Fear Feast

It Came From the River: Dessert

It Came From the River: Dessert

The last thing Hartley noticed was the kitchen door swinging shut as the thing that came from the river returned there. 

As Hartley drifted into the soothing arms of Unconsciousness he pictured the beast leaving the cottage, making its way across the flooded dock and sliding back into the water. The picture was so vivid. It was as though he was there, following the creature home, going back to the river. He envisioned the flood waters receding, the sky stopped shedding its tears and the sun began to rise, light greeting the cabin and the dock. The creature was long gone, safe within the depths of the murky water. Sunrise had not caught its delicate skin.

Hartley awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. He got to his feet, gingerly holding his burning arm. His whole body ached. The floor of every room was damp. Little dead fish dotted the scene, left behind by the flood water. The eel flopped about in the corner of the living room, still alive, wriggling about desperately in a shallow puddle. 

It will asphyxiate soon, thought Hartley blankly.

He felt strange. He looked at his arm and gasped. The wound was gone, his skin perfectly clear. He felt it cautiously. It still burnt but the burning sensation was coming from under the skin. There was no rash, no redness. He was puzzled. Had he imagined the events of the previous night? The flood had happened but had the creature been real? Maybe he had had one beer too many out on the water while he had been fishing. Hartley saw the image of the creature in his mind, those sightless eyes somehow saw through him, reached into his being. The creature was real. Hartley was certain.

He grabbed his keys and ran to his truck. He drove off. He did not lock up the cabin. He did not take the fish from the freezer. He just fled the scene. Back at his house, he still felt uneasy, as though he was not alone, as though he would never be alone again. It was Sunday. Should he visit his parents? He suddenly felt that he had to. He was eager to see them. He showered and changed. It felt good to get the grime from the flood off of him. The drive to his childhood home had a calming effect on Hartley.

His parents greeted him warmly. They were surprised to see him. He did not "visit his old folks often enough" according to the old folks themselves. They ate and laughed and talked. Hartley said nothing of what had happened to him the previous night. They did not need to know that. All the while, his arm seared. The flames within spread slowly to his shoulder. By the time he said goodbye, his whole body felt as though it were on fire. He ignored it with all his might, clinging to his mother as he hugged her goodbye. He gripped his father in a hug which was a rare occurrence between them. His dad smiled. He gazed upon that smile, committing it to memory.

He did not go home. He went back to the cottage. He found the eel dead in the living room, its skin drying up. He picked it up and with his teeth, he shredded its head off. He chewed on the rubbery flesh, swallowing it with relish. He went to the freezer, thawed the raw fish and ate those too. He went to the dock to sit and wait. He was not frightened. He was just a bit sad.

His eyes glazed over, his vision faded. He was plunged into darkness before night fell so that he could not see exactly what was happening to his body but he could feel it. The night came for him and so did the beast, telling him without words how to use his strange new form, how to move. Hartley slipped into the river and followed the creature out to sea, out to the others.

It came from the river but it did not originate there. It originally came from the stars. The watery depths suit it fine but its family is small. It needs lots of sons and daughters if it is to claim the land not just the water. It needs time to adapt to light and human genes to assist it in that adaptation. Not to worry, sons and daughters are easily made and its family grows quickly. It came from the river and it happily returned there, bringing another son with it.

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