- MUMMY STITCHED YOU UP -
Everyone faces this, and if you don’t? Lucky you. You all know what I’m talking about, you may hear it on the news, may just hear it around where you live. Whatever, if you’ve heard about this, I’m shocked. Why, you may ask? There was never a tale to tell. You’ve learned this from the same ole’ mind. If you have any knowledge on this incident, come forward and speak to the world about the so-called mysteries of life.
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- The Story –
It was one morning, I barely remember what happened after the tragic fall. Oh, it was a pain to live through, but I managed. My broken leg is part of another story, don’t let that scare you, though. I’m honest, as honest as they come. The weather forecast was on the TV as I had just woke up from a nightmare. Yeah, it was a nightmare, so I guess that wasn’t really much to be afraid of, right? I went downstairs and at first, it felt like an ordinary day. My wife was downstairs too, she had the TV on also, and her music on low volume. It was some kind of 80’s music, I know, I should remember it, but I don’t. It’s crazy, my memory is pretty terrible but that’s not as terrible as what I had witnessed in the kitchen that morning; our pet dog named ‘Jess,’ poor thing died in the night...
I remember having a family conversation together at the table. My wife didn’t say much, she was pretty quiet for a day where we’ve lost our first pet dog. Heck, it was our first pet, so it really hit the family hard. As for me, I didn’t feel too bad. I feared the worst and it was just our sick dog that had passed away. My wife’s expression resulted in me leaving the house, I knew when I weren’t wanted. I left the house, barely saying anything to my family. I held my head down, looking at the floor in disgrace of who I was back there. A little walk would usually help me clear my mind. Just a breath of fresh air to keep myself stimulated and more observant of what is going on around me. My ex-girlfriend would always talk about how Coffee is great for the mind. Yeah, she believed that.
Down the pathway that leads to a children’s park and past that is a few duck ponds and bird sanctuaries. Leaving the house was never a problem for me, but now, I wish I had stayed with my family. Of course, past the birds and the children, there was a small town where you could grab some groceries and buy yourself something nice. I didn’t stop there, though, I sat in the park alone. Parents all around me, some happy and other not so much. The children were the happiest, they were giggling, laughing, smiling, and looking so cheerful. Okay, I’ll admit, it even made me smile on a day like this. As for the dog, I’m sure I’ll go back to him and get him nice doggy grave set up for him. Yeah, I know, but what else am I supposed to do with the first family pet? He was one strong dog, so I owe him a nice burial. The vets wouldn’t do much with him, I feared what would happen to Jess, if I was to throw him outside and just leave him there.
I sat down on a near-by swing and rocked back and forth, trying to clear my head. All these emotions bottled up, they weren’t doing me no good. I’d usually go and get wasted at a bar, but what use is that to me? My wife wants me sober for the special meal tonight. I wish she would stop keeping secrets from me, even surprises, they don’t do our family too good. If anything, it always leads to fighting, arguing and screaming from the neighbours near us. Yep, our neighbourhood is full of angry, miserable people. I blame my wife for that, she always had her music on High volumes and never stopped the tracks that played after that. We’ve had police reports and so many other things, we just try to ignore it, you know? Well, this time, I chose not to ignore the things going on back at home.
A child holding a stuffed bear, her smile on her face made me shiver. It could’ve just been the cold weather though. She looked at me, her blonde hair swaying in the winds, and her blue eyes staring right at me. It was kind of cute, the way she had to look up to meet my eyes. The parents were watching us like hawks, they clearly don’t like their children going near strangers. Then again, who does? She sat on the floor, still looking at me with those bright blue eyes. She offered me the stuff bear, I couldn’t resist, and I needed something to make me smile. Beer weren’t going to do it, so why not a child’s happiness? I was right to choose that option, I even got a little mumble from the girl. She tried to give me a hug, but I turned it away, the parents stood up, trying to look as angry as possible.
“He-he, that bear is my mummy’s.” She giggled.
I looked down at the floor again, the two parents stared at me, and I tried to block their angry stares out. Looking directly at me, I just couldn’t bear to meet their eye contact. The little girl chewed one of the ears off the bear and handed it to me. This time, I took it off her and she giggled again. The parent’s shadows go closer and closer, soon, I was pretty overwhelmed by the darkness over standing over me. I continued to look down, even trying to avoid looking at the little girl. No use, they approached me, the father looking unimpressed with my behaviour towards the situation. The woman looking as if she cared about the little girl.
“Hey, buddy, did you happen to see a little girl around here?”
The moment I heard the father speak, I was confused by what he had asked. ‘A little girl? What, buddy, are you blind?’ I didn’t respond. The woman looked away from me with disgust, her long hair curling around her neck. The thought-to-be father staring down at me. He didn’t look too concerned. Eventually, they had managed to break my vowel of silence, I chose to speak out what my mind kept inside.
“No, I haven’t seen a little girl.” I stuttered as I spoke up to him.
“Have you seen my teddy?” The child giggled.
I looked at the little girl and her face looked kind of sweaty. I tried to get my head around the situation, but I couldn’t grasp a realistic solution to what was going on here. The so-called parents stopped watching her, they sat back down on the bench they were on before. Instead, they stared at me and continued to stare at me as I tried to speak to the little girl again.
“Are they your mummy and daddy, father and mother?” I asked.
“No, I want my teddy not my mummy…”
Her face looked even more upset, her eyes continued to flicker with more tears rolling down her cheek every second that went by. I stood off the swing and walked over to the store that was selling candy and all sorts of nice foods. I rested my arm against the desk of the window, looking into the store, there was nobody there. Whilst my back was turned, I felt uncomfortable. As I looked up, I realised that there was more darkness standing over me, it felt more like shade away from the sun. It was cool, but the heat of the moment still kept me sweating and feeling anxious about what was going on around me. I turned around slowly, the two parents were standing right there. A chill ran up my spine, the little girl behind them, she was just sitting there placing her two hands in the sandpit.
“Have you seen a little girl here?” The woman asked.
“Our little girl, I thought we agreed on that.” The man whispered.
Their eyes stared right into mine, they didn’t even blink once. I spoke again, giving them another response with a raspy voice coming from me.
“I’ve seen ‘A’ little girl. Why are you so bothered about that?” I stuttered again.
The woman placed her left hand on my right shoulder, the chill continued to go up my spine. Her head twisted to the side, the man looked at me as if I was crazy. My arms shaking, my body feeling too cold, I even felt my legs feeling a little damper than usual. The little girl had vanished as I tried to look past their faces. I could see the sandpit, but all the children that were playing and having fun around me, they had disappeared, so had their parents. With my hand shaking, I tried to grasp the woman’s hand and remove it from my shoulder. The man raised his eyebrows and revealed another child from behind him. He gently brushed her to the side of him, it was an older girl, and she looked to be a little stronger than the other one I had seen. Her hair was brown, her clothing was a darkish pink and her little shoes were purple with a tagline sticking out from the heel. The woman’s head looking slightly disjointed from her neck, she smiled at me.
“So… you haven’t seen a little girl?” Her voice sounded different.
“And, ahem’ this is the girl you are looking for?”
He pushed her into me, he stepped back and watched the child cling onto me. Her little hands clutched around my waist, her face buried within my shirt. The woman walked behind me, as the man kept moving backwards. Before I knew it, the man had left the area. The woman stayed with me, I felt very uncomfortable with her being behind me. I have a wife for goodness sake! I tried to move but I felt frozen in position. The woman’s hands moved around my waist, as the little girl’s face could not be seen. I kept shaking, still couldn’t tell if it was from the temperature, I felt a third chill run up my spine as the woman pulled me into her. My mind went blank for a few minutes, I realised that I had been stabbed with something sharp. I jolted my hand behind my back, trying to clutch the needle of some sort, or, whatever it was that she stabbed me with.
I looked behind me, feeling dizzy and barely being able to meet her eyes. I saw her face dissolve into blur and her hair was all unravelled from her forehead.
I was awoken by the same old alarm clock I used to have. It buzzed several times, my eyes slowly opened and I looked up at the celling with discomfort. My legs were still damp, my back aching and my heart beating strongly. I tried to move from my position but it was no use, I was stuck. As I tried to roll onto my side, I felt my bones click and my back feeling sorer. I looked to the side of me through the corner of both eyes, I could just about see wallpaper and a wooden shaped horse that looked familiar to me. On the other side, I saw more wallpaper. Beside the wallpaper was several medical tools, behind that, I could see several faces, blurred but they were still there. I rolled slowly back onto my back, it hurt like hell, but it was worth it. Staring at the celling again, I stretched out my fingers, could barely feel my movements. My head began to hurt a little more from all the moving around, still feeling dizzy and a little sick for some reason.
“He-he” the sound of children laughing around me occurred.
I heard several sounds, giggles, children’s laughter and the sound of something creaking back and forth. The sound of an Owl tweeting alongside the sound of a woman crying. I turned to look at my left hand, it was clutched by rusty chains. On the other side, I could see my right hand, it was locked in place like the other one but had a label attached to the skin. My vision still being blurry, I made out what I could: Help. You love me. Our child… it looked like a romantic gesture, it didn’t feel like one though. I went with my gut instinct, knowing that this was not my house I was in. This bed felt nothing like the one I sleep in, it felt solid and the pillows were soggy. The stench of something burning along with the smell of rotten food. It was so sickly, I could even taste the burning, and it was like rusty metal. I opened my mouth, spoke out some words, trying to be sure that I wasn’t dreaming.
“Hello? This is a dream, right? Hello!” I shouted.
The creaking stopped, I became aware of what was going on around me. The laughter continued, but wasn’t so consistent. The giggles and crying had also muted. I heard a door slam, it sounded distant and the sound of stairs creaking followed by the Owl tweeting. I stared in front of me, thankfully, my head wasn’t locked in position. I could be at-least thankful for that. The creaking continued, footsteps from outside the room creaked the floorboards. It sounded quite heavy, whatever it was that was making the sounds. I stared at the door, my eyes wanting to close, I fought it off. Almost passing out again, I heard knocking, several knocks on the other side of the door. This was soon followed by a woman’s voice.
“Are you looking after them? Watching our children?”
I spat as I spoke, my throat feeling dry, my head feeling fuzzy. I stayed quiet, didn’t say a word. If I had spoken, maybe, I wouldn’t have escaped today. For all I know, I could’ve been trapped in there until death.
The footsteps continued, getting more distant, the knocking had stopped. I looked to where the faces were, no sign of any faces. The medical tools were still there, I feared my life was over. I couldn’t move, I had nowhere to go, I had nobody to help me. I was alone, and knowing that someone is out there, and they put me in this situation, it angered me but at the same time, I was terrified. After several hours had gone, the several knocks returned. Knock, Knock, Knock. The sunlight that managed to get through the curtains, it wasn’t there anymore. I presumed that it was getting late, the room soon faded into darkness. Everything now looking like silhouettes, rather than objects that you can visibly see and understand. The woman’s voice was heard again.
“…are you making sure that our children are well fed?” She sounded as if she was sobbing.
“If you don’t look after them, how am I supposed to trust you?” Her voice faded, it sounded eerie.
I chose to reply, it was obvious that she knew I was awake. I feared that she would come in, for whatever it was outside, I didn’t want to know. Sadly, I had no choice, it was rather speak or go hungry and starve to death in a place I’ll never know.
“Yes. I’m starving…” I groaned, my stomach rumbled with aggression.
“Good… it’s nice to see you making progress…” she sobbed.
As her voice faded again, I felt even more terrified. It was weird, the voice just sounded so strange, the accent wasn’t that clear either. Her raspy voice with sobbing that made it even more unclear to what the heck it was. I could barely understand what she was saying, it sounded so direct and up-close. I tried to slip my hands through the shackles, no, it didn’t work. I was running out of time, I knew that whatever the reason, I’m trapped in here, there is no goodness to come out of it. It felt sinister and uncomfortable to me. The door opened a smidge, letting in some light. It was moonlight, looked beautiful. The light reflected off the silhouettes, revealing half of every object in the room. I could see the faces again, half of the face in darkness and the other visible. My mind thought up disturbing imagery, faces with no other half, it was quite disgusting, really…
“I left the light on… do you want to come out with me?” She asked with her raspy voice.
I felt dead inside, cold and frozen, I was too afraid to move. The door creaked open a little more, a barely visible hand slipped through and slid against the wall of the room. I watched it as it moved down and the palm tapped on some parts of the wallpaper. The giggles returned, along with the sound of a woman crying. The door continued to creak, I only wish that my hands were free. I’d hide under the cover and just block out everything around me. The moonlight faded, making the room darker, the lighting was awful. I watched the hand slowly move towards what looked to be a light switch.
“Don’t worry… with the light on, you can see me? And then, I can see you…” she whispered.
The door had opened wide, the outside light had vanished completely. I could see a face lurking in the darkness, standing underneath the middle of the doorframe. I stared into the darkness, trying to distinguish a face, but all I could see was these horrible ovals and faded skin, barely visible nose. The mouth was non-existent, if it was, I wish I could’ve seen it. It stepped into the room, my heart raced, the chains rattled with every movement I made. I tried to grasp the side of the bed, I wanted to rip the sheet from underneath me and cover myself for good. The hand had vanished, I presumed t was her hand.
“D-don’t worry… I have a candle… it may melt, d-don’t worry…”
I couldn’t stand it anymore! The voice was becoming this haunting screech through my ears and into my head. All the pain I could feel, ah, it was too much. The curtains swayed violently, forming scratches against the wallpaper. She moved closer, her steps were very slow, but with every step she’d take, my heart would sink even more into the darkness. My vision slowly dying, she approached the front of the bed. Her hands clutched the frame, her face looked closer, and I could just about see a mouth. Her clothing, I couldn’t see any clothing. I was sure that she wasn’t wearing anything, afraid of her, it looked more like an It. It didn’t look human, it barely sounded human. The sobbing was certainly a woman, though. I prepared myself for the worse, the face got closer and closer, I felt a hand grab my left foot.
I gulped, trying to hold back all my fear. The words it spoke, it was nothing but unknown whispers, unclear words I got nothing out of it. It grasped my right ankle, my foot feeling cold, my ankle, didn’t even notice that it was there. All my nerves must’ve died or something, I could barely feel anything. It felt peaceful as this creature peeled off my the skin around me toes, I even felt the toe nails being ripped off, one by one, it felt weird. I know, I thought I’d feel pain, immense pain, pain that is indescribable, but I didn’t. The creature approached my chest, the door slowly shut behind it. Its face fading away from me, I felt sharp claws pierce through my waist. I felt as if I was being burnt alive, melting with every minute that passed me. Soon, I was left in complete darkness. Knowing that there was no way out, I chose to ignore it as best I could. Sleeping. It was the only way of healing myself, fixing my sanity.
After sleeping for what felt like years, I awoke again. Surprised that I weren’t dead, I was free from the chains, and my arms and legs felt normal. I rubbed my eyes, looked to where the medical tools had been sitting, there was nothing there this time. I saw a stuffed bear in its place. The faces that I could’ve sworn they were human faces! They were just the faces of a family portrait. I stepped out of the bed, relieved that I was free from whatever happened that night. I walked along the carpet, the curtains were still closed, I left them closed and continued walking towards the door. There were no sounds from the other side, I could hear the sound of silence, whatever that is.
Opening the door slightly, I peeked through, looking around the corners of the hallway. I stepped out after taking a deep breath, the sunlight made me smile. It felt refreshing and at the same time, a little painful on the eyes. I walked down the hallway, my footsteps were heard. The floorboards underneath the carpet creaked and felt very unstable. I walked towards the door on the left, didn’t even knock, opened t and walked straight inside. The light was off and the blinds were closed, I stepped further into this room. The walls were tiled, the flooring felt smooth for my feet. I looked to the side of me, noticed my reflection staring at me. I placed my hands on my face, there was a label sticking out of my left ear. I opened the blinds so I could see what was on this label, it read:
Pull Here.
It was strange, this one wasn’t a romantic gesture, and it was an ordinary label. A label that you would always see on a… stuffed animal or a stuffed doll. I approached he mirror, I grabbed the label and slowly pulled it. It hurt a little, I realised that the label was not sewed into my skin. As I ripped it out, I had to, all this stuff was getting to me, several needles came out with it. The label around the needles, wow, it was something you don’t see every day. The sobbing returned, I sighed I thought I was out of this nightmare! I looked at the hole it had left in my ear, the blood trapped underneath the skin, slightly dripping out of the edge of the wound.
I walked back out into the hallway, I was too confident with what I wanted to know about what was going on. I became nosy, I followed the sound of the sobbing, it lead straight to another room. The door was easy to open, there was no lock, I don’t know, I thought the door would be locked. I stepped into the room, this room was not so dark, and it was lit up by small butterfly lamps. There were some orange lighting and some pretty lava lamps that made the room look beautiful. I looked ahead of me, I saw the woman sobbing right in front of me. She had a large stuffed bear in her hands, she was cuddling it and crying into its chest. I approached her, and knelt down on the soft rug that she had. She looked at me, I was horrified when she revealed her face to me.
She spoke, her face really made me ignore her words. “Don’t leave me.” She cried.
Her eyes were barely looking human, she had buttons off a shirt stitched to her lips. Her tongue was full of small-silver needles. The dried blood around her cheeks made me want to look away. Her jaw was seriously bruised, her hands were okay, but her arms were not looking so great. She was missing skin in some places, her two eyes looked as if she was blind. The hair was beautiful, it looked very human, I was happy that she wasn’t all monster. She spoke again, it made me cringe, I could not stand looking at her like the way she was.
“Please… don’t leave me… my mother will be back soon… and my father…”
Her voice was so innocent, it broke my heart to hear this voice coming from her. The way she was, it was like something out of a horror movie. The person who did this to her was seriously fucked up in the head. I brushed her dry cheeks, wiped away her tears. She looked at me as if I was her hope. I had a feeling that the mother she was talking about, it must-have been the creature that did this to me. The woman stopped sobbing, she let go of the large teddy bear and hugged me instead. I hadn’t noticed before, I was missing an ear. She reminded me, she spoke in her innocent voice:
“Mummy, stitched you up…”
(Written By: Rockyz)
(Thanks For Reading)