Brightside

Hey all.

This was a story i had written for my child sister several years ago. I found it sulking within the dark corners of my computer and decided to post it as it was moaning about 'not being read!'.

Its kinda some form of kids horror story.

All comments welcome! (and thanks for reading - it may silence the story for a while...)




The Staring Boy



Have I told you the story of the staring boy?

It isn’t long.

No?

Good.

A long time ago, when I was just a young lad, we visited my old grandma. She lived in an out of the way house in the country. It was an enormous tomb of a place; only my grandma and her old dog lived within it. Dust carpeted the floors, and the air seemed stale in many of the rooms. I explored them all, my dog, Wolf, ever my companion.

It was very boring after searching the house and its surroundings, with no neighbors around. I just sat near the small river or played ball with the dog to whittle away the day.

The night howled with wind and rain and I snuggled up to Wolf next to the raging fire my father had built in the cavernous front room. My mum talked away with her mother, haggling about how long we should stay and mentioning selling the old house. My grandma, to her credit, refused point blank to sell her family home.

Eventually I fell asleep and was carried up to my bed. I dreamt of wild storms and clawing shadows. It must have been my nightmares, for I awoke in the dead of night, nightclothes clinging to my sweaty body. The wind wailed in long mournful gusts. My dreams hunted me as every shadow reached out with slashing paws. It was then that I heard the noise. Like a small scraping sound just at the edge of my hearing. My belly tingled with electric fear. What could it be?

Scared as I was, let it be known that I have never given in to my fears, I ever so slowly sat up to put the light on. The room lay empty. My shadow demons vanished, imagination turning to reality. But there it was again.

Scraping.

It came from the window. Cautiously I crept over, my shadow demons now hiding behind the curtains. I knew there were no such ghosts in the night but I was still a child, and the faintest thing ignited my imagination.

I quickly pulled open the curtains, heart pounding, and suddenly there was a loud bang!

I leapt into the air and dashed over to the bed, throwing myself under the covers. Hiding under covers is a universally know fact to save you from any bump in the night!

As I gathered my wits I heard footsteps in the hallway, along with a soft humming. Grandma! She had the room next to me, and had a terrible habit of slamming doors shut! I recognised the tune, one she always hummed. I surfaced from the duvet and looked at the open curtain, seeing tree branches brush smoothly off the windowpane. How stupid I was!

Now that I was up, and wide-awake I decided to scout out what my Grandma was doing. My search took me to the kitchen where my Grandma stood making herself some tea.

“Hi,” I said rather tiredly.

“Oh young man, you should be in your bed! What brought you down here? Did I wake you? Sorry.”

I said the weather woke me and that I couldn’t sleep, she replied with much the same thing, so we sat in the kitchen and made hot milk and cookies.

My mind was still racing from my ‘ghostly encounter’, but as I reaffirmed myself that there was no such thing I asked if my Grandma could tell me one of her famous stories.

“Well it seems the both of us can’t sleep anyways, so why not?” she said, patting Wolf as he sauntered in to lie at my feet.

All her best tales were the ghost stories, she alone said that they were all true, but mother just laughed them off telling me not to listen.

Her story was about a little boy. An evil man, she whispered, had murdered him hundreds of years ago and ever since there were stories that he had been seen in the graveyard where he was laid to rest. It was always just when it was getting dark, that people would see a little boy standing not too far off. He just stared at them, as if looking into their hearts. It was said that if he got close enough he would you soul. My Grandma took a deep breath, this ‘spirit’ she said, was saving up souls to use them to help fight off the evil man that still chased him in death. Yet the boy wasn’t as ruinous as he sounded, as he only took one soul at a time because he feels sorry for every one he took. But it didn’t stop him from taking a little girl’s life.

My Grandma told me it was when she was young she and her friends had been playing in the graveyard the Staring Boy had been buried. They saw him and even though they ran he seemed to come closer and closer. There was a scream, but all the children kept running. Later when they returned home crying, they found that one of the girls was missing. She was found dead lying next to a little boy’s grave. Reports throughout the years had similar circumstances, with one person dying each time. Even wildlife, it was said, stayed clear of the graveyard.

“So don’t you go off into any graveyards!” My Grandma said, finishing off her story, “Now off you go to bed young man.”

And I did.





The next day it rained so I was trapped inside the house. I remember playing tig with my father and the dog, and helping Mother make the dinner. We decided to stay for another couple of days, keeping Grandma company. As the days dragged on I was more and more adventurous in my journeys outside. The weather had cleared up but I can still remember it being cold, as it was winter!

One day Wolf and I went running in the countryside surrounding my Grandma’s house. The dog mostly followed me around; he still had a tremendous amount of energy for his age. I was so busy laughing and running that I fell over an over grown bush, and crashed headlong into the stream. I dashed home crying, Wolf ever at my side barking.

I stayed the rest of the day in my bed, itching to wander and explore knowing I only had a couple of day’s left to do so.

It was the next day, our last day that I decided to go on an adventure. I took myself some lunch (rations), water (emergency supply) and Corporal Wolf. Together we would tackle the wilderness together and save the world from some nasty enemy!

I roamed through forests; overgrown fields, rivers and the odd old house that could be found dotted about. It was such a good day and I lost all sense of time. Before I realised it was turning dark. Wolf barked, probably as he was dying to have his dinner. Mother will be worried, I thought, so decided to go home.

As my luck turned out, I had lost my way a little and couldn’t remember which way to go. Using my instincts I found the river and so decided to follow it. The dog barked but I ignored him, knowing it was the right way.

As time went on it started to fade into night. It wasn’t very late, say seven or eight o’clock, but it was dark enough for my parents – and me – to start worrying. I ran up the banks of the river, and after a while I could make out a building up ahead. Home! I was home! Yet as I neared I knew I wasn’t back at my Grandma’s. The surrounding area was different, and the house was dark – it had no lights on. Where was I?

I was already pretty scared, and this discovery didn’t help. As I closed in on the building I realised it was a small church, and surrounding it was what looked like an old graveyard. That didn’t do my young nerves any good! At that moment I was very glad my trusty sidekick Wolf was there. Looking back I am surprised I was even brave enough to walk so near to a graveyard at night, never mind to stroll into one. I still don’t know why I did.

I remember being really cold, and suddenly paranoid that someone was staring at me. As I walked up a small, rickety overgrown old path, with damaged and weary headstones on either side, I looked left and right as if I was going to see someone following me. Then the dog trotted up next to me, a slight growl in his throat, tail between his legs. I am sure he knew what was going to happen next; it was as if he was trying to warn me, but something had a grip on me by then. The human urge to find out what’s in the unknown, or something else I don’t know.

Suddenly Wolf barked and ran further into the dark shadows of the graveyard. I panicked and called out to him but he did not return. Cold fear iced my insides as I scrambled about in the dark trying to find him. I could hardly see anything in the deepening gloom. I think I started to cry and shake from fear, I don’t know, then remembering my paranoia I cut off my shouts. The invisible could be out there waiting for me! That thought done nothing for my nerves I can tell you.

I then stopped moving, turned round and saw the boy.

He was maybe thirty yards away from me and seemed to be staring at me. He didn’t move, just kept staring. I’m sure a wanted to walk over to him, the fear seemed to ease itself out of me. I know what you’re thinking. Was it the little soul-stealing boy? Well I can’t tell you. If it was I might be dead right now. But my young life was saved at the last second, and here’s now.

As I said I felt compelled to walk over to the mysterious little boy, but I was suddenly thrown to the ground.

My dog had just jumped on me! As soon as I hit the ground I seemed to wake from a dream. All the fear returned with fury. I scrambled up, pulling Wolf from me and started running. Wolf stayed next to me, as if watching over me.

My memory blurs from then on. All I remember is running madly, and not stopping until I made it home. I don’t know how I remembered the way, but I did make it home, scratched in a dozen places and crying like it was the end of the world. Wolf was still by my side, and hardly left it for the rest of his life.

So, what happened? Was it the ghost of a young boy ready to eat my soul? Or was it just another lost little boy in a graveyard? All this could just be a figment of a scared young boy’s imagination. I guess we will never know. But what if is was an evil spirit looking for children’s souls? You never know, it could be true.

Well, that’s the story about the Staring Boy. Did you like it?

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My website: Heresy