Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Entry #8

Johnny’s Hidden Fear
by Miriam Cunha


“She’s coming! She’s coming!” little Johnny shouted, running into the house, nostrils flaring and eyes as wide as saucers.

His mother June came rushing into the kitchen, and ran over to him. She grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him. “What are you talking about, Johnny. Who is coming?”

Johnny swallowed hard as snot ran across his lips. “The sky, Mom! Up in the sky, I saw her!”

June rushed to the window, and looked up at the heavens. She turned to the little boy. “I see nothing, Johnny. There is nothing up in the sky but black clouds and the moon.”

He reached out, and took her hand. “Come outside,” he said calmly. “She’s coming. I saw her.”

June gazed down at him with a raised brow. “Who’s coming, Johnny?” Her shoulders were rigid.

He tugged at her hand. “Outside, Mom, you can see her from the backyard.”

June went limp, giving into Johnny’s steady tow on her hand, and letting him drag her out into the backyard.

Pointing his finger to the darkened heavens, he shouted, “There, Mom Up there.” He took a deep breath.

June sharply rolled her eyes skyward. Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and her tongue rolled out between quivering lips.

“See, Mom, Grandmothers coming,” Johnny whispered.

“May God have mercy on my soul,” June whispered. She shook her head, and smiled. “The clouds remind you of Grandmother’s burnt biscuits, don’t they?”

Johnny nodded. “Yea, Mom, I don’t like them,” he mumbled.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting. Here I was anticipating horror only to have the 'mundane' delivered. Nice twist.

Joni said...

ha - What is phobia of biscuits called? Those must have been pretty bad. Nice interpretation of the image.

anne frasier said...

LOL! that is great! you hit the ground running and quickly took us to that hilarous twist ending. loved it!

Bernita said...

Aww.
Sweet.

Robert Ball said...

Nice gotcha ending. And I thought that all grandmas were perfect cooks!

Anonymous said...

Heartwarming, Very well done.

Anonymous said...

Great work

Anonymous said...

A little uneven, but a great story, and what an ending!

Scott said...

I think we were all like Mom, nervous at first and relieved that it was a childs imagination at work after all.

Anonymous said...

haha...poor grandma...she'll always be remembered for her burnt biscuits. Good imaginative story.

Lisa Jordan said...

LOL! Totally unexpected ending to a great build up!

Bhaswati said...

Such a sweet twist in the end. Great title too. :)

Anonymous said...

"Grandma's burnt biscuits" Is there such a thing?
A very light, funny story. Well written.

bekbek said...

Spank me, but I think I see a whole new era in online advertising coming on. All you have to do is add a nice banner headline at the end of your story: "Little Johnny prefers Pillsbury!"

Anonymous said...

Adorable, so precious-kid-like! Fun piece, well written.

Anonymous said...

What a great twist ending! I was all ready for horror. Very original idea. High marks for entertainment.