“You’ve had your fun, now leave! Do you hear me?! Johnny angrily shouted out into the not so empty space. 

He always lived in the room next to me. Our complex is a dump. Roaches, rats, paper-thin walls. And it smelled… it smelled like Autumn. Like rot, decay and shedding. I never did take the time to investigate that.

Let’s talk about Johnny. He does little of importance. He doesn’t go outside. He has no hobbies. He’s unwittingly lonely. The only thing this guy enjoys is the screaming. There’s no silence. There’s no respite. He white knuckles that last marble as if losing it would be the only sure-fire way the tenants would be able to claim him certifiable. 

The truth is…well, we’ve all known he was  for quite some time.

***

I no longer sleep– I just stare out the window. There’s little of importance there. Just varying shades of black and brown as far as the eye can see. It stays cold all year long. The day the boom happened, I also walked into the bleak. 

I’m not sure how I got there, but I haven’t been able to warm up since.

***

I watched him as his hands flailed about, predictably piercing my eardrums in the form of screams anew. He found a pot this time… the fool, he was trying to light a fire with dried out Autumn leaves inside it. Two matches left. He already wasted four. He was being too gentle. He needed to apply more pressure. He needed help. Even though I knew I owed him nothing. 

He always behaved as if he didn’t realize I was standing right in front of him…

***

Together we lit the match.

He threw it in the pot with trembling hands.

“I-I-I thought I told you to leave!” Screaming again. But this time it was fear. It was unadulterated consternation.

He wasn’t the looney one after all…

“God, why did you do this to us?!” I now soberly scream. Johnny, he can’t hear me. He can’t even see me. And yet I’m still so damnably cold.

5 1 vote
Post Rating
13 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Margarida Brei
Margarida Brei(@margarida-brei)
9 months ago

Who is Johnny screaming at? A ghost? An intriguing chilly tale, Melissa.

Bella Minyo
Bella Minyo(@bella-minyo)
9 months ago

Melissa, I absolutely loved this story! I like how the reader is not explicitly told who or what Johnny is yelling at. My guess is it’s his “neighbor” or someone he wronged who is the ghost narrating. It may be something/someone else though I may need to re-read it to find out. Wonderful job, as always, with your writing!

Lotchie Carmelo
Lotchie Carmelo(@lotchie-carmelo)
9 months ago

Hello, Melissa. I love it so much. The way you let the reader think about who Johnny is yelling at is challenging. I think Bella is right, the narrator is a ghost in the cemetery. And I guess Johnny is yelling at his loved one who is already dead and lying in the grave next to the ghost who narrated. Johnny could not accept the death of his loved one, so he… Read more »

Lotchie Carmelo
Lotchie Carmelo(@lotchie-carmelo)
Reply to  Melissa Taggart
9 months ago

I missed the ‘boom’ clue, Melissa. Thanks for pointing it out. You’re most welcome.

Linda Rock
Linda Rock(@linda-rock)
9 months ago

You have us all guessing with this one, Melissa! My take is that the narrator is dead but only realises this at the end of the story (rather like Malcolm in the movie ‘The Sixth Sense’). Poor Johnny screams because he is the sole survivor of a nuclear explosion (the boom) but feels the presence of another. Of course, I may be totally wrong! Another intriguing story from you that tests my… Read more »

Linda Rock
Linda Rock(@linda-rock)
Reply to  Melissa Taggart
9 months ago

Oh wow! Not that you made it easy Melissa, I did read it 3 times and the clues you outlined to Lotchie helped! Great story!

Julie Harris
Julie Harris(@julie-harris)
9 months ago

Melissa, your stories are getting better and better. Full of mysteries, with many possible interpretations. Even though you’ve quite clearly said the boom was a nuclear explosion, I still prefer my original interpretation of a more localized explosion of some kind – perhaps a gas leak or even a gun. I thought Johnny was personally responsible for the death of the ghost. It makes his guilty screaming even more understandable. The part… Read more »

Recent Comments

13
0
Selected Authors may submit comments (5 Credits)x
()
x
Scroll to Top

Sharing a Post

Why do my friends need to SignIn to read the post I shared?

Actually, this is a voting security feature. During public voting, only club members can read posts submitted for that contest. Since anyone reading the story is able to vote (click the Like button), we reserve these capabilities to members who SignIn. Before we implemented this security feature, people were voting multiple times and making the public voting process unfair and out of balance. To fix this, our staff finally decided to allow only members who SignIn to read the stories. Membership is free and easy, and ensures our club is safe, secure, and family-friendly!