Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Creature In The Attic

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

Tommy and Jimmy were sound asleep. It was 2:00 AM. A thumping sound began in the attic. Tommy woke up, listened for a moment and then woke up Jimmy. The two boys sat up in their bed listening to the thumping.

"What's that?" asked Tommy.

"I don't know." Said Jimmy, "I never heard it before."

"Neither have I. Do you think we have an animal up there?"

"I don't think so. How would an animal get in?"

"Maybe Jerry is hiding one up there?"

"If mom finds it, she'll be angry."

"Let's go up and take a look."

"Okay. I'll get the flashlight." Jimmy left the room and returned a few minutes later with a flashlight in his hand.

Then the two boys headed for the attic door. The opened the door. It was very dark. Jimmy turned on the flashlight. Slowly they climbed the stairs. The thumping sound stopped. Once they were in the attic, Jimmy scanned area with a flashlight.

"You think we got a ghost?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe." Jimmy answered in a trembling voice

"We could talk to it if we had one of those boards."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Mommy said we should never use one of those boards because it is a sin."

"What's a sin?"

"A sin is when you make God angry."

"Honest?"

"Yeah."

"So what should we do?"

"Maybe we should ask Mom."

They went down the stairs and knocked on mom's bedroom door. Their mom, Mary, opened the door.

"What's the matter?" asked mom.

"I'm hearing sounds in my room." said Tommy.

"Maybe you were just dreaming?" Asked mom.

"No I wasn't. Jimmy heard it too."

Mom looked at Jimmy. "Okay, boys. Let's go to your room."

They went to the boy's bedroom and the boys jumped into bed.

"There's no sound now." She said. "Now I want both of you to go to sleep." She kissed each boy. "It's probably just an animal."

After mom left, their older brother, Jerry, came into the room. "Hey guys. What's happening?"

"We're hearing noises in the attic." said Tommy.

"You are?" asked Jerry.

"Yeah." Said Jimmy, "Maybe a ghost."

"Ya think we got a ghost? Why would a ghost be up stairs?"

Both boys shrugged their shoulders.

Mom suddenly appeared behind Jerry. "Everyone to bed. No more talk."

The thumping started again. Mom frowned, grabbed the flashlight and approached the attic door. She opened it and slowly went up the stairs.

Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry approached the attic door. The thumping was getting louder and louder. The floor vibrated with each thump. Suddenly a loud scream. They heard someone scrambling down the stairs.

Mom came out, slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Jerry, get some wood, nails and hammer from the garage." Her face was pale. Her hands were trembling.

"What happened?" asked Jerry.

"No time for questions. Go!"

Jerry ran. A few moments later he came back with the wood, hammer and nails. Something started banging on the door as mom nailed the door shut.

"Okay." She said, "Everyone outside."

The boys went down the stairway to the first floor. Suddenly the wall near the attic door shattered as a large claw came through and grabbed mom's arm. She screamed and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until it let go. Then she scrambled down the stairs tripping on the last step.

"Are you okay?" asked Jerry.

"Yes. Go! Go!"

The claw and a hairy arm was tearing apart the wall near the attic door.

Mom and the kids raced for the front door. She tried to open it. "It won't open." She then tried to open a window.

Something was coming down the stairs. Jerry grabbed a chair from the kitchen. "Get out of the way." He flung the chair smashing the window.

"Okay. Jimmy and Tommy first." said mom.

Jimmy and Tommy climbed out the window followed by Jerry. The mom climbed out with the flashlight. They ran as a claw reached out the broken window. When they reached the corner, they stopped and looked back. Nothing was following them.

"What was that?" asked Jerry.

"I'll tell you this much." said mom, "That's no ghost!"

She hugged Jimmy and Tommy and then hugged Jerry. "We need to decide what to do." She paused, "There's the diner ...." Her voice faded. The kids wouldn't sleep well tonight anyway. "Let's go."

They walked to the diner, entered and sat at a table.

After ordering food, mom asked to see the manager. Her brother, Fred, came walking out of the kitchen. "Hi Mary. How are you?'

"Not so good." said mom, "Fred, we need your help."

"I'll help if I can. What's the problem."

"You have some time?"

"Yeah."

"Sit down."

Fred pulled up a chair and sat at the table.

Mary told him what happened.

"Do you know where this creature came from?"

"I have no idea." said mom.

"Can you describe the claw?"

"All I was interested in was getting the boys to safety. I wasn't about to stop and take a good look at a claw coming out of the wall!"

"Hmmmmm." Fred scratched his chin, "How large was the claw?"

"About the size of a twelve inch pizza would be my best guess."

Fred was silent for a few minutes. "When have you been in that house now? A week maybe?"

"More or less."

"Could you describe what you found when you moved in?"

"What we found?"

"Yeah. I'm interested in the attic."

"Nothing." said mom,"Nothing unusual"

"Mom." Interrupted Jimmy.

"Hold on, honey. This is important."

"Mom, the cross."

'Jimmy, I said to -- "

"Let him speak." said Fred. "What cross?"

"Oh it's really nothing." said mom, " Seems the last owner left a crucifix up in the attic. But let's get back to that creature or whatever it is."

"That's exactly what we're doing." said Fred. "Where was the crucifix?"

"It was on top of a wooden box." said Jimmy.

"A wooden box?" asked Fred

"Yeah." Said Jerry, "I think the box was nailed to the floor."

"And one more thing." said Tommy, "There was this white stuff all over the floor."

"What stuff?" asked Fred.

"I don't know." said Tommy.

"What did it look like?" Asked Fred.

"Ummmmmm" Tommy was thinking.

"Salt," said Jerry, "Mom asked us to clean the attic. So we swept up the salt."

"Did you remove the crucifix from the box?" asked Fred.

"Yeah." said Tommy and Jimmy.

"Where is it now?" asked Fred.

"In our bedroom." said Tommy.

"Why are you so interested in a crucifix and some salt?" asked mom.

"Because it may reveal how your problem came about."

Silence. Fred kept scratching his chin. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"You know something we don't?" asked mom.

"Listen." said Fred. "We don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" asked mom.

" To get rid of that creature before more appear." answered Fred.

"Now you're scaring me. Before more what appears?" asked mom.

"I'll explain later." said Fred. He gave some directions to his crew and then turned to Mary and the kids. "Come with me."

They left the diner and got into Fred's sedan. He drove them to his house. He went inside and got a crucifix, a large container of salt and a gallon of water. From there he drove to the church and brought the salt, water and crucifix inside. A few moments later he came back to the car and drove to another home a block away from mom's house. A few moments later Fred and another man came out. Fred got into his sedan and the man got into his truck. The man followed Fred to mom's house.

They parked and everyone got out.

Fred turned to the kids. "Stay in the car."

Then he turned to mom. "Mary, this is Joe."

Mary and Joe greeted each other.

"Okay." said Fred, "Before we get started, let me explain what we are about to do. When the kids swept up the salt and removed the crucifix from the wooden box, they unwittingly freed the creature. The creature came up through a portal which you know as a wooden box."

"So you had the crucifix, the salt and the water blessed." said Mary.

"Exactly." said Fred. "We have to trap the creature near the box. Then comes the tough part. We have to force it back down the portal, cover the box and place the crucible on top of it." He paused. "Mary, this is an extremely dangerous task. I prefer you stay with the kids."

"Fred, thanks for the consideration. But I've never backed down from anything and I'm not about to back down now. I want my home back."

They each took a crucifix. Joe had two and gave one to Mary. Then Fred and Joe each took one box of salt and Mary took the holy water. They opened the front door. The house was quiet. Joe put some salt in the area by the door. Fred checked the kitchen and put salt across the kitchen entrance. Each of the three now carried the crucifix and a container of salt. They checked every closet, every room and every hallway. After each area was checked, the blessed Dead Sea salt was spread across the entrances. Finally they reached the attic door.

They opened the door and slowly climbed the stairs, spreading some salt on each step. Then they looked around the attic. There was no sign of the creature. They walked over to the wooden box and placed the cover back on it. Fred placed his crucifix on the cover and turned to face the stairway. Suddenly the creature appeared seemingly out of nowhere and swung it's arm hitting Fred in the head. Fred flew across the attic and landed on the floor unconscious. Joe and Mary held their crucifixes in front of themselves. A piece of wood flew across the room hitting Joe in the head. Joe fell to the floor unconscious. Mary was alone now. The creature stood before her. It was bent over because of the slanted roof. It looked somewhat like a human except for it's rugged leather skin, huge eyes and large claws.

Suddenly the creature hit Mary's hand with another piece of wood. The crucifix fell to the floor. The creature grabbed Mary by the arm and dragged her away from the crucifix as she screamed.

Outside, Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry were waiting inside the car.

"I don't like this." Said Jerry. "They have been in there for too long."

"What do we do?" asked Tommy.

"Maybe we should call the police." said Jimmy.

"The police can't help us. We need a priest." said Jerry.

"We do?"

"Yes. Lets go to the church." said Jerry.

Jerry got out of the car. "Come on! Let's go."

Jimmy and Tommy got out of the car. "Where?"

"There's a church about three blocks away." said Jerry.

They ran to the church and looked to the priest's residence.

They found it and knocked on the door. Father Benjamin opened the door.

The three kids spoke at once.

"Hold on. One at a time." He turned to Jerry, "What is this about?"

Jerry explained it to the priest. The only reason the priest believed the boys was because of the petrified look on their faces. Father Benjamin blessed himself and the boys. He excused himself saying he'd be right back. He came back with a blessed crucifix and holy water. "Let's go." They got into a car.

When they reached the house, the priest asked, "Did you say this creature was in the attic?"

"Yes." they answered.

"Okay." He said, "I hate to say this but I need your help." He pulled three more crucifixes out of his pocket and gave one to each of the boys.

"What are the chains for?" asked Jerry as he saw the priest pull four chains out from under the seat. Each chain was two feet long.

"If this creature outsmarted your mom and her companions, we need to be creative. Do they have holy water?" asked the priest.

"Yes." said Jerry.

"You have any water?"

"There are two buckets of water in the truck." said Jerry.

"Good." The priest got out of the car. Jerry opened the truck door which was unlocked. The priest blessed the water and then blessed the chains. "Okay." he said, "If you encounter the creature, dip the chain in the holy water and hit the creature with it."

"I'd rather throw the whole bucket of holy water on the creature." said Jerry.

"Don't miss." said the priest.

As they stepped on the front porch, the priest asked, "Has this creature ever come out of the attic?"

"Yes," said Tommy, "When it chased us out of the house."

They repeated the actions of their mom and companions, checking each room and closet on each floor. Finally they were at the bottom of the attic stairs.

They slowly climbed the stairs. The priest was the first one up the stairs. The kids followed. They found Fred and Joe unconscious on the floor.

"Where's mom?" Asked Tommy.

"Over there." The priest pointed to the corner. He cautiously walked over to checked her. "She was knocked out. I think she'll be okay."

The kids sat the buckets of water on the floor between them They dipped their chains in the water. The priest did likewise. They waited.

"What is it waiting for?" asked Jerry.

"For us to put down our guard." said the priest. "This is a smart creature."

"So what do we do?" asked Jimmy.

Before the priest could answer, the creature jumped out from behind the boxes and threw a wrench at him. The wrench hit the priest's arm and the priest dropped the cross. The creature reached for the priest as Jerry picked up the bucket of holy water. He dumped it on the creature. The creature screamed and dropped the priest. Jimmy and Tommy picked up the second bucket of holy water. As the creature lowered to the floor, they dumped the second bucket of holy water of the creature. Then they dumped the rest of the holy water, left by Mary, Fred and Joe, on the creature. The creature screamed constantly as it slowly melted down to nothing.

Father Benjamin blessed himself in thanks. Then he went to the aid of the three people on the floor. He took out his cell phone and dialed 911. He calmly stated that there were several injured people who apparently have head injuries and then gave the address.

Then he turned to the box and prayed a prayer of protection. Then he piled the remains of the salt on the box. Then he placed a crucifix on the box. He turned to the boys and said, "That should keep the portal shut."

The ambulance arrived. Father Benjamin, the boys, Joe, Fred and Mary were taken to the hospital. They were all fine. Father told Mary to paint a warning sign on the side of the wooden box in the attic.

Father smiled at the boys, "Keep the crucifixes, boys. Ya never know when you're gonna need them!"

Back at the house, things were not quiet. In the attic, sounds of the creatures within emanated from the wooden box. But the box remained sealed below the crucifix.



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Tommy and Jimmy were sound asleep. It was 2:00 AM. A thumping sound began in the attic. Tommy woke up, listened for a moment and then woke up Jimmy. The two boys sat up in their bed listening to the thumping.

"What's that?" asked Tommy.

"I don't know." Said Jimmy, "I never heard it before."

"Neither have I. Do you think we have an animal up there?"

"I don't think so. How would an animal get in?"

"Maybe Jerry is hiding one up there?"

"If mom finds it, she'll be angry."

"Let's go up and take a look."

"Okay. I'll get the flashlight." Jimmy left the room and returned a few minutes later with a flashlight in his hand.

Then the two boys headed for the attic door. The opened the door. It was very dark. Jimmy turned on the flashlight. Slowly they climbed the stairs. The thumping sound stopped. Once they were in the attic, Jimmy scanned area with a flashlight.

"You think we got a ghost?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe." Jimmy answered in a trembling voice

"We could talk to it if we had one of those boards."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Mommy said we should never use one of those boards because it is a sin."

"What's a sin?"

"A sin is when you make God angry."

"Honest?"

"Yeah."

"So what should we do?"

'Maybe we should ask Mom."

They went down the stairs and knocked on mom's bedroom door. Their mom, Mary, opened the door.

"What's the matter?" asked mom.

"I'm hearing sounds in my room." said Tommy.

"Maybe you were just dreaming?" Asked mom.

"No I wasn't. Jimmy heard it too."

Mom looked at Jimmy. "Okay, boys. Let's go to your room."

They went to the boy's bedroom and jumped into bed.

"There's no sound now." She said. "Now I want both of you to go to sleep." She kissed each boy. "It's probably just an animal."

After mom left, their older brother, Jerry, came into the room. "Hey guys. What's happening?"

"We're hearing noises in the attic." said Tommy."

"You are?" asked Jerry.

"Yeah." Said Jimmy, "Maybe a ghost."

"Ya think we got a ghost? Why would a ghost be up stairs?"

Both boys shrugged their shoulders.

Mom suddenly appeared behind Jerry. "Everyone to bed. No more talk."

The thumping started again. Mom frowned, grabbed the flashlight and approached the attic door. She opened it and slowly went up the stairs.

Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry approached the attic door. The thumping was getting louder and louder. The floor vibrated with each thump. Suddenly a loud scream. They heard someone scrambling down the stairs.

Mom came out, slammed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Jerry, get some wood, nails and hammer from the garage." Her face was pale. Her hands were trembling.

"What happened?" asked Jerry.

"No time for questions. Go!"

Jerry ran. A few moments later he came back with the wood, hammer and nails. Something started banging on the door as mom nailed the door shut.

"Okay." She said, "Everyone outside."

The boys went down the stairway to the first floor. Suddenly the wall near the attic door shattered as a large claw came through and grabbed mom's arm. She screamed and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until it let go. Then she scrambled down the stairs tripping on the last step.

"Are you okay?" asked Jerry.

"Yes. Go! Go!"

The claw and a hairy arm was tearing apart the wall near the attic door.

Mom and the kids raced for the front door. She tried to open it. "It won't open." She then tried to open a window.

Something was coming down the stairs. Jerry grabbed a chair from the kitchen. "Get out of the way." He flung the chair smashing the window.

"Okay. Jimmy and Tommy first." said mom.

Jimmy and Tommy climbed out the window followed by Jerry. The mom climbed out with the flashlight. They ran as a claw reached out the broken window. When they reached the corner, they stopped and looked back. Nothing was following them.

"What was that?" asked Jerry.

"I'll tell you this much." said mom, "That's no ghost!"

She hugged Jimmy and Tommy and then hugged Jerry. "We need to decide what to do." She paused, "There's the diner ...." Her voice faded. The kids wouldn't sleep well tonight anyway. "Let's go."

They walked to the diner, entered and sat at a table.

After ordering food, mom asked to see the manager. Her brother, Fred, came walking out of the kitchen. "Hi Mary. How are you?'

"Not so good." said mom, "Fred, we need your help."

"I'll help if I can. What's the problem."

"You have some time?"

"Yeah."

"Sit down."

Fred pulled up a chair and sat at the table.

Mary told him what happened.

"Do you know where this creature came from?"

"I have no idea." said mom.

"Can you describe the claw?"

"All I was interested in was getting the boys to safety. I wasn't about to stop and take a good look at a claw coming out of the wall!"

"Hmmmmm." Fred scratched his chin, "How large was the claw?"

"About the size of a twelve inch pizza would be my best guess."

Fred was silent for a few minutes. "When have you been in that house now? A week maybe?"

"More or less."

"Could you describe what you found when you moved in?"

"What we found?"

"Yeah. I'm interested in the attic."

"Nothing." said mom,"Nothing unusual"

"Mom." Interrupted Jimmy.

"Hold on, honey. This is important."

"Mom, the cross."

'Jimmy, I said to -- "

"Let him speak." said Fred. "What cross?"

"Oh it's really nothing." said mom, " Seems the last owner left a crucifix up in the attic. But let's get back to that creature or whatever it is."

"That's exactly what we're doing." said Fred. "Where was the crucifix?"

"It was on top of a wooden box." said Jimmy.

"A wooden box?" asked Fred

"Yeah." Said Jerry, "I think the box was nailed to the floor."

"And one more thing." said Tommy, "There was this white stuff all over the floor."

"What stuff?" asked Fred.

"I don't know." said Tommy.

"What did it look like?" Asked Fred.

"Ummmmmm" Tommy was thinking.

"Salt," said Jerry, "Mom asked us to clean the attic. So we swept up the salt."

"Did you remove the crucifix from the box?" asked Fred.

"Yeah." said Tommy and Jimmy.

"Where is it now?" asked Fred.

"In our bedroom." said Tommy.

"Why are you so interested in a crucifix and some salt?" asked mom.

"Because it may reveal how your problem came about."

Silence. Fred kept scratching his chin. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"You know something we don't?" asked mom.

"Listen." said Fred. "We don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" asked mom.

" To get rid of that creature before more appear." answered Fred.

"Now you're scaring me. Before more what appears?" asked mom.

"I'll explain later." said Fred. He gave some directions to his crew and then turned to Mary and the kids. "Come with me."

They left the diner and got into Fred's sedan. He drove them to his house. He went inside and got a crucifix, a large container of salt and a gallon of water. From there he drove to the church and brought the salt, water and crucifix inside. A few moments later he came back to the car and drove to another home a block away from mom's house. A few moments later Fred and another man came out. Fred got into his sedan and the man got into his truck. The man followed Fred to mom's house.

They parked and everyone got out.

Fred turned to the kids. "Stay in the car."

Then he turned to mom. "Mary, this is Joe."

Mary and Joe greeted each other.

"Okay." said Fred, "Before we get started, let me explain what we are about to do. When the kids swept up the salt and removed the crucifix from the wooden box, they unwittingly freed the creature. The creature came up through a portal which you know as a wooden box."

"So you had the crucifix, the salt and the water blessed." said Mary.

"Exactly." said Fred. "We have to trap the creature near the box. Then comes the tough part. We have to force it back down the portal, cover the box and place the crucible on top of it." He paused. "Mary, this is an extremely dangerous task. I prefer you stay with the kids."

"Fred, thanks for the consideration. But I've never backed down from anything and I'm not about to back down now. I want my home back."

They each took a crucifix. Joe had two and gave one to Mary. Then Fred and Joe each took one box of salt and Mary took the holy water. They opened the front door. The house was quiet. Joe put some salt in the area by the door. Fred checked the kitchen and put salt across the kitchen entrance. Each of the three now carried the crucifix and a container of salt. They checked every closet, every room and every hallway. After each area was checked, the blessed Dead Sea salt was spread across the entrances. Finally they reached the attic door.

They opened the door and slowly climbed the stairs, spreading some salt on each step. Then they looked around the attic. There was no sign of the creature. They walked over to the wooden box and placed the cover back on it. Fred placed his crucifix on the cover and turned to face the stairway. Suddenly the creature appeared seemingly out of nowhere and swung it's arm hitting Fred in the head. Fred flew across the attic and landed on the floor unconscious. Joe and Mary held their crucifixes in front of themselves. A piece of wood flew across the room hitting Joe in the head. Joe fell to the floor unconscious. Mary was alone now. The creature stood before her. It was bent over because of the slanted roof. It looked somewhat like a human except for it's rugged leather skin, huge eyes and large claws.

Suddenly the creature hit Mary's hand with another piece of wood. The crucifix fell to the floor. The creature grabbed Mary by the arm and dragged her away from the crucifix as she screamed.

Outside, Tommy, Jimmy and Jerry were waiting inside the car.

"I don't like this." Said Jerry. "They have been in there for too long."

"What do we do?" asked Tommy.

"Maybe we should call the police." said Jimmy.

"The police can't help us. We need a priest." said Jerry.

"We do?"

"Yes. Lets go to the church." said Jerry.

Jerry got out of the car. "Come on! Let's go."

Jimmy and Tommy got out of the car. "Where?"

"There's a church about three blocks away." said Jerry.

They ran to the church and looked to the priest's residence.

They found it and knocked on the door. Father Benjamin opened the door.

The three kids spoke at once.

"Hold on. One at a time." He turned to Jerry, "What is this about?"

Jerry explained it to the priest. The only reason the priest believed the boys was because of the petrified look on their faces. Father Benjamin blessed himself and the boys. He excused himself saying he'd be right back. He came back with a blessed crucifix and holy water. "Let's go." They got into a car.

When they reached the house, the priest asked, "Did you say this creature was in the attic?"

"Yes." they answered.

"Okay." He said, "I hate to say this but I need your help." He pulled three more crucifixes out of his pocket and gave one to each of the boys.

"What are the chains for?" asked Jerry as he saw the priest pull four chains out from under the seat. Each chain was two feet long.

"If this creature outsmarted your mom and her companions, we need to be creative. Do they have holy water?" asked the priest.

"Yes." said Jerry.

"You have any water?"

"There are two buckets of water in the truck." said Jerry.

"Good." The priest got out of the car. Jerry opened the truck door which was unlocked. The priest blessed the water and then blessed the chains. "Okay." he said, "If you encounter the creature, dip the chain in the holy water and hit the creature with it."

"I'd rather throw the whole bucket of holy water on the creature." said Jerry.

"Don't miss." said the priest.

As they stepped on the front porch, the priest asked, "Has this creature ever come out of the attic?"

"Yes," said Tommy, "When it chased us out of the house."

They repeated the actions of their mom and companions, checking each room and closet on each floor. Finally they were at the bottom of the attic stairs.

They slowly climbed the stairs. The priest was the first one up the stairs. The kids followed. They found Fred and Joe unconscious on the floor.

"Where's mom?" Asked Tommy.

"Over there." The priest pointed to the corner. He cautiously walked over to checked her. "She was knocked out. I think she'll be okay."

The kids sat the buckets of water on the floor between them They dipped their chains in the water. The priest did likewise. They waited.

"What is it waiting for?" asked Jerry.

"For us to put down our guard." said the priest. "This is a smart creature."

"So what do we do?" asked Jimmy.

Before the priest could answer, the creature jumped out from behind the boxes and threw a wrench at him. The wrench hit the priest's arm and the priest dropped the cross. The creature reached for the priest as Jerry picked up the bucket of holy water. He dumped it on the creature. The creature screamed and dropped the priest. Jimmy and Tommy picked up the second bucket of holy water. As the creature lowered to the floor, they dumped the second bucket of holy water of the creature. Then they dumped the rest of the holy water, left by Mary, Fred and Joe, on the creature. The creature screamed constantly as it slowly melted down to nothing.

Father Benjamin blessed himself in thanks. Then he went to the aid of the three people on the floor. He took out his cell phone and dialed 911. He calmly stated that there were several injured people who apparently have head injuries and then gave the address.

Then he turned to the box and prayed a prayer of protection. Then he piled the remains of the salt on the box. He turned to the boys and said, "That should keep the portal shut."

The ambulance arrived. Father Benjamin, the boys, Joe, Fred and Mary were taken to the hospital. They were all fine. Father told Mary to paint a warning sign on the side of the wooden box in the attic.

Father smiled at the boys, "Keep the crucifixes, boys. Ya never know when you're gonna need them!"

Back at the house, things were not quiet. In the attic, sounds of the creatures within emanated the wooden box. But it remained sealed below the crucifix.






Book Review: Lord of the Flies

Originally published on Yahoo Voices

The first time I heard about William Golding's Lord of the Flies, I was a junior in High School. My cousin gave me the book to read. He said it was a real good story. I agree. One day, I took a walk to the local park and sat on the bench. I read the whole book in one sitting. I liked it. I did several book reports on this book in school and in college.

Lord Of The Flies is a story of a group of children being taken to safety during a world war. The plane never reaches it's destination. It crashes near an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, all adults on the plane die and the children are left to fend for themselves on the Island.

Two kids, Ralph and Piggy find a conch which they use to call a meeting . The conch is the symbolic representation of a civilized society. At the meeting, Ralph is elected chief and Ralph appoints Jack, the head of a choir, as head of the hunters. The group decides to build a signal fire using Piggy's spectacles. This first fire, that spread to trees on a small plateau, was the scene of the first death.

Jack and his hunters have seen pigs on the Island. They decide to hunt and kill the pigs for food. When they encounter the first pig, Jack hesitates to stab it because he is not use to the site of blood. But Jack and his hunters soon overcomes this obstacle. At some point, Jack and his hunters paint their faces because they think the pigs see them

Piggy suggests starting a signal fire so they might be rescued. Piggy also states that maybe their moms and dads know where they (the kids) were going, but nobody knows where they are because they never got there! Perhaps that is why when Jack was on his first hunt, he borrowed some boys who were on the top of the "mountain" (on the island) and left the signal fire unattended.

Everything goes fairly smooth until the little kids start talking about a beast on the island. At first, Jack, Ralph and Piggy dismiss this as the little kids having nightmares. But the stories of a beast persist.

The fear of this beast becomes the turning point of the story. Fear drives people to do many things they later regret; especially those who become use to the shedding of blood. Everything comes in steps. First, hesitating to spill blood, then killing the pigs for food, then ...

Piggy claims that there could not be a beast because if there was a beast, nothing in the world would make sense. When Simon, a member of Jacks choir, is ask what he thinks the beast is, his answer is that maybe it is just the kids: All the kids including Simon.

One evening, Ralph says a prayer that there be a sign from the adult world before he goes to sleep. His prayer is answered. There was a sign that night, but the sign was misinterpreted. A dead parachutist lands on top of the mountain. The twins, Sam and Eric are one level below the top maintaining the signal fire. They hear a noise and peek at the next level to see the dead man in a parachute. But what they think they see is a beast that bulges: The bulge caused by the parachute being blown by the wind. They become petrified, panic and run down the mountain to tell the other kids what they saw.

This marks the beginning of the end. The conch is used to call a meeting and the frightened twins tell their story. Jack, Ralph and the hunters go up the moutain to find the beast, but run away in a panic when they see it. At a second meeting, Ralph insults Jack. Jack and his hunters leave to set up their own place to live. Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call them back and try to unite the kids. Piggy said that if Ralph doesn't try to keep everybody together, they will all become savages. But Ralph doesn't blow the conch. He says that if he blows the conch and the others don't come back, they will all become savages anyway.

As Jack an his hunters walk along the beach, they start to chant "Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood!" Soon it will become much more than a chant. Soon more blood will be spilled and not all of it will be the beast's or a pig's.

The meaning of the title of the story Lord Of The Flies comes out in one scene in the story. Simon decides to go up the mountain. Ralph, Piggy and the twins do not follow. Simon finds a nice thick bush and crawls under it. He watches Jack and his hunters carry a pig to a spot not far from him, cut off the pigs head, stick a stick sharpened at both ends into the ground and place the pig's head on the stick. They offer this gift to the beast so that it might not bother the kids. The Jack and his hunters leave the scene, but Simon remains where he is.

What follows is an exchange of words between Simon and the pig's head on the stick. The pig's head on the stick is referred to as the Lord of the Flies. The Lord of the Flies asks Simon who he thinks the Lord of the Flies is. Simon replies that the Lord of the Flies is a pigs head. The Lord of the Flies states that Simon is all alone with only the Lord of the Flies to protect him and claims it is the beast! The Lord of the Flies is amused by the fact that the kids think they can kill the beast. Then the Lord of the Flies states that it is the reason why things are falling apart on the island. It gives Simon credit for having known that the Lord of the Flies is part of everyone on the island. This scene confirms that the beast is a part of every kid on the island and warns Simon not to tell the others or the kids will "do" Simon. But Simon ignors the warning.

This scene reveals that the Lord of the Flies is much more than just a pig's head on the stick: The Lord of the Flies is evil. To figure out who the Lord of the Flies is, we turn to mythology. In mythology, there is an evil god named Beelzebub. Beelzebub represents decay, destruction, and demoralization: Exactly what took place on the island. The English translation of the word Beelzebub is "Lord of Flies."

I skipped many details in the above description of the story and I'll not tell the remainder of the story so the reader can read the book.