Eat Me!

Here's a little treat from me to you.  Have a wonderful and happy Halloween! 

Eat Me!

By Nomar Knight

I woke to screams.  While my vision adjusted to the darkness, beads of sweat cascaded down my spine.  The fan’s hum had died. 

“Damn! The power is out again.”

My voice sounded like a choked whisper.  I tried to clear my throat, immediately holding my neck to ease an intense soreness. 

Droplets of rain pelted the windows, triggering memories of giant creatures fighting to get in my abode. 

I uttered, “What a dream!”

In spite of the humid night, I embraced myself to stop from shaking.  The more I attempted to focus on my present state, the quicker my room seemed to fade into nothingness.  Thick silence morphed into gruesome, run-for-your-life screams.  Constant pounding increased my heartbeat.  I recalled thinking, can’t let them eat me. 

The splinter of wood, followed by the clickity clack of something inhuman, travelled to my eardrums and into my psyche.  Instinct clawed at my stomach. 

Run!

Somehow, I knew the monsters outside were determined to feast on my flesh. 

Another jolt, followed by more wood cracking, prompted me to search for a weapon. 

“I need a sword.”

Clickity Clack!

A ray of moonlight revealed whiskers.  No, not whiskers, but antennae. 

“What the hell?”

Clickity Clack! Clickity Clack!

A pair of giant, silver eyes filled with needle-like indentations glared at me as though I belonged to the bottom of the food chain. 

I wondered if kicking its eyes would disable it long enough for me to escape. 

It shook side to side, attempting with desperate precision to invade my territory. 

“Wake up, damn it! Wake up!”

One last push and the giant beast smashed its way within inches of my trembling frame, forcing me to hug the wall—trapped. 

I crouched, praying for invisibility, when three more beasts cornered me. 

As the giant ants stabbed me with their antennae, I snapped out of my trance.  The power went back on.  My wife poked me with her sharp fingernails. 

“Wake up, Carl!  You’re having another nightmare.”

“They’re trying to get back at me.”

“Who?”  Emily brushed hair away from my eyes. 

“Ants!”

She giggled.  “I told you not to eat those chocolate covered ants.  Now go back to sleep.”

I watched as she turned off the lights and settled under the covers.  The fan circulated humid air in the room. 

“How can you cover up with this heat?”

Light snores signaled that she was fast asleep. 

I tried to follow her example and rested my head on the pillow, wishing I hadn’t taken the dare. 

The sound of wood splintering jolted me upright again.

“Honey, did you hear that?”

A louder snore confirmed she remained oblivious to our reality. 

In spite of my agitated state, my eyes grew heavy.   Attempts at shaking off sleep were interrupted by the distinct sound of wood cracking. 

This can’t be happening.  I must be dreaming again.

For awhile I couldn’t tell what was real or the nightmare.  I sat upright for what seemed like hours.  The rain stopped.  The welcomed sounds of silence accompanied my head bobbing.  As soon as I rested my head on the pillow, I sighed with relief, vowing to never eat chocolate covered ants again. 

I shut my eyes. 

Clickety Clack!

Horrid screams filled the night air.  The creatures surrounded our bed.  Roused from sleep, Emily demonstrated a healthy set of lungs with her explosive cries. 

“Go away!” I yelled.

One of the creatures lowered its head near Emily’s nose. 

I couldn’t allow my wife to die for my mistake. 

“Hey dumb ass! Eat me!”

But the rotten scoundrels ignored me and tore my wife to pieces.

 

Too bad the authorities didn’t believe me.  The sound of the cell door sliding open made my heart sink. 

“It’s time for your execution, Carl.”

I turned to find a priest waiting with an officer. 

“Please, Father, I didn’t do it.”

The gray haired gentleman frowned.  “Son, if they hadn’t pumped your stomach and found pieces of your wife’s heart, I could have believed you.”

The officer uttered, “Time to die, sucker!”

The walk to the deathbed seemed like hours.  Each step felt as if a ton of steel weighed my feet into quicksand.  After the medical personnel strapped me in and triggered the poison to run through my veins, the priest said, “Do you have anything to say to society, or at least to your wife’s family?”

I nodded.  “Eat me!”

Then I heard it.

Clickity Clack!

The security guard yelled, “What the hell is that!”

Large shadows crept in, darkening the bright room. 

The priest yanked out the tubes feeding me poison.  He cried, “What do we do?”

One beast tore the officer apart. 

The doctor and nurse both screamed until their shouts were replaced by torn flesh and bones.  As the giant ants surrounded us, I gripped the priest’s hands and said, “Do what I do.” 

His sweaty palms slipped off me.  As one of the creatures lowered its head over his, I yelled, “Eat me!”  The priest repeated the phrase and the monsters faded into the shadows. 

Now, Father Ryan and I share the same cell, waiting for our day to die.  Society thinks we’re cannibals.  Our next execution is slated for prime time television on All Hollows Eve in the year 2012.  That’s the night everyone will see that we’re not monsters.  The giant ants exist and they cloak themselves in the shadows.  If you don’t believe me, eat chocolate covered ants and yell, “Eat me!”  You’ll hear them coming. 

Clickity Clack! 

© Copyright Nomar Knight 2011. All rights reserved.

A Knight Chills Flash Fiction Presentation.