Let's write a story.

[Lily]

Story #1: Horror

Setting: Tombstone, AZ

Parameters: Let's try to keep the story line cohesive, write a sentence or a paragraph(s).

Premise: Small family of 4, Mom, Dad, 2 kids - 2 boys move to Sierra Vista, AZ after purchasing a small business in nearby Tombstone, AZ.

 

[Flynn]

It was midday, the sun was beating down on Peter's 87' Chevy truck as he drove on the sweltering highway towards Tombstone. Even with the window open, Peter could still feel the heat of the day through the buffering wind that invaded the cab. Sitting on the passenger side were Peter's two boys. He smiled to himself as the two rascals he loved dearly were oblivious to the heat as they argued with each other about who was currently winning playing Candy Crush via their phones.

 

[Lily]

Peter promised them lunch in Tombstone before heading into look at the lease space where they planned on opening their business. He was excited to start building out the space. He was going to incorporate technology into old Western gun-fighting.

 

[Flynn]

After what seemed like an eternity, Peter saw the road sign pointing the way to Bastard's Cafe just outside of Tombstone. The boys were asleep by now leaning on each other for support. As he pulled into the parking lot, he saw his wife's car already parked. Maggie went ahead earlier in the day to meet with the contractors who had already finished up patching the roof of their new business.

 

[Lily]

The boys, Matt and Tommy, leaped out of the car to go see what their mom was up to. They were eager to go grab lunch at at the Bastard Cafe. "Boys, give us a minute to check the work that these guys finished up and we'll head on over to the cafe." The boys asked if they could check out the businesses next to the space their parents'. Maggie nodded and told them to return in 10 minutes. Matt and Tommy wandered off to the touristy Miss Molly's Candy and Toy Emporium.

Peter climbed up to the look at the work on the roof. Everything seemed to be well done. He thought maybe these guys could recommend other craft persons to work on other projects that might pop up. They needed to build out the large space with new flooring, and mini buildings, stables, schoolhouse...to replicate Tombstone. Players were going to need a bit of infrastructure to create the feel of an old Western town.

As he climbs down to the storefront, Peter beckons Maggie to follow him to lunch. They walk by Miss Molly's and call out to the boys. They come running, hungry and thirsty. They couldn't wait to order their meal.

 

[Lily]

One by one, they entered the Bastard Cafe. It was about half-way full, still a lot of tables available. The waiter came and sat them almost immediately.

Peter noticed the old western theme, but there were also odd looking posters, cowboys and girls and other Western people - old time photographs that didn't look quite "normal"...something in their eyes... Peter pointed it out to Maggie. She looked at them and said, well, you know no one really smiled in the old time pictures. You're reading too much into it. Let's eat.
Peter says to her that there's just something a little creepy about Bastard Cafe he couldn't put his finger on. Maggie told him he was going to get the boys going if he didn't stop. They were only 8 and 10 and still very impressionable. Let's just enjoy this break from the heat out. We have loads to do with moving into the new house and setting up the business. Relax, Peter." Peter agreed to focus on lunch and shook off the creepiness he felt.

 

[Flynn]

Even after lunch, Peter still couldn't take his mind off the eerie posters. On their way out, Peter took one last glance back at them and something cold ran up his spine, making him shiver in the 90 plus degree weather.

As Peter and Maggie drew up plans on what needed to be done in the following weeks, Matt and Tommy were outside playing with a stranger. Someone neither Peter or Maggie knew. Concerned, Maggie walked out to find out who her boys were hanging out with. From the inside of their newly purchased business it was hard to see any details about the person because of the grime on the front windows, though it was clearly a man.

Maggie was hit with a blast of heat as she stepped outside. The boys were running around with their arms out making airplane sounds. Puzzled, Maggie looked around and it was just the three of them. The man was was nowhere around. Confused on how their new playmate disappeared in a span of seconds, Maggie called to the boys.

 

[Lily]

"Tommy, Matt...who was that you were playing with a second ago?"

"He called himself Curly Bill mom, isn't that a funny name? He was funny too. He said he was an outlaw."

Maggie got a goosebumps up and down her arms. She looked at the boys and thought that it was probably some actor from a Tombstone Ok Corral show staying in character for the boys. She asked the boys where he went and they said that he was gone after they turned to her when she called them.

She looked up and down the street, didn't see anyone out of the ordinary. They looked like tourists and locals as far as she could tell. Peter walked out of the restaurant. She suggested they take the boys to check out a few more places and then they'd go home to do some unpacking. Soon they had to have the pods picked up. They needed to get the stuff out.

 

[Flynn]

It was well after 7pm when they all rolled into the driveway of their new house. Maggie told the boys to try to unpack what they could of their rooms. While the two rascals were "unpacking" their rooms, Maggie started helping Peter with the unpacking of the living room, she still couldn't get her mind off "Curly Bill." Peter, seeing his wife in thought put down a box and asked her if everything was alright. Maggie let out a small sigh, smiled and said,

"Yeah, babe. You okay?"

Peter sat on the couch which was still wrapped in moving blankets and beckoned her over to join him. That's what she loved about Peter, he could be comfortable anywhere. Maggie, fell into the couch with a slight thud. They both laughed. She gazed into Peter's big blue eyes and something leapt into her throat, just like when they first met 20 years ago. His chestnut brown hair was a little thinner and he had more pronounced crows feet but instead of making him look old they made him look more dignified.

Peter broke the momentary silence and said,

"Those posters today...I can't put my finger on it, but they made me feel very uncomfortable. The eyes seemed to be alive. I know it sounds silly."

Maggie laughed a short giggle, then replied playfully,

"You're such a silly man."

"Whatever!" Peter replied and kissed her gently which she reciprocated.

If Peter and Maggie had been paying attention to the living room bay window, they would have seen two glowing red eyes watching them.

 

[Lily]

Maggie stared at Peter quizzically. He looked like he was in a trance of sorts. She called out to him. He kept staring, almost unblinking. She then shook his arm, "Peter, are you ok?"

He seemed to come out of it, blinked a few times and said "Oh my God, I had the strangest thing happen. It was as if I in this nightmare where I asked you to hit me with a 2X4 and you did. I started bleeding. It was all so real."

She reassured him that everything was fine, nothing had happened. Maggie said to him that it must be the heat of this new climate and exhaustion from the move. She suggested that they take a relaxing shower and head off to bed and rest.

He nodded his head in agreement. As they walked into the bathroom, he heard a cackle. It was booming, almost supernatural. He went to the bedroom window to look out. He scanned the area but didn't see anything there. He shook his head as if to clear it. He was simply imagining things.

 

[Lily]

Maggie and Peter showered and brushed their teeth. Peter checked on the boys. They were fast asleep. Peter was happy with their cooperation and positive attitude about the move to Sierra Vista.

Peter and Maggie fell into the bed into an exhausted sleep. A couple of hours later, Maggie stirred when she heard a clap of thunder. She was half asleep when she realized that this was rain due to the monsoon season in the desert. She opened her eyes as she heard more thunder. She creeped out of bed so as to not awaken Peter and walked to the window and drew the curtain to the side. She peered out as a clap of thunder shook the house and a bolt of lightning lit up the backyard. What in the holy mother of God was that figure in her yard?

 

[Flynn]

Startled, Maggie quickly shook Peter awake. It took a moment for him to get his bearings.

"Maggie? What's wrong?" Peter asked, trying to wipe away the cobwebs in his head.

"I saw someone, in the backyard!" Maggie gasped.

That revelation made Peter bolt up.

"Go check on the boys, bring them into the spare bedroom and lock the door."

Before Maggie could say anything else Peter jumped out of the bad and got dressed quickly. Maggie flew into Tommy's room and got him up. She then collected Matt and ushered both of them into the spare bedroom ignoring their protests.

Peter grabbed an aluminum bat from the living room and turned on the backyard light before venturing out. The rain was coming down in buckets and Peter was instantly soaked, the warm rain was soothing as his heart raced. He looked around the yard and saw nothing. Gripping the bat tightly he was ready for whatever was lurking, be it an animal or a man. After several minutes of searching the backyard, Peter was fairly certain that there was no immediate danger and proceeded to go back in the house. As he reached the back door, Peter heard a rustling sound directly behind him. Spinning around quickly, Peter held the bat high ready to strike whatever interloper had trespassed.

A full sized German Shepherd was looking at him quizzically. The dog was sitting on its haunches. Peter taken back for a moment, regained his composure and looked at the dog. As if on cue, the dog walked up to him. Peter gingerly offered a hand and the German Shepherd kicked it gently. This is what Maggie must have seen, Peter thought to himself.

At that moment a figure walked into view, Peter's heart raced as the person slowly walked towards him.

Peter was about to warn the stranger to stay back when the dog ran to the person.

"I thank you for finding Rex! I was looking all over for him. He escaped from the yard chasing coyotes and other critters. Didn't mean to scare you folks. I'm Carson Palmer, your kinda next door neighbor and the County Sheriff."

Carson extended a hand.

Peter let out a silent sigh of relief and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Palmer."

"Call me Carson. Everyone in town does."

"Let's go inside, it's wet out here." Peter suggested.

With that they both went into the house along with a very wet Rex.

 

[Lily]

Peter walks over to the kitchen island and Carson takes a seat on a stool. Peter offers to make them some coffee and Carson accepts. They got acquainted while waiting.

Peter asked Carson about his position as Sheriff. Carson tells him that he just got re-elected to his second term, the old sheriff had been in the position over 30 years, but finally retired 5 years before. He talked about how it was a peaceful and law-abiding small town. Most of his calls were for DUIs, some domestic violence, but recently some drug ODs were beginning to pile up. Peter offered him the fresh-brewed coffee and asked Carson if he wanted cream and sugar. Carson declined, saying he only drank it black.

Carson then told Peter that every once in a while, a resident would call up spooked about seeing something strange around their home or sometimes late at night when closing up their businesses in Tombstone. Though they were experiencing an uptick in reporting. Since he was County Sheriff, he had to respond to those calls as well. He and his deputies, he had 5, hadn't ever seen anything by the time they answered these calls. All they really encountered were people that were scared and anxious. Something had obviously spooked them but they never found the culprit. Carson said part of the problem is that the description of these "strange" encounters were sometimes very similar and at other times, quite different. There was no pattern that they could identify. Most of the people were unharmed, but one person had actually died of a heart attack and one townsperson had recently disappeared without a trace. Carson mused outload about whether the disappearance of David Gomez was related to the strange goings on.

Peter listened and started feeling unsettled. He recalled feeling uneasy about those posters and the stranger the boys had encountered. He told Carson about it. Carson was surprised this weird encounter had happened during the day. He asked Peter to let him know if something strange happened again. Peter agreed to keep him in the loop.

Rex started to whine a bit and Carson said "Well, that's my cue, Rex is getting restless, we should go."

Peter nodded his head and said "Well, since we're neighbors we'll have to have you and your wife for dinner soon."

Carson replied "Why don't we have you over for a cookout first? You're still settling in. Plus we'll invite the neighbors over so they can get to know you and the family. Let me talk to Becky and see what we can set up. I hope you can back to sleep before daylight."

Peter says "Oh, the coffee was decaf since it's so late..."

Carson joked "Well, I should haul you in for that, it's criminal to serve a man decaf."

Peter apologized and Carson told him he was just pulling his leg, that he really did need to get more sleep before work the next day.

They said their goodbyes. As Peter turned off the lights in the kitchen and headed back up to bed, he thought about going to the web soon and seeing what he could find out about the events relating to David Gomez's disappearance.

 

[Flynn]

The events of that night slowly faded from view as Peter and Maggie started working on their new enterprise. The days were long and the pay stunk, but this was their dream. To finally be entrepreneur's. The day finally came when they made their grand opening, it seemed like the whole town of Tombstone and Sierra Vista was there. After Peter and Maggie gave their warm heartfelt speeches, they both cut the giant red ribbon and hugged each other.

The newly built model town looked genuine right down to the cottonwood they used to fabricate the buildings. There was joy in the air as everyone sat down to a hometown potluck. Even Carson made time to stop by with an excited Rex. Business was good the first day as visitors from the neighboring towns along with tourists dropped in to satiate their curiosity.

The day seemed like it would never end, but finally did. Exhausted, Peter and Maggie locked up and with their two very tired boys headed home well after the sun went down. It seemed to take forever to get home, but Maggie just thought it was her imagination. Finally their lovely abode came into view as they pulled onto their street. Peter grabbing Matt in his arms and Maggie carrying Tommy started walking towards the house.

 

[Lily]

Exhausted they put the boys to bed, barely managing to get their shoes off before heading to their room. They peeled off their own clothes and shoes before collapsing in bed. Good thing their business didn't open until late morning. They could sleep in a little bit.

They both nodded off as soon as their heads hit the pillows. At around 4 in the morning, Maggie awoke and had to pee. She stumbled to the bathroom, the path barely lit by a night light. As she was returning to bed she saw a figure passing her open bedroom door out of the corner of her eye. She felt a chill, but she told herself one of the boys must have passed the room in the hall after getting up to get a glass of water or something. Or it could have been Tommy, he slept walked sometimes. She went to check on the boys to make sure they were back in bed. Tommy was dead to the world in bed, lightly snoring, sleeping on his tummy just like she did. Matt was in bed and fast as sleep as well. Hmmm...that was odd, they didn't look like they'd been up at all.

She realized she was thirsty and went to get a glass of water. She walked into the kitchen and over to the sink. She got a glass from a yet unemptied dishwasher. Shit, just another thing to do in the morning. The opening had them behind on chores at home. She turned around, saw a figure shrouded in black standing by the kitchen table. Its glowing red eyes terrified her. She was frozen in fear for a second before screaming bloody murder. The figure raised a skeletal finger to its mouth and signaled quiet. She ran towards her room and crashed into Peter who was hurriedly running towards her. Peter grabbed her arms to steady her and asked what the hell was going on. She was horrified and her words came out in a jumble of words that weren't making any sense. "Weird thing, kitchen, water, red eyes..."

Peter said "We're going to wake the kids. Let's go to the kitchen and talk." She yanked her arms away and shook her head back saying "No, it's in the kitchen...can't...I'm frightened..."

 

[Lily]

bump

@Flynn

You can use vocaroo to continue if you like...

 

[Flynn]

bump

@Flynn

You can use vocaroo to continue if you like...

Well, I was hoping that other's would get on board, but it looks as though that it's going to be a two person collaboration.

 

[Lily]

Well, I was hoping that other's would get on board, but it looks as though that it's going to be a two person collaboration.

fair...

 

[Aylana]

Peter said "We're going to wake the kids. Let's go to the kitchen and talk." She yanked her arms away and shook her head back saying "No, it's in the kitchen...can't...I'm frightened..."


Maggie stared at Peter in disbelief, her jaw dropping to the floor with a loud thud. "You want to wake the kids, then have us all go to the kitchen and talk...the same kitchen where I saw a hell-spawned skeleton. Did I hear you correctly...so instead of grabbing the kids and sprinting out the front door as fast as we can, you want to act like a typical blonde bimbo from a direct-to-DVD horror film and go check out the skeleton...are you a damned idiot?

Peter began to stutter...ummm...ummm.

 

[Lily]

I lament to share that there was a tragic ending to this story. It was discovered that Flynn was the shadowy figure with the glowing eyes. She broke into their home when the boys were at school and while Peter and Maggie were trying to build their business.

The couple wasn't careful with security at home. Flynn the fiend found their personal computer. She found their financial information and drained their accounts, banking, investments and 401Ks. In ghoulish glee she also found out that the couple had an extensive history of swinging. She sent it anonymously to the local paper in Sierra Vista from their own IP address. Before she left, she got up on their bed and peed all over it while cackling in sheer joy. Next, she went into the boys rooms and to masturbate on each of their beds, wiping herself clean with their bed linens. She left feeling powerful for having humiliated and degraded a family. It was her way. In her disturbed mind she was justified because they were "sexually promiscuous".

The local small town newspaper, The Herald Review, published an extensive story about the family. In this small, military town the family was scorned and they lost customers; were shunned by the people in town. Within a two months they were completely ruined and had to go home to Maggie's parents home. They had to start all over, deeply in debt and demoralized and yet surrounded by their family and long-time friends back home.

Fast forward 8 years later and they have a new solid start. I can't share because Flynn is still out there, fiendish, hateful, scornful, and evil...pleased with her attempts, some more successful than others, at ruining people just because she could out of spite.

What happens to Flynn in the future, well her life falls apart. Her children grow up feeling distant and repulsed by the creature they have for a mother. Her husband leaves her for a woman that is kind, intelligent and joyful, working with him to create a new life that is free of insanity.

As to her final fate, time will tell and it cannot be good. The universe returns the energy, positive or negative, that we put into it.

The end.

 

[The Prowler]

Hahahaha!!!!

I love the butt hurt ending.