“The Invisible Hitcher”
Written by: S.S.Hartman
Jill took the pans out of the oven to prepare dinner.
One dropped from her hand, and slammed to floor_ she began to cry. The baby was hungry, crying from his high chair, and the electric had been cut off due to “non-payment” the notice read. She planned to make soup on the gas burner, just enough for little Lenny and herself. He wouldn’t be needing anything, he who was in the basement.
She reached down to get the pan off of the filthy dated, 1960′s, black and white tiled floor, fighting the cockroaches for it. The house stank of rat shit, and dirty diapers. Where did it all go, she thought. What in the hell happened to us. We used to be so happy. Before the baby, and before the move, all was well. The two of them had been childhood sweethearts, and married right after graduation. Lenard used to always say that Jill was the only person in the world who truly understood him. She truly was, and that’s how she, and only she, knew what had to be done. For he would never change back, and he would never stop.
Two years ago, as the rice hit the floor of the little Church on Randall that they’d been going to since they’re christenings, life was good. Jill had a genuine smile on her face, and Lenard seamed ready for life outside of his old man’s house to begin. Jill knew then that it was she who wanted the whole marriage and kids thing, much more than Lenard had, still he accepted it, as it was, the thing to do. Or was it?
Jill wished now more than ever that they hadn’t gotten married right away. It was too much pressure, and for someone slowly unraveling, it was going to prove fatal.
From the time Lenard was five years old his father would whip him with a leather strap if he so much as breathed in his direction. Lenard got used to avoiding him, but you can’t avoid evil, it will find you. He ran to Jill’s house many times, to escape his fathers wrath. She would be sitting on the front porch of her parents 1960′s style bungalow, with a gray stoned porch, playing with her dolls, or helping her mother in the garden. She was always the perfect retreat, to his mind.
Lenard got a job working at Langston’s saw mill, and Jill took up waitressing with her mother at their family diner. The hours were long and the pay was nil but they both worked hard and seemed to get by from week to week with out starving to death. They lived for their night’s when they’d come home and fuck like rabbits until the day was new. It wasn’t paradise but it was real American living. And they were proud of the little life they had. Of coarse the baby came around without much time passing at all, and Jill couldn’t have been happier. Then before they all knew it, it almost came to an abrupt end. The clock struck twelve through the pitch black night, but it was Jillian’s screams that awoke the dead that night. Lenard called the doctor, and then her mother, then his. Everyone would meet them at the hospital, little Lenny was coming. The doctor examined Jill, and immediately rushed everyone out of the room. All Lenard heard was “Emergency C-section.”
“The baby is in distress Lenard.” the nurse told him, but he didn’t hear her. All he could see was the love of his life being wheeled out on a hospital bed and into the unknown. Would she come back, he thought. Would he be taking her home with the baby in her arms like he’d imagined a thousand time or would they be having a funeral in a couple of days. With one big casket and one small one. When the image of the tiny casket came rolling into his mind he dropped to his knees. It was more than he could bare. The time went by like the rivers erode the rock beds. And in the end, the moment he felt would never come, and yet hoped it might not, did. The nurses and doctor came walking out of the double doors with their heads lowered_ they removed their masks. The doctors eyes met Lenard’s and he was sure it wasn’t good.
“I’m sorry son. We did everything we could do.” he said. Chills ran over Lenard’s body, and then there was no noise, no time, no heartbeat beneath his own chest. He collapsed. Where ever Lenard went he found his heart, and soul, and brought them back with him, but he wasn’t alone. . It was all over the news, and the family was ever so grateful. Somehow when Lenard collapsed, then flat lined right there in front of God and everyone, he went to other side, and when he was brought back, in the same room, a bed over, Jill and the baby awoke. Jillian and Lenard sat up, simultaneously, then screamed the most blood curdling scream any of the hospital staff had ever witnessed. The baby cried out as well, at the exact same time, and it was his very first breath that brought the room to tears. The doctor burst from the open doors once more.
“I don’t know what happened! They’re alive! They’re all alive!” he announced. Both families rejoiced, and tragedy, on that day was averted. Little did any of them know it would be back for them. Jill checked out fine, and so did the baby. Lenard was running a high fever for days and the doctors couldn’t explain it. He broke out in cold sweats in the middle of the night, and when the baby would wake up crying he would get up and sit with him, for he could not sleep. He didn’t tell anyone the truth about how bad it really was, and even Jill who lived with him only knew part of the story. He in fact hadn’t slept one moment since he awoke screaming in the O.R. He would get terrible pains in his abdomen, and began suffering from strange scratches all over his body. His eyes over the next few months became more and more bloodshot. He had a foul oder about him, no matter how many times a day he showered. He would have visions during the day of crowds of people, screaming, and running in an unknown place. It always seemed black, that was all he knew, and they would be shoving one another and the smell, he couldn’t get it out of his head. It was the same smell that came from the old shed when he was seven, and his dog buster got killed in the road out in front of their house. His father took his time burying the animal, nearly four days. It smelled like death, and so did he. He stopped going to work, and old man Langston fired him. He spent his days sitting in the basement, in the dark, and Lenard hated the dark, ever since he was a child. He sat in an old rocker and drank beer after beer, and Lenard hated beer, and hummed an eerie tune.
To be Continued…
“The Invisible Hitcher”
Written by: S.S.Hartman
Jill took the pans out of the oven to prepare dinner.
One dropped from her hand, and slammed to floor_ she began to cry. The baby was hungry, crying from his high chair, and the electric had been cut off due to “non-payment” the notice read. She planned to make soup on the gas burner, just enough for little Lenny and herself. He wouldn’t be needing anything, he who was in the basement.
She reached down to get the pan off of the filthy dated, 1960′s, black and white tiled floor, fighting the cockroaches for it. The house stank of rat shit, and dirty diapers. Where did it all go, she thought. What in the hell happened to us. We used to be so happy. Before the baby, and before the move, all was well. The two of them had been childhood sweethearts, and married right after graduation. Lenard used to always say that Jill was the only person in the world who truly understood him. She truly was, and that’s how she, and only she, knew what had to be done. For he would never change back, and he would never stop.
Two years ago, as the rice hit the floor of the little Church on Randall that they’d been going to since they’re christenings, life was good. Jill had a genuine smile on her face, and Lenard seamed ready for life outside of his old man’s house to begin. Jill knew then that it was she who wanted the whole marriage and kids thing, much more than Lenard had, still he accepted it, as it was, the thing to do. Or was it?
Jill wished now more than ever that they hadn’t gotten married right away. It was too much pressure, and for someone slowly unraveling, it was going to prove fatal.
From the time Lenard was five years old his father would whip him with a leather strap if he so much as breathed in his direction. Lenard got used to avoiding him, but you can’t avoid evil, it will find you. He ran to Jill’s house many times, to escape his fathers wrath. She would be sitting on the front porch of her parents 1960′s style bungalow, with a gray stoned porch, playing with her dolls, or helping her mother in the garden. She was always the perfect retreat, to his mind.
Lenard got a job working at Langston’s saw mill, and Jill took up waitressing with her mother at their family diner. The hours were long and the pay was nil but they both worked hard and seemed to get by from week to week with out starving to death. They lived for their night’s when they’d come home and fuck like rabbits until the day was new. It wasn’t paradise but it was real American living. And they were proud of the little life they had. Of coarse the baby came around without much time passing at all, and Jill couldn’t have been happier. Then before they all knew it, it almost came to an abrupt end. The clock struck twelve through the pitch black night, but it was Jillian’s screams that awoke the dead that night. Lenard called the doctor, and then her mother, then his. Everyone would meet them at the hospital, little Lenny was coming. The doctor examined Jill, and immediately rushed everyone out of the room. All Lenard heard was “Emergency C-section.”
“The baby is in distress Lenard.” the nurse told him, but he didn’t hear her. All he could see was the love of his life being wheeled out on a hospital bed and into the unknown. Would she come back, he thought. Would he be taking her home with the baby in her arms like he’d imagined a thousand time or would they be having a funeral in a couple of days. With one big casket and one small one. When the image of the tiny casket came rolling into his mind he dropped to his knees. It was more than he could bare. The time went by like the rivers erode the rock beds. And in the end, the moment he felt would never come, and yet hoped it might not, did. The nurses and doctor came walking out of the double doors with their heads lowered_ they removed their masks. The doctors eyes met Lenard’s and he was sure it wasn’t good.
“I’m sorry son. We did everything we could do.” he said. Chills ran over Lenard’s body, and then there was no noise, no time, no heartbeat beneath his own chest. He collapsed. Where ever Lenard went he found his heart, and soul, and brought them back with him, but he wasn’t alone. . It was all over the news, and the family was ever so grateful. Somehow when Lenard collapsed, then flat lined right there in front of God and everyone, he went to other side, and when he was brought back, in the same room, a bed over, Jill and the baby awoke. Jillian and Lenard sat up, simultaneously, then screamed the most blood curdling scream any of the hospital staff had ever witnessed. The baby cried out as well, at the exact same time, and it was his very first breath that brought the room to tears. The doctor burst from the open doors once more.
“I don’t know what happened! They’re alive! They’re all alive!” he announced. Both families rejoiced, and tragedy, on that day was averted. Little did any of them know it would be back for them. Jill checked out fine, and so did the baby. Lenard was running a high fever for days and the doctors couldn’t explain it. He broke out in cold sweats in the middle of the night, and when the baby would wake up crying he would get up and sit with him, for he could not sleep. He didn’t tell anyone the truth about how bad it really was, and even Jill who lived with him only knew part of the story. He in fact hadn’t slept one moment since he awoke screaming in the O.R. He would get terrible pains in his abdomen, and began suffering from strange scratches all over his body. His eyes over the next few months became more and more bloodshot. He had a foul oder about him, no matter how many times a day he showered. He would have visions during the day of crowds of people, screaming, and running in an unknown place. It always seemed black, that was all he knew, and they would be shoving one another and the smell, he couldn’t get it out of his head. It was the same smell that came from the old shed when he was seven, and his dog buster got killed in the road out in front of their house. His father took his time burying the animal, nearly four days. It smelled like death, and so did he. He stopped going to work, and old man Langston fired him. He spent his days sitting in the basement, in the dark, and Lenard hated the dark, ever since he was a child. He sat in an old rocker and drank beer after beer, and Lenard hated beer, and hummed an eerie tune.
To be Continued…
November 10, 2009
Categories: BLOODCURDLING, BLOODY, Campfire stories, cars, CHILLING, CREEPY, dead, Death, DEMONIC, demonic nannies, Demons, Devils, drama, Evil, female writers, fright, FRIGHTENING, GHASTLY, ghosts, GHOULISH, GRISLY, GRUESOME, Halloween, haunted cars, Haunted stories, Haunting stories, HORRID, HORRIFIC, Horror, Horror writers, killers, Magic, MORBID, New writers, Paranormal, PETRIFYING, pink cadillac, Psychological Thrillers, rape, Scary, Scary Stories, sex, sexuality, SHOCKING, Short Stories, spooks, SPOOKY, STARTLING, Stories, teenagers, TERRIFYING, Thriller, Thriller/ Mystery Writers, torture, Writers . Tags: Caution: Adult Content . Author: sshartman . Comments: Leave a Comment