Short Horror Stories ^~^

The Petting Zoo

Johnson looked around.

"Oh, she ain't here. I keep her in the barn. She kinda makes these critters nervous. I can't say, I blames them. Wanna see her?"

The way the old man said it, the question sounded more like a challenge.

Johnson hesitated. He wanted to say no, but he could not let the old man see he was afraid.

"Sure," answered Johnson. What could it be? he asked himself. A tarantula?

With the old man in front, they went down a lesser-used path to a small barn behind a stand of trees that made it invisible from the farmhouse. A shiny new lock on a rusted hasp yielded to the old man's key.

"I don't like kids messin' with my stuff."

The ancient wooden door swung open. Inside it was pitch black. Johnson hesitated. What was it that made him apprehensive? His mouth felt dry and he tried to swallow.

"Go on in!" taunted the old man as he shoved Johnson through the door.

Stumbling on the raised sill, Johnson fell to one knee ripping his pants. Damnit, he cursed.

"There's a light switch ahead of you," the old man reassured him. "Jes' pull the string."

The stench of moldy hay made Johnson gag.

"Where is it...the spider?" he called out.

"She's in the back. You can't miss her."

"Where's the light?"

"Right in front of you. Can't you see it?" mocked the old man.

Johnson stretched out his hand. At first, he could not feel anything. Then slowly groping the air in, he caught hold of it. Johnson's heart leapt in relief. But there was something strange. The line didn't feel like string. It was sticky like a...

Pulling the line, Johnson knew he had made a mistake. Something rustled in the rafters above him and bits of straw floated down.

Johnson bolted for the opening.

"Enjoy yourself!" cackled the old man as he slammed the door and locked it.

"Let me out! Let me out!" shouted Johnson, pounding on the door. "Let me out, you old buzzard!"

But it was no use. The dried-out wooden door was like iron. Pausing to catch his breath, his fists throbbing, Johnson looked around. Slowly his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. What appeared to be a black chasm was, in fact, the side entrance to the barn. There must be another way out, he thought. But where?

In the gloom, he could see that beyond the entry way there was a large open space. And beyond that a boarded-up window through which thin shafts of sunlight streamed.

Great! All I have to do is cross the barn, pull off one or two of those boards and climb out, thought Johnson. Then I'll show that old man. Fifty bucks! He'll wish I had never stopped.

Then he heard another rustle overhead and more straw floated down.

"Who is it? Who's there?" he called out.

I'll bet it's that old man, thought Johnson. He thinks he's going to scare me.

"Sure! You just keep that up, old man," Johnson called out again. "Let's see how much laughing you do when I bash your face in."