The Boy – Day 5

“Tommy, the policeman called this morning. He said they think they know what happened to that girl you saw in the house.”

Tommy really didn’t want to hear any more about that lady, the other lady, or that house, but he just mumbled ,” yeah.”

“Yes Tommy. Turns out she used to live there as a young child. The family moved away about ten years ago, after their other daughter died.”

“For some reason, the girl returned to the house and was living up in the attic. She must have fallen through the rotting floor and broke her neck.”

“Mom, how did the first girl die?” Tommy wasn’t sure why he wanted to know.

“Hmmm, the paper says the first girl use to run around without any shoes. Apparently a rat bit her and she died of the infection it caused.”

Tommy stopped eating his cereal for a second. No shoes. Hates rats. Dead girls.

It was too much for his ten year old brain to handle.

Draining the milk from the bowl, Tommy muttered, “Going to go play with the guys” and ran out the back door.

The Boy – Day 4

“So, exactly where was she laying?”

“Right over there.”

“Show me.”

Tommy walked through the crumbling outer door, back into the shawdowy interior. He hadn’t been back here since he found the body. He was afraid of it, but it was a bit weird.

Tommy walked into the room. He stepped over the rotting boards and around the broken glass. He didn’t notice the lady hanging back. He didn’t notice the tears forming in the lady’s eyes. He didn’t notice the rusty pipe the lady was holding behind her back.

“Here. She was laying right here.”

There was enough light filtering through the broken window panes to see where the blood had pooled. It was still obvious where the trash in the room had been moved around by the emergency crew that had responded to the body call.

The lady moved past Tommy, actually bumping him out of the way. She knelt down by the blood pool, and slowly, almost hyponitically reached down and touched it. The blood had long since dried, but she raised her fingers to her face as if they were covered in red. She gently brushed her fingers with her lips and remained motionless for quite some time.

Tommy figured it was time to go. He turned around and started walking toward the opening that use to be a door.

“Hey. Stop.”

Tommy stopped.

The lady turned away from the blood spot. She moved slowly toward Tommy. Tommy finally noticed the pipe she was holding as she was bringing it out from behind her back.

“Don’t move.”

Tommy stared at the lady. He stared at the pipe. And he stared at the door, which seemed to get farther and farther as the lady got closer to him.

The lady pulled the pipe up over her head and started a strong arch directly at Tommy. Tommy knew it was too late to move, so he just put his arms over his head and waited for the blow to fall.

The pipe whizzed through the air until it connected solidly. Rusty iron met hair, skin, and muscle. The rusty iron won, bursting upon its target -- pieces actually springing out of the twitching body which soon went limp.

There was moment of complete silence, finally broken by Tommy’s loud voice: “Jesus lady. You scared the crap out of me.”

Down at Tommy’s feet was the biggest rat he had ever seen. The lady just stood there, the bloody pipe dangling from her arm.

“Bye lady.” Tommy almost ran out of the wreck of a house. No one had shown up to play ball, so Tommy just went home. He didn’t mention anything to his mom about the house, the lady, or the rat. This doesn’t mean he didn’t think about it.

The Boy – Day 3

“Hey little guy, where are your friends?”

“They’re coming. Just ain’t here yet.”

“So, what do y’all play?”

“Baseball of course.”

“Aren’t you that boy the papers said found the dead lady around here somewhere?”

“Yep.”

“Was it gross?”

“Kinda. She was all twisted around. And I got blood on my shoes. Didn’t get in trouble though.”

“Paper said you saw someone standing around the building.”

“Yeah, some girl.”

“Did you notice what she looked like?”

“Well, she looked kinda like you. And she didn’t have no shoes, just like you.”

Tommy started to get a little nervous for some reason and looked around for his buddies. All he saw was an empty field.

“Can you show me where you found this lady?”

“Right over there, in that old building.”

“Can you take me over there? I’d like to see where she was laying.”

Tommy took another look around for his friends. Still not there. Part of him warned him to run away, but the dominant part said not to be a chicken. She was just some girl.

“Okay, come on. I’ll show you.”

Tommy didn’t see the lady reach down and pick up an piece of rusty pipe from the ground and hide it behind her back.

The Boy – Day 2

[Editor's note. It was incorrectly reported in Day 1 of this story that Tommy was 6. He is actually 10]

“Honey, tell the detective what you saw.”

“Ah Mom, I already told the other cop everything yesterday..”

“I am sure you did young man. I’m sorry, but I need to hear it again.”

“Okay, but then can I go out and play?”

“Sure Tommy, as soon as the detective says he has heard enough.”

“Okay, me and my friends were playing over in the field.”

“Excuse me, but what field is that?”

“The ball field of course.”

“It’s a field the boys play on over next to the abandoned building. Go on, Tommy.”

“Okay, well Johnny cracks one hard and it goes through the window in the building. I was playing outfield, so I haul after it. Johnny can hit the ball a mile, but he is really slow, so I’m thinking I might have a play at the plate on him.

“So I jump over the boards in the door and start looking for the ball. That’s when I saw her.”

“Okay, you are doing great, Tommy. Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“I saw this lady. She was just laying there. I went over and just looked at her.”

“The other officer said you laughed. What made you laugh?”

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t have laughed, but her arms were all funny looking. She really didn’t look like a real person, you know? Kind of like a big doll.”

“Okay Tommy, we are just about through. Now, did you see anyone else around the building.”

“Nah, just got my ball and went back to playing with the guys. …. Well, I did see one person just as I was leaving.”

“You saw a person? Tommy, can you tell me what they looked like?”

“Kind of regular, you know. Had a blanket wrapped around them or something. I didn’t pay much attention.”

“Hair color? Weight? Height?”

“Hair was kind of blonde. Regular sized person.”

“Did you notice anything else about this person, Tommy? Could you tell how old he was?”

“They weren't a guy, it was a gal, and I did notice one thing….. she didn’t have no shoes on. Can I go play now?”

“Sure Tommy. Thanks for your help.”

And the back door slammed, soon followed by the crash of the back fence gate.

The Boy – Day 1

He didn’t understand that he was supposed to be horrified by what he was seeing. He didn’t understand that he should be screaming and running away. All he understood was that there was a lady, laying on the floor – and she wasn’t moving.

Instead of screaming, he actually started to giggle. She looked funny. Her arms looked like how he could make his army men move, but he had never seen a girl be able to move her arms that way. Of course, they weren’t moving now. They just laid there.

He looked down at his little Nikes and became worried. The lady’s blood had gotten on the tip of his shoes and boy was his Mom going to be mad.

The little boy tried to wipe the blood off his shoe, using the lady’s dress like he had seen his Mom do countless times when he spilled something. The blood just smeared, getting on his pants, hands, and even face.

“Oh no. I am in big trouble now.”

“Hey Tommy. Can’t you find the ball?” his friend called from the adjacent field.

“Yeah, I got it,” he yelled back.

And with the attention span of a typical six year old, Tommy left the lady and went back to his buddies and their ball game.

It wasn’t until he got home later that afternoon that the excitement really began.