This is it, this is the moment Henry has been working towards all year. The moment he finally summons the devil, the one and only ruler of hell. He won’t admit it but Henry has wanted to meet this fabled creature since he was in middle school. The day he learned that people go to hell to be punished by him. Young Henry had thought to himself, why not bring the devil here so he could watch his foes be punished.
He was so excited to finally be able to do it, he was humming joyfully to himself as he put the last candle in place. Henry did one final look over everything, and then positioned himself just outside the circle drawn on the floor. He began to speak the incantation he’s been memorizing for the past month.
The room started to drop in temperature, and Henry could feel a small breeze blow past his ankles. As he came to the end of the spell, smoke began to form and rise in the center of the room. With a big smile on his face Henry said the final words and there was a bright flash of light. He had covered his eyes as to not go blind, but after a few seconds he looked up ready to finally come face to face with the devil himself.
“Grandma?!” Henry yelled in confusion
Smiling, Henry’s grandmother replied “Oh, Henry sweetie. Hello, how are you?”
There was a short silence, before Henry spoke again. He was trying to understand what just happened.
Finally he spoke up, asking the one question he was hoping would clear up his confusion “How did you get here?”
“You summoned me dear, don’t you remember?” his grandmother said giggling, “Did the bright light erase your memory?” She asked, fully laughing now.
Henry spoke “How am I supposed to get revenge on my enemy’s, if the devil is my grandma?”
His grandmother started laughing heartily before asking “That’s not why you summoned me right?” She looked him in the eyes, “You know better than that, right?”
“What do you mean?” Henry asked, slightly confused by the questions.
His grandmother’s face became serious as she looked at Henry. She didn’t think he could be this stupid, she thought he would do his research before going through with something this big.
After a few moments of silence she finally responded to him “My sweet Henry, when someone summons the devil it’s because they are ready to give up their souls and not be reincarnated any longer.”
Henry just stared at his grandmother, the words she had just spoken not yet clicking in his mind.
It was a good day. There was nothing that caused me to be anxious or sad. It was actually one of the best days I’ve had in a while.
So why.
Why can I feel that all too familiar feeling as I lay in my bed to sleep. My shoulders are becoming tense and heavy. I can feel the connection to my limbs leaving my body. I am completely unable to move.
My instincts are telling me to scream for help, to let anyone that’s close by hear my distress. To warn those late night walkers who could be outside, that someone is in need of help. But it’s no use, there is no sound rumbling in my chest to be set free. My vocal chords have been silenced by the weight of an unknown force.
My brain is starting to panic, though we’ve been through this many times before. It needs to know what’s happening, needs to know why I’ve been rendered useless. It doesn’t quite understand, we are supposed to be in a safe place. Our room, our bed, our place of comfort.
My brain needs to see what’s wrong, but it’s scared. It tries to force me to open my eyes, but they squeeze shut instead. The panic begins to rise, I need to open my eyes, what if there is someone out there or worse something. At this thought my eyes squeeze shut even tighter, I don’t want to know.
But I need to know.
What do I do, I’m starting to breathe heavier which I’m sure means I’m about to hyperventilate. That’s it I’ll focus on my breathing. Maybe if I just succumb to the weight on my body and stay still, whatever or whoever is doing this will go away. Yeah, just stay still and regulate my breathing that has to work.
Breathe in Breathe out Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
My eyes open, it’s morning. A calm washes over my body as I realize I’ve survived the night. Im ok.
For now.
Episode Title: Family Matters
Narrator:
A series where we find and interview characters from the most beloved fairytales, to find out what they’ve been up to after the fame and maybe hear an untold story or two. Today’s episode brings us to Fairy-Land Correctional Facility.
Interviewer:
Please introduce yourself and the fairytale your from.
Guest:
Hello, my name is Tim and I had two brothers Paul, and Ruddy. But you may know us as The Three Little Pigs. I’m the middle child, Paul was the oldest, and Ruddy was our sweet baby brother.
Interviewer:
First I would like to thank you for doing this interview with us today. And I noticed you said had two brothers. Are they the siblings that the wolf got to?
Tim:
(Tim chuckles) Nah. The wolf only got Ruddy and Paul was the one with the brick house who survived. I was the other one the wolf tried to get, but he only got one of my legs. I just got a new prosthetic too.
Interviewer:
So the story we all know is inaccurate I assume?
Tim:
Well the original story that the cops have on record has all that information, but it’s been passed around for generations. Different people changing tiny facts here and there to make it more “interesting” I guess. So yeah I would say it’s inaccurate.
Interviewer:
So if originally only your brother Ruddy got caught by the wolf, why is it only you now?
Tim:
(Grinning, Tim answers) Why do you think I’m in prison, with a life time sentence?
Interviewer:
(Shocked) Please elaborate.
Tim:
Well Paul was an asshole, and he had the ability to help me and Ruddy but he decided not to. Not to mention he stole my fucking brick house idea.
Interviewer:
Your saying you gave Paul the plans for the brick house?
Tim:
I didn’t give him shit, he stole those plans from me. But we were brothers so I didn’t think it mattered which one of us built the house, because family comes first. But boy was I wrong, that bastard wouldn’t let us in.
Interviewer:
Are you saying that once the house was built, from the plans that Paul stole from you, he refused to let you come in?
Tim:
That’s exactly what I’m saying. And at first we thought it was just one of his little practical jokes he likes to play, so me and Ruddy were just gonna chill outside until he got bored. But after about thirty minutes I saw the wolf coming down the street.
Interviewer:
You could see the wolf from where you were, outside the house?
Tim:
Yeah, the house was built on a hill and you could see pretty far down the road. But even if we could see someone coming it would still take them about 20 minutes to reach us.
Interviewer:
Ok, please continue.
Tim:
Well once I saw the wolf I told Ruddy we needed to get inside. So we went up to the door and I knocked on it, Paul looked out the little window on the door after about 30 seconds. I told him that the wolf was coming in this direction and that he needed to let us in.
Interviewer:
Had the wolf noticed you yet, how far was he at this point?
Tim:
No, I don’t think he had noticed us yet because he was still about 15 minutes away and walking up the road pretty casually. But Paul looked past us at the wolf, and then walked away. That motherfucker actually walked away.
Interviewer:
He saw the wolf and walked away from the door? He made no attempts to open it at all?
Tim:
(Angrily) Not a single one. In that moment I realized Paul didn’t give a fuck about us family or not.
Interviewer:
How is Ruddy reacting to all of this?
Tim:
He was in full panic mode, he was shaking and crying and asking me over and over “what do we do now?” and “why won’t he let us in?”
Interviewer:
What did you tell him?
Tim:
(Tim seems remorseful) I wanted so badly to say “I don’t know,” but once I looked into my baby brothers eyes I realized he needed me and I had to step up and do something…anything.
Interviewer:
You really cared for your younger brother I see.
Tim:
(Tim starts tearing up) Hell yeah, it was always me and Ruddy growing up. We weren’t that far in age so we were pretty close as kids. We really didn’t have much of a relationship with Paul until we got older, and it was going pretty well…at least I thought it was.
Interviewer:
So what did you and Ruddy end up doing?
Tim:
I told Ruddy we would need to make a temporary shelter to keep ourselves safe. By the way all that talk about us making houses out of sticks and straw is just bullshit.
Interviewer:
So there was no straw or sticks involved?
Tim:
I did use some straw, but it was to make some covering so hopefully the wolf wouldn’t see us. He was notorious for having a bad sense of smell, so as long as he couldn’t see us we would be fine.
Interviewer:
Oh, really? Everyone says he found you all by sniffing you out.
Tim:
Nope, that wolf couldn’t smell anything unless it was brought up to his nose. That’s one of those facts people tweaked to make it seem more intense.
Interviewer:
Interesting, so you were using straw to make visibility difficult. What was the structure being made out of?
Tim:
There were some left over metal rods from when Paul was building his house. He had left them on the grass outside. So we grabbed some and started building a giant cone shaped structure where we would sit in the middle, surrounded by the straw walls. And we had to move fast the wolf would be turning the corner in a little over 5 minutes.
Interviewer:
If you were building a shelter that would make you unable to be seen, what happened? How did the wolf get Ruddy?
Tim:
It’s my fault, I hadn’t grabbed enough straw from the pile so I had to run and get more. I told Ruddy to stay behind the already set up portion of the wall, but I had forgotten that I hadn’t tied it down yet so the straw was loose. And when Ruddy gets scared he starts to shake really badly.
Interviewer:
So the straw fell off the structure?
Tim:
(Sadly) Yeah, and by time I came back with more straw the wolf had gotten to him. I swore we still had some time for me to go and come back.
Interviewer:
What happened next? At that point you could have run away, how did you still lose a leg?
Tim:
When I saw Ruddy’s lifeless body, I lost it. I ran at the wolf and pushed him away. He fell to the ground witch gave me enough time to grab one of the rods we were using. But before I could fully turn around he tackled me. I fought with everything I had, eventually he bit into my leg but I was able to reach the rod and I started beating him with it until his grip had loosened. And then I took the end of the rod and plunged it through his chest.
Interviewer:
(Surprised and confused) Wait, you killed the wolf? The story most people, myself included, know is that it was the one in the brick house who killed the wolf. Which in this case would have been your brother Paul.
Tim:
After having to fight the wolf off, I crawled over to Ruddy’s body and passed out laying next to him. I was exhausted. But Paul took that as an opportunity to tell the police who arrived that he fought and killed the wolf. Fucking bastard.
Interviewer:
So what happened next?
Tim:
I was in the hospital for about a month and a half. I kept thinking about everything that happened, and what the news was telling everybody. And the last 2 weeks that I was in that hospital bed is when I decided that Paul would have to pay for causing the death of our little brother Ruddy.
Interviewer:
How did you make him pay? And is that how you ended up in here?
Tim:
It’s the only reason I’m in here. After I got out of the hospital I found out that the bastard was still living in that fucking house. He even found himself a girlfriend who was living there with him.
Interviewer:
In a month and a half he found a significant other and they started living together?
Tim:
That’s what I thought at first, I only found out afterwards that they had been married for over a year. Paul knew, from the moment he stole those plans from me, that he would be living in that house and starting a family with her at whatever cost.
Interviewer:
And you knew none of this?
Tim:
Nope, but I thought if he loves that house so much he would lock his own brothers out. Him and whoever he was with could be locked in. So I did just that, I locked that selfish motherfucker and his wife inside. Then I set it ablaze with a molotov cocktail right through the smallest window.
Interviewer:
(Astonished) You burned your brother and his wife alive in their own house?
Tim:
(With a pleasant grin) Yep, and I stood back and watched as they struggled to get out. And I would do it again.
Interviewer:
You stayed at the scene and watched?
Tim:
Sure did, I saw the whole thing.
(Episode ends with a smiling Tim)
It used to be much easier to forgive than to forget
But as the years passed forgetting became prevalent
Wether I was forgetting what I’m forgiving, or forgetting to forgive
I forget
I use to think forgetting came with age, but I’m not as old as you might think
I tend to find myself lost when I walk in a room, forgetting why I’m there in the first place
It’s happening more and more each day
The forgetting
Sometimes I even forget myself, which is an odd feeling
It’s as if I’m floating in a space of nothingness that even time can’t touch
I never know how long I’m there, but once I get pulled back everything seems to be how I left it
Unless I forgot
My friends ask me questions about conversations we’ve had, but I don’t remember
I wonder, was I in that timeless space for that conversation?
But I can’t ask them, they wouldn’t understand
So, I just pass it off as me not listening and ask for there forgiveness
Which they give, but it seems to be getting harder and harder for them to do so
Which I understand, it must be frustrating
But did you know
It used to be much easier to forgive than to forget
It was a calm sunny morning, the wispy clouds encircling the sun as if it was Saturn. Sarah lay on her back floating in the still water of the pool, the water licking up at her face occasionally. The quiet sound of her breathing the only noise to be heard.
“SARAH!” Someone yells.
Sarah opens her eyes to the blue sky and sighs, so much for peace and quiet.
The yelling continues, “SARAH, I KNOW YOU HEAR ME!”
All hope of her ignoring her sister disappearing, so she reluctantly swims to the edge of the pool and pulls her self out before replying.
“You don’t have to yell Nadine, my ears do work” She says calmly.
Nadine responds shyly “Sorry, I didn’t think you would hear me with your ears under the water.”
Sarah sighs again and looks at Nadine, “it’s fine, what did you need?”
“Well, mom said she nee-“ Nadine cuts her self off, concern crossing her features as she looks at her sister.
“Have you been crying?” She asks quietly.
Sarah looks away, and reply’s quickly “No, it’s just the chlorine from the pool.”
“I can tell the difference between crying and chlorine in the eyes” Nadine says matter of factly.
“Then why did you ask?” Sarah says annoyed.
Nadine sighs and takes a quick glance at the pool before looking back at her sister, “Sarah, it’s been almost a year. You have to stop doing this to yourself.”
Sarah grabs her towel and starts walking into the house, “I’m not having this conversation, Nadine.”
“If you don’t want to talk to me at least find a therapist you can talk to” Nadine says, following her sister inside.
She continues, with tears beginning to form in her eyes “This is the third time I’ve found you crying from being in the pool. Why must you torment yourself like this?”
“Drop it Nadine” Sarah said through clenched teeth, now looking at her sister “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I will not drop it Sarah, please let me schedule a therapy session for you.” Nadine said, “You have to talk to someone.”
“And tell them what Nadine?” Sarah yelled at her sister, “That I’ve had a great childhood, that I’ve been given every possible opportunity to have a good life, yet I still resent our parents.”
Nadine yelled back “Yes, that’s exactly what you should tell them.”
Sarah laughed mockingly “So that I can seem like a selfish, and ungrateful daughter. No thanks”
“You have every right to feel the way you do, no matter how good our life was growing up” Nadine sighed, “It’s still their neglect that caused this to go unchecked for so long.”
Sarah finally broke down at her sisters words, unable to hold it in any longer.
Nadine walked up to her sister and pulled her in for a hug. Sarah held onto her as she cried, “If we had caught it sooner I could still be swimming, I was so close to making it.”
“We’re going to die” Cole said as he paced the small room.
“No we’re not, you’ll probably just lose a hand” I replied, “And can you please sit down”
“How can you be so calm right now?” He practically yelled at me. “We stole a car from a mafia boss!”
Before I could respond the only door to the room opened, and a large man walked in. He looked annoyed and glared at Cole before saying,
“The boss wants to see both of you now” then he turned around and walked out expecting us to follow. I sighed and began to follow when I noticed that Cole had become frozen to his spot. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the clearly terrified man by the arm, and dragged him out.
“You need to do as they say if you really don’t want to die,” I whispered to him.
After a short walk the henchman we were following stopped in front of a large door. He turned to us and said,
“Remember your place, and don’t speak unless you’re spoken to,” though he seemed to be addressing Cole more than me.
He finally turned and opened the door for us to enter. The room was about the size of a hotel conference room, and was decorated like a palace dining room with golds and reds. At the end of the table opposite Cole and I, sat the man in charge. On either side of him stood two of his henchman, wearing the same angered expression as him.
After a few minutes he finally spoke, “How stupid do you think I am?”
“Very” I said lowly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.
Cole gasped beside me, “S-she means not very…a-actually not at a-all…sir,” he stuttered out quickly.
“Is this because of the car thing?” The man said, still glaring.
Cole became confused and cautiously asked, “The what?, sir”
Before anyone could respond to him I spoke up, “I don’t know why your so against it.”
“So your response is to befriend one of my men, and convince him to steal from me?” He questioned.
In shock that I was yelling at his boss and confusion at the conversation, Cole just stared in silence.
Out of frustration, I yelled “Dad, If you would just let me expla-“
“You’ve crashed three cars in two months, you are not getting another one!” My father interjected,
“And now, because of you, someone has to lose a hand!” He finished yelling at me.
Cole looked at me with wide eyes and finally spoke up, “He’s your father?”
“Not a good one” I responded angrily.
“How could you do that to me? I trusted you!” Cole yelled at me.
“Stop complaining, at least it’s just a hand” I said annoyed, “Plus you shouldn’t trust people so easily.”
After yelling at Cole, I stormed out of the room. Leaving a very bewildered man, and my angry father behind.
Shane used to love his job. It wasn’t the best job, nor did it pay a lot. But the small stationary shop was perfect for him. It was located on a shopping strip that got a decent amount of foot traffic. He loved being able to meet the many different people who would come in. Some were regulars who he had gotten pretty close to over the years. Most were new to the strip in general and would stop in for souvenirs or just for curiosity’s sake. And on slow days he would just watch as people passed by, outside the shops window.
However as time went on shane started to get bored with his routine. He wanted to be one of the many people he would see pass by. He wanted to have someone to go shopping with, and to go traveling. He felt that his life had become stagnant, there was no more excitement in his everyday. His friends had families now and were too busy working to be able to go out the way they used too.
So here he was opening the shop for another day, with no idea how to make his life interesting or enjoy his job again. Halfway through his day, he was people watching as usual when he noticed a young man carrying a guitar case as well as another bag. The man looked to be the same age as Shane, but much more fashionable. The man took up residence at the bench located in the center of the strip, in a perfect spot for Shane to watch him. The guitarist pulled a mic stand and mic out of the second bag he had been carrying. After he set everything up, he finally pulled out his guitar and began performing for the other pedestrians on the street. Shane couldn’t really hear him, seeing as the door to the shop was closed. But he thought the man was attractive enough for him to get up and prop the door open, so he did.
It had been about fifteen minutes before Shane admitted to himself that the guitarist was good. He had a smooth voice that made you feel warm and content. After another ten minutes the guitarist ended his performance and began packing up. Shane found himself feeling disappointed that it was over, but also hoping he would come back. Which the guitarist did for the next month.
Shane eventually decided he would go talk to the guitarist and ask if he wanted to hang out. He thought he probably shouldn’t wait any longer, and it would be a good way to start having fun again. So on Thursday night once he got him, he planned to talk to the man during his break the next day. Hopefully the man would agree to have a drink with him and his Friday night wouldn’t go to waste. The next morning Shane woke up with excitement for the day ahead. He even made it to work earlier than normal, and still had some time to kill after setting up the store. He started thinking of ways he could approach the man, that wouldn’t scare him off.
Soon it was time to open the shop. It seemed busier than usual, but Shane had forgotten that it was a holiday weekend. So he was working nonstop from opening until halfway through his usual break time. Once it had finally slowed down, Shane got ready to approach the guitarist. But he noticed the bench he normally sat at was empty. He looked at the time and thought that the man had left to get lunch and would be back shortly. The shop got busy again after Shane had his lunch, but he made sure to look for the man every fifteen minutes. Before he knew it, it was closing time and the guitarist had never shown up. Shane couldn’t believe he missed his chance. He had finally got the courage to make a change in his life, and he missed it.
Shane decided he would still go out and drink, even if he was alone. He was hoping the alcohol would help him forget how much his life sucked at the moment. So after closing up the shop he headed to his favorite bar. When he entered the building he went straight to the bar, and ordered a drink. While he waited he scanned the room for a possibly empty table, and that’s when he saw him. The man who had been performing in front of his store. Shane thanked the universe for giving him an extra chance. Once his drink was prepared he paid for it, and headed towards the table the man was at and introduced himself.
“Hi. My name’s Shane, mind of I join you?”
This only felt right. Being alone at a time like this. When most would be surrounded by their loved ones, or at least in a bed, comfortable. Where they would spend their final days thinking about the life they lived, and rejoicing or regretting their decisions.
Regret.
Did you have any regrets. Have you done enough in life to be allowed to regret anything. Was it possible to regret not regretting. Or was that too redundant. Maybe having no regrets was a good thing, something to be proud of even.
That’s a new feeling, pride. You’ve never really been proud of yourself for anything. I guess it’s never too late to start. You softly chuckled at your own joke. Grimacing from the pain the small movement made. You sighed and opened your eyes for the first time since you had regained consciousness. It was earlier in the day then you had initially assumed. There was still enough light to discern your surroundings, but not for much longer.
You were in what seemed to be a small ditch. The branch of a tree peeking into your vision from the side. The pastel colors of the early evening sky calming you, as if lulling you to sleep. You began thinking about the last time you truly looked at the sky. It was the worst day of your life, the day you learned you were alone. It was also the day you decided to stop being afraid of dying, since you knew you wouldn’t be missed.
That was 4 years ago, and you had lived your life with the acceptance of dying alone. You moved, changed your number and rebuilt your life from scratch. You even made sure to not get to close to anyone, to avoid the pain later. Everyone knew you as the lone wolf. Strong and independent, knowing exactly what you wanted from life.
Fearless.
None of that mattered now. Because in this moment, for the first time since that day, you felt the cold grip of fear. You felt the need to have someone close, to hold your hand. To tell you everything would be okay. To tell you they would miss your presence, and your energy. To ease your anxiety about the legacy you were leaving behind. To tell you that they loved you.
You continued to look at the darkening sky as your vision began to blur with tears. Your breathing becoming labored as you cried. Making the promise, that given another chance you would live a better life. After a few moments you decided to close your eyes. Wanting to feel like you were just going to sleep. As the sun finally set and the final tears rolled down your face, you took your last breath. Your final thought being that next time would be different.
Next time.
Tonight was the night, the night you would be introducing the new you to the world. The night everything would change. You looked at yourself in the full length mirror. You looked ravishing. The slit of your black floor length gown stopping mid thigh. The plunging neckline stopping just under your breast, enough to show the ruby necklace you were wearing.
After admiring yourself, you left ready to cause chaos. The drive their was relatively short, and as your driver pulled up to the entrance, you smiled. This was perfect. The amount of press was exactly what you needed. After tonight everyone would see you as the woman you are, and not the little girl they were introduced to years ago. You stepped out of the car with your head held high as you took in the astonished faces of everyone present.
It was going to be a good night.