Tales of the Many: by Nicole M (ebook reader online txt) 📕

in there?” One girl ask, turning toward the other. Her voice rang out, piercing the silence, making the other girl tense up, startled.
“I don’t know.. Maybe. My grandmother told me that her great-grandmother lived near here, in an Indian tribe. She said no one ever went near the cave, everyone was too frightened that there may be a monster or demon waiting. One day, two of the men from the tribe went down, and one went in. When he didn’t return, the other went after him,” she paused, taking a breath. “Neither returned for days. The chief of the tribe took several men to search for them, only to see that their bodies laid outside of the cave, torn apart and half chewed to bits.” She took a step back from the cave, gagging at the harsh smell.
“I don’t believe any of it.” The other girl sang, as if proving that she were brave. “Let’s go in!” She grabbed her friend’s arm and the two headed inside of the cave, unknowing of what hell they were walking into.
The two walked on in the never-ending cave, trying not to breathe in the dirty air that grew worse the further in they walked. The two cut their feet on what appeared to be pieces of bone that stuck out of the slippery, smelly, wet sludge under their feet. After becoming comfortable, the two let go of each other, not saying a word. One of the girls, walked a bit behind the other, thinking selfishly. She heard a thump and an “oof” come from her friend, as she ran into something large, and furry. She fell backwards onto the girl, both falling. Both on he ground, covered in who knows what, heard something. What started out as heavy breathing turned into loud, viscious growls that echoed throughout the cave. The two stumbled, slipped, and scrambled to their feet, and began to run. Something was chasing them. Thump, thump, thump.
One tripped over a piece of bone, and fell face-first into the dirt. The other girl, after running several feet further, turned around at the sound of screams further in the cave. Something was ripping, and chewing. as her friend’s screams faded into silence, she took off for the mouth of the cave.
She reached the outside, collapsing on the dirt, and turned herself towards the cave. She heard something walking. She didn’t see anything, until out of the black, rolled her friend’s body, covered in feces, bits of bone, slobber, and blood. She was chewed up. Half eaten. Dismembered.
Horrified, the girl got to her feet, and took four steps backward. Screaming, she took off running back down the path, wishing she had never left town that night. She didn’t look back. Or return.
A Bleeding Sun

When I was young, I saw the sun bleeding. Its red, orange, and yellow brightness painted the sky. It was bleeding. It was melting.
I was sent to the market to get some bread and milk, mom was very sick. I was six.
We lived in a very sandy area, but there was a forest not too far from the market. I loved the forest, I would use it to my advantage, by playing pretend. There are no other kids here, so I’m often alone.
I decided to take the long way back from the market, which included crossing through the thickly wooded area. A certain path I knew of, brought me up, up and up into the sky, onto a cliff, that had me dangling above the whole town. I went there whenever possible, and I’d watch the sunsets and count the petals of the Blue Passion Flowers that grew on the cliff. They only grew on that cliff. You never saw them anywhere in the town, but they were beautiful and fragile, begging to be touched.
I stopped at the cliff, and set the milk and bread down. I plucked one of the flowers from its vine and sat at the very edge of the cliff, my legs hanging over the town. My town.
The wind blew my hair back behind me. And as it changed direction it snatched the flower from my hand, and blew it away out over the town. I reached out as if to call it back to me, but it just kept going, getting further and further from my outstretched hand.
And just like that, the sky grew very dark. The lights down in town started to flicker and everyone stepped outside to see what was going on.
At that instant, it was like the sun was an artist, and everywhere else was the canvas. For its color scattered out over everything, as if reaching out to us. Calling us. Wanting to harm us.
The sky was dark red and orange. It wasn’t just bleeding, or exploding, it was melting.
The temperature then increased significantly. Pushing 106 degrees Fahrenheit.
At first I didn’t know what to do, but then it occurred to me that mom was still at home by herself, and sick.
Panicked I got up, and began to run, leaving the bread and milk behind. If I got home, and mother was alright, I could always go back to the market to get some more tomorrow. All that mattered at that time, was mother’s safety. I raced through the woods, getting closer and closer to town. The branches and thorned vines sliced my skin, and it hurt.
As I made it into town, everyone was screaming, and running in the streets. Everyone was bigger than me, everyone was older than me, was louder than me. And no one saw me. I was a little girl, in a small dress, trying to push my way through a crowd of adults 3 times my age.
I was screaming out “Mommy! Mommy!” but my voice and presence were ignored. Only one man noticed me. He was a bit older than everyone else, and had a grey beard.
He towered over me with a vicious look on his face, and simply said “Get out of my way!”
I was being shoved and pushed in several directions. And I didn’t like it.
Someone’s fist managed to find my back, and the blow sent me forward. Face first, I fell onto the ground. People trampled me, crushed me, and I was crying out:
“Mommy! I’m coming! Don’t worry! Mommy!” I was crying onto the dirt road. Dirt got in my nose and it felt like I was suffocating, as people continued to ignore my body, and step on me. And then I felt nothing.
When I got up, everything was dark. And the streetlights were out. There was no moon, but I could manage to see a bit.
I stood up, limping. No one was around.
It was cold. The kind of cold that could kill someone.
My first thought was to get to mommy. So, I pushed on, past all the stores, and into a small brick home.
I called out “Mommy?”, but I didn’t hear a voice back. So I went to her room,
And there she was, laying there like stone. Gone with the wind. Gone with the sun.
And it was at that moment, that I too realized.. I’d gone away with her, and with the sun.
When I was young I saw the sun bleeding. Its red, orange, and yellow brightness painted the sky. It was bleeding, it was melting.
And I was gone

Witching Hour

Alone, in a dark, cool, damp room. As twilight turns into dark morning, I'm in a deep, uncomfortable slumber. You know those nights where you're asleep, but you're not dreaming? It's just black? Yeah, it's one of those nights. Being a boy of 16, I usually dream of girls. Being with girls, sleeping with girls, you know, typical guy stuff. but tonight, I'm not dreaming of anything.
It's 2:13AM. The dogs are barking off in the distance. Somewhere a man is driving drunk, depressed that the love of his life has left him. A girl is hitchhiking with a bag full of clothes and money she stole from her parents to make her great escape. A robbery is taking place in an innocent couple's home, as they sleep their lives away. A gamer is wide awake, playing World of Warcraft, a truck driver is feeling as though his life is empty.
It's 2:13. AM. It's close. The witching hour. It's the time where most tragedies happen. But who says I actually believe in that crap? No way. There's no such thing. I'm asleep right now, and there's nothing here in my room waiting to take me away. Nothing bad will happen. I'm totally okay and nothing. Will. Happen. Right? Right. There's nothing watching me. There's a logical explanation for that noise I just heard. Maybe it's the house settling. Yeah, that's what it is.
The minutes tick by. The more that pass, the closer I am to waking up. The hour is coming up.
I can feel it. Standing over me, watching. Waiting.
As the hour rolls around, an unlucky teenage boy opens his eyes, coming out of sleep, and sees a tiny, beady pair of demonic ones staring at him. He opens his mouth to yell, but nothing comes out, and the figure opens it's mouth to feed.
A drunk driver crashes into a tree, and dies on impact. The love that he lost, gone forever. She won't come to his funeral.
A runaway girl is picked up off the side of the road, raped brutally, and killed. So much for a great escape.
A couple is woken up by noises in the kitchen. An unlucky burglar meets his end from the hand of the homeowner. The homeowner rushed to the hospital injured trying to protect his woman.
The power goes out at a house, where everyone should be sleeping, all except for a gamer. Angered, he goes and messes with wires, trying to get power back. At the moment it comes back, he is electrocuted. The computer screen is white noise.
A lonely truck driver picks up a girl on the side of the road, holding her thumb out. She'll fill the emptiness for sure. Her body. Soft skin begging for it. For sure. But when it goes too far, the truck driver panics. Where to hide the body without anyone knowing?