitude was something Nancy was surprised with but ultimately happy about, her first ever guy was allowed to call over, a big day in the life of Nancy Johnson.

The door bell rang and Nancy came to answer it, she stood there nervous as hell with makeup splashed allover her face like a porcelain doll from the 1920's, with a polkadot dress to match. Behind her stood her mom with a face as happy as a drunks at closing time. "Come in dear, don't be shy" she said in a forged happy manner that only her daughter could pick up on, this was the same way she spoke to the kids on the street. In stepped the skinny, lanky "boy" before being ushered to take a seat.

Mrs.Johnson sat directly in between them both. Nancy tried as much as she could to communicate to the man but her mom would always interrupt and change the subject to something totally different, whatever to keep this dirty bastard away from my girl she was thinking. "I like your dress Nancy" stuttered the nervous man, but before Nancy could say thanks, Mrs. Johnson again chimed in with "I think you look silly and foolish, I mean who are you trying to impress". Nancy bowed her head down but didn't say anything, the hierarchy once again respected.

After a few minutes awkwardly passed Mrs.Johnson suggested that Nancy go out the back yard, pick some lemons from the lemon tree and offer this "Lovely boy" some fresh lemonade. As Nancy obliged and made her way out, Mrs. Johnson asked the boy to wait there a moment as she had to go grab something upstairs.

"Close your eyes" said Mrs. Johnson while walking slowly down the wooden stairs. Nancy's friend went along with it, as hesitant as he was, he put his hands over both his eyes and waited until Mrs. Johnson told him to open them. "5...4.....3…...2........1.....open!!!!" Slowly he took his hands away, left then right one, before jumping back with a large gasp of air inwards. "What are you doing, what is this" he asked while rising to his feet in preparation to run out the door.

"You think you can buy my little girl...do ya??" Mrs. Johnson said while approaching the man with her see through white top pulled over her head as if she was headless and hatchet in her right hand. The man tried to escape the house but every door he tried was locked. Around the back of the house was an opening he saw that he might just fit through, so he raced towards that. He got his head and boulders though but that was all before he felt pain like never before.

Right down on his spine came the hatchet, not only once but over and over again. An abrupt sound of pain came out of him but no one heard, the hatchet coming down on his spine had completely paralysed his speech and facial actions, if he wasn't bent over he would be folded over like a box. His last few seconds alive he could see Nancy skipping in with a basket full of lemons, ready to see her secret date again.

As Nancy got to the back door, her mom let her in but told her to sit down, that something had happened. "I'm sorry baby but he just left, right as you went out to get the lemons he stood up and just walked out the door", Nancy sobbed in Mrs Johnson's arms for some time after this. It was then that Mrs. Johnson told her that " 34 years ago today, your daddy disappeared on us, right as I had you the scoundrel ran away, this is why boys cannot be trusted baby, look what they did to us". Nancy listened and understood as her mom stroked her hair, grinning out of sight.

The following year Nancy had been talking to a new friend at work alot and they really got on. She asked him to call over this Friday to which he agreed to. She pleaded with her mom to allows him to call over. She suggested doing all the household chores for a month with no walks in between if he could come over for an hour, besides they were just good friends. On Thursday morning before Nancy went to work, she gave into Nancy's wish, totally out of the blue.

Friday arrived and it was the same as the last time, awakward and weird, but Nancy didn't notice this, she thought it was going great. Mrs. Johnson quizzed the man a lot, then ridiculed Nancy for the way she looked once more. This brought the awkward feeling to a whole new level, it was then she leaned back and said calmly "Nancy would you mind going to the lemon tree and picking some lemons to make this boy some fresh lemonade". 

The Laughter Box

7.00 a.m every morning Tim woke to the irritating but effective sound of his alarm clock. This was followed by brushing of the teeth, the combing of what little hair he had left and putting on his sportswear for the morning walk. 

In two years since he was left go from work he done the exact same things every morning, and this morning started off no different. He stepped outside, smelling the fresh air, filling his lungs up in doing so, before turning right and heading on down the path in that direction. 

Across the small, narrow road was a cat, a black cat sitting there looking at him. Tim never seen this cat before but noticed it had a collar on her so it must of belonged to someone nearby. As he was walking, the cat was doing the same, not directly behind him but close enough to make him feel like he was being followed by the feline.

Around the third corner he normally waves to Mr.Connors but today he wasn't there to wave back and make a what's meant to be a humerous comment, instead, Tim was greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes. They also, like the cat, started to lurk behind Tim as he was starting to feel a bit uneasy with the situation. 

Over on the next street there had formed a gathering of people. These were all people he recognised as living nearby but none of them recognised Tim, they just stood there staring at him with a blank look in their faces while Tim nervously picked up the pace to walk past them.

At this point he was really starting to freak out. He stopped for a minute and took out his phone to ring his neighbour but his phone was frozen on the generic screensaver. Then he glanced at his stepometer which had also froze. In his right hand he had a bottle of water, which he poured over his sweaty head and then drank what remained, before deciding to take the closest way possible back to his home.

At his door, he put in the key and looked behind him again, as he did all throughout his walk home, but there was nothing following him anymore, the cat or the mosquitoes weren't there. Inside he decided to take a shower, the water was fresh and after drying himself off he got dressed and had a little giggle to himself about what he seen outside. 

While downstairs he tried again to ring his neighbour but the phone still wasn't in use. So on his shoes went and he gave a couple of knocks nextdoor. After the fourth knock and still no answer, he went around to the side of the house and took a look through the window to try catch someones attention, but the only attention he had got for himself was the unwanted kind in the form of dozens of rats and mice. They were all over the furniture, floors and counter tops, the house was took over by a large mischief of the furry rodents.

He quickly dashed back into his own home, slamming the door behind him while anxiously dialling number after number, trying to get through to anyone in the area. In his kitchen he stood by the sink counter top, but he could hear a purring noise coming from the front of the house. When he went to check it out, there was the same cat he saw earlier, again just sitting and looking at him.

Tim walked closer towards the cat and as he did so he noticed that the black fluffy creature wasn't the only thing inside his house. Mosquitoes came flying down the stairs, rats and mice came through every gap in the house, insects of all sorts came through the woodwork and all of his neighbours bloody faces were seen projected onto the walls with the blood dripping like wet paint.

Over by the backdoor, Tim noticed a box laying there while desperately trying to pull the door open. A sudden wave of energy came from the door, flinging Tim to the ground in the process. He now couldn't get up, whatever had thrown him was now invisibly pinning him down. The box next to his face now started to open.

Nothing was seen to come out of the box but a girl laughing could be heard. As the laughing sped up, all the creatures inside the house now hurried over to Tim, biting and gnawing at every once of his body. In total pain, he was powerless to do anything but lay there and endure the slow agonizing death of been eaten alive, inch by inch.

The faces on the wall now turned to faces of happiness, the sound of the laughter grew and grew as Tim was fading, that sound and feel of having your flesh being eaten wasn't something anyone could handle for long, especially as they had just advanced from the legs upwards. 

His last visible memory was of the cat jumping onto his chest, bending down getting ready to pounce at his face, flesh hanging from its mouth, when he could just about see the wording on its tag. It read "Property of Pandora".