Monday, February 13, 2012

The Maggot Man

The little boy woke in the middle of the night to a strange sound in the room. His family was staying in this small house in the woods for their vacation. There was only one bedroom, but the living room was very big. The boy was sleeping on one couch and his older sister was sleeping on the other across the room. It wasn't too bad; the couches were actually almost as comfortable as their beds, and sleeping on them made it seem like they were on a little adventure.

Even so, this was still a strange place for the little boy, and this quiet house out in the woods was far away from the comfort of his own familiar bedroom. He wasn't really very afraid. And as his parents had explained, this house was far out in the woods, so the only thing they'd come across around here would be deer or squirrels. But it didn't hurt to take precautions, so he kept his eyes shut for a few seconds and waited to hear the strange sound again.

Then after a few seconds he heard it again! It was the quiet creak of the floorboards. A third person must be in the room with the boy and his sister. All sorts of strange ideas ran through the boy's mind until he came to the logical conclusion that it was probably just one of his parents. That's when the boy decided to finally open his eyes and end the suspense.

What the little boy saw in the dark room didn't look at all like one of his parents. It was the figure of a man in a dark trench coat leaning over his sister who was sound asleep on the other couch! The man wasn't wearing a hat and his head was completely bald. His skin was so white that it seemed to glisten in the dark. It wasn't a good color though. That pale skin made the boy think of the color of maggots.

Startled by the sickening thought of the man's odd appearance, the boy gave an involuntary shudder that made the couch springs creak ever so slightly. Reacting to the sound, the man slowly turned his head around towards the direction of the frightened boy. As his face slowly came into view, the boy saw that the man's ears looked as if they were smoothly pressed right up against the sides of his head. All the boy could see of the man's very flat nose were the two nostril holes. Strangely, the man had a wide grin on his face. The grin didn't necessarily seem cruel, but it also didn't seem kind either. It was just fixed on the man's face as if it was the permanent shape of his mouth.

The terrified little boy was now hoping with all his heart that this was only a dream! Without any further delay, the boy quickly pulled the covers over his head, hoping the strange maggot man would go away. As the boy lie there cowering in terror under his blanket, he heard footsteps coming across the room towards him. But then for some odd reason they suddenly stopped about halfway, and there was only silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, the boy decided that the man must be gone, so he slowly pulled back the blanket to see that there was now daylight filtering in through the windows. He slowly looked around the room and saw that it was now empty except for him and his sister. The boy quickly jumped up off the couch and ran to his parents' room to tell them what happened. After talking to him for awhile and assuring him that they would investigate this event, the boy's mom and dad tried to convince him that it was almost certainly just a dream. The boy finally agreed to consider that conclusion.

The boy never saw the strange maggot man again, but he always felt that it all seemed too real to have been only a dream. But if it was real, then who was that strange man? More importantly, what was he? Was he trying to harm the boy's sister in some way? His sister claimed to have never seen him. Did the strange man leave because the boy had seen him? The boy wondered what might have happened if he hadn't woken up and seen the maggot man.

And so for many years the boy couldn't help but wonder why they were visited by the strange maggot man.

17 comments:

  1. Cool sroey Ratty....Very suspensful but I also sense it as the end....which is so annoying as my mind is going wild with the possibilites of hwo the maggot man was and why he was there....and was it just the daylight that made him disappear??? Or was it all just a drem...Just the sort of ending that drives me crazy!!

    Love the picture to go with the story too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @allotments4you
      The mysterious ending was there so everyone would wonder about the maggot man. Sometimes this kind of ending is the best kind for a story like this. All of the different possibilities are much better than finding out for sure what he was and why he was there.

      This story is actually based on a very vivid dream I had.

      Delete
  2. That's quite an intriguing concept. I love the dark mysterious undertone held throughout. It definitely stays with you after reading, which to me, makes a story good. Perhaps a part II is in order?!

    T&M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Tammy & Mike
      I may try to write a part 2, but since this was inspired by a dream I'll have to come up with the idea for it in a completely different way.

      Delete
  3. It's very eerie............ I wont read the second time or else my mind will just be flashing over & over such images!!! Sounds extremely real but when one is very sick, usually this type of phenomenon is there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Anonymous
      This story was inspired by a very real seeming dream that I had, so the image of that face still flashes over and over in my mind. The face in the picture above isn't nearly as scary as the real thing.

      Delete
  4. interesting story and ending is no ending

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @sm
      That's right. This story has many possible endings, and they are all left to your imagination.

      Delete
    2. I was thinking of an ending...hehehhe



      guy's can you give me a review on my application in entrycard?

      here: http://entrecard.com/details/185064

      thanks

      Delete
    3. @homer
      I'd like to read your ending. It might give the story a whole new dimension.

      I'll try to give you an Entrecard review, but I'm not usually good at stuff like that. I don't know how soon it will be because I'm very behind with all of my other blog commitments right now. I'm always good for a visit to your blog though.

      Delete
  5. nice story..
    keep on wondering us..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Tyna
      I'm very glad you like it. My next one might be a little later than usual, but I'm working on it.

      Delete
  6. Maggot man! Now that's creepy, but nice ending anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good plot!

    It needs a continue, not with the boy, but with the maggot man! He's really the tooth fairy, right? Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? :)

    ReplyDelete

Hey you! Leave me a comment. I won't bite... this time.