Nightmare Soup 2 The Second Helping

The Hunting Trophy

Carly hated going to her grandparent's house, which was extremely odd for a 12-year-old. It wasn't because she disliked them, or because they treated her badly. She loved them. It was because her grandpa was an avid hunter, and he loved to display his trophies all over the house. Deer, wild boars, birds, badgers, bobcats... If an animal lived in the Midwest, there was a good chance one of its kind was stuffed and displayed at ole Grandpa Pete's house.

There was one "trophy" that Carly particularly hated; it was the head of a large buck. "The biggest deer you could ever imagine," according to Grandpa Pete. It was mounted right above the fireplace in the family room, and impossible to miss.

Something about it just made Carly's skin crawl. It looked angry that its life had been cut short just to become some old man's wall decoration. And then there was that time about 3 years ago when Carly was sleeping over. She got up in the middle of the night for a glass of water, and as she passed the family room, a chill ran up her spine. Goosebumps exploded all over her body and her stomach twisted into a tight knot, it was the exact feeling you get when you know someone, or something, is watching you.

She slowly turned her head toward the fireplace and looked up... and the deer head moved. At least that's what she swore up and down to her parents and grandparents, who only laughed.

But Carly was convinced she really did see that... thing... move, and ever since that night, she hated visiting that house. So she wasn't too happy when her parents told her they were leaving for a weekend trip, and she would be staying with her grandma and grandpa.

"Dad, no! Please! Isn't there anyone else I can stay with?"

Her dad simply folded his arms in disapproval. "Carly, come on now, you know this fear of yours is a bit ridiculous. Yes, I admit those hunting trophies can be a bit creepy, but you haven't seen your grandparents in months. You're 12 years old; you can suck it up for a weekend."

And just like that it was settled.

...

When Carly and her parents walked through the door, the smell of freshly baked brownies flowed through the air like a delicious haze. It was that type of pleasant aroma that only comes from "grandma's house." And something even more amazing: All the stuffed, dead animal trophies were gone, nowhere to be found. In fact, the whole house had been redone.

"Well hello dear!" Carly's grandma and grandpa rushed to greet them and swooped Carly up into a big hug.

"You've gotten so big, it seems like forever since I saw you last."

"It's only been like 4 months, Grandma."

"Well, that is forever to a grandparent."

Carly looked around again, wondering if this was too good to be true. "So where are the...uh... animals."

Grandpa Pete chuckled to himself. "Well, I built a space for all those critters down in the basement, and that's where they'll stay from now on. Your Grandma said it was time, and we knew you didn't like coming here because of it. So down they went.

Carly gave her grandpa another big hug.

"Well, come on in to the kitchen and eat up some of these brownies your grandma made."

Carly was smiling from ear to ear as her grandpa grabbed her bags, and they started walking through the house. But that smile was short-lived as they walked past the family room. Grandpa Pete had moved all the animal trophies except one... the deer head above the fireplace, and it looked angrier than ever.