Ink [A Collection of Short Stories]

Grievances

Hey guys, so October 31st is almost upon us (DUN DUN DUNNNN...) so to celebrate, I'm posting this creepy story for you guys ;)

At least, I hope it's creepy.

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~ Grievances ~

Crunch.

The little girl smiled, pleased. The two halves of the previously whole green beetle trapped beneath her stick was most definitely not, however. Prodding the remains of the insect, she admired how the shell reflected the dimming evening light.

Her eyes raked over the grass around her, searching for her next victim.

Today had not been a good day for her.

Was it so wrong to forget how to spell ‘cat’? The other students made mistakes, too, and yet the teacher picked on her specifically. Her cheeks burned at the memory. The whole class laughed at her, and she could guarantee at least a couple of them couldn’t even spell ‘me’.

“I hate kindergarten,” the girl hissed under her breath, smashing an ant under a small stone.

“Susie, come inside now,” came her foster mother’s voice from the house.

Susie’s cheeks went pink in frustration. She grudgingly got up and went inside, the warm air surrounding her.

“Go take out the trash,” the woman said, lounging on a couch and reading a book.

“Yes, Mother.”

Susie seethed to herself and exited the house, carrying a large and full trash bag out into the driveway. Struggling to keep it from dragging along the ground, she made slow progress to the street. Susie carefully put the bag down so it wouldn’t tip over, and reached up for the lid to the trash can.

“Need help?” came a voice to her right.

She turned to see a man walking down the street towards her. Staying mute, she only nodded and stepped back when he was near. He lifted the lid open and dropped the trash bag in with one hand, the other wrapped tightly around a small, wooden box.

The man caught her staring at it, and his expression flickered briefly as an idea dawned on him.

“Hey, do you like playing with dolls?” he asked, smiling down at Susie.

She didn’t say anything.

“See, this box is full of them,” the man said, thinking fast. “They used to be my niece’s, but she grew too old for them. Would you perhaps be willing to give them a home?” he held the box out to her. “They need a new mommy.”

Tentatively, the little girl reached out to take the box. A look of relief flooded the man’s face as she took them, but she didn’t notice. She was already opening the box to take a look inside.

In the box were a multitude of different figures, each unique. They had wool hair and glass eyes, carefully stitched clothing and detailed features. Gingerly, Susie lifted one out, stroking its hair delicately. She looked up to say something to the man, but he was already hurrying off, afraid she might change her mind and give the dolls back.

Puzzled, Susie sat down at the side of the road and examined the dolls. Funny, she thought, that one looks like my teacher. The doll even had the subtle look about it as if cross, just like the horribly strict woman. Frowning, she turned the doll around in her hands.

Looking at it, the anger from earlier came back to her, and her eyes began to well with tears. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why must people be so cruel? Biting her lip in fury, Susie threw the doll onto the ground – hard – and kicked it across the drive.

Nobody ever had aught but disappointment angled towards her, and it just wasn’t fair.

She curled up on the ground and shook violently with anger-induced sobs, not making a sound. Nothing was fair.

The next morning, when she had arrived at school, the class was met with confused excuses. The teacher had not shown up to teach, and the replacement teacher was spewing all kinds of jumbled nonsense about why. At first it was because of a family emergency, and then it had been because she was taking a short vacation to see her brother.

Whatever the reason, the fact was there. The teacher wasn’t present and the class was to be taught by a substitute.

Halfway through the school day, something occurred to Susie. What if…? No. It couldn’t be… could it? There was only one way to find out. But she needed someone else to test th–

“Hey,” a boy beside her prodded her side. “Hey, what’s up, Susie?”

She ignored him.

“Hey, why’re you such a dope, huh?” he grinned at her. “Is it because of your nice, friendly daddy-waddy?”

Susie’s face flushed crimson in anger and her eyes widened.

“Was it? Hey, what happened, huh? Did he not love you anymore, or did he even care about yo–”

Susie stood up straight, palms smacking her desk and chair clattering behind her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she loomed above the boy. It seemed as if she had a candidate.

As soon as she got home, Susie rushed to her room and dug around under the bed. Her hand grazed a cloth and she pulled it out. Hidden underneath it was a small, wooden box, which she knew contained small versions of everyone that lived in town.

She ran her hand over the lid of the box, debating whether or not to open it. After a moment, she put the box down and went downstairs and into the kitchen where her foster dad was. She smiled sweetly up at him.

“Papa, may I have some scissors please?”

Not particularly caring about the consequences of giving a six-year old a pair of very sharp scissors, he took them down from a shelf and handed them to her, absorbed in what he was doing.

“Thank you, Papa.”

She left in a hurry, rushing back up the stairs and into her room. The box was exactly where she left it. Susie fell to her knees next to it and slowly opened the lid. Sorting through the various dolls, she came upon the one she was looking for and took it out. The boy from earlier lay in her palm, vulnerable and exposed. Quite like she had been, she thought devilishly.

Grinning madly with barely held-back ferocity, Susie clutched the doll in one hand and the scissors in the other.

It was time to test her theory.

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Haaaaaaaappy Halloweeeeeen.

Sylgrace