The Creeper

by A.M. Shine

She could see the sky.

Or it for a third time

They all dressed the same and shared some mongrel dialect that Ben blamed the internet for – words that infected local colloquialisms like a parasite. These bastards were the carriers.

Arent you just a ray of joy

He had become a mindless, money-making cog. And even the money wasn’t enough to make ends meet.

If ever the man had seen the sun, he had watched it from the shade.

He resembled less a man, and more the shadow of one.

The younger generations didn’t get it. That’s why Ben insisted on interviewing the oldest: the grandparents, the great-grandparents, even some distant uncles who didn’t quite fit in at the family table. They trusted him to keep their stories safe. That had been the whole point of his thesis – to preserve what would otherwise have been lost. The bulk of these stories were never written down and could fade out of existence in a few short decades. Details would be forgotten or changed. Interest in them would dwindle until the kids were throwing their eyes to the heavens whenever grandad mentioned the olden days. And then that was that. The superstition would die and so too would its monsters.

There will always be those out there who just want to fuck with people.

Her hair was bleached white and chopped short. Spikes of pearly floss jutted out from every angle as though she had just fallen out of bed. Her face was petite, its eyes bright and soulful. And she was about as tall as Ben had been back in secondary school before the customary growth spurt.

Oh she is so cliché it hurts

‘Neither of you have any children, do you?’ Sparling asked.

there’s one particular superstition that you might mention, for curiosity’s sake, to see if it still exists.’ ‘And what superstition is that?’ Ben asked confidently. ‘The creeper,’ Sparling replied. ‘I do believe it’s known as the creeper.’ ‘I’ve never heard of it.’ ‘No,’ the doctor said, taking his satchel in hand. ‘I don’t suppose that many people have.’

The girl’s lips stretched into a lurid grin but the eyes remained dark. She didn’t seem at all surprised to see them.

Uh oh

We live away from the world here and we have our reasons. Whatever it is you hope to find, trust me when I tell you that you don’t want it. Do you understand me?’

‘No,’ he said with a sigh, ‘you don’t. Nobody ever understands until it’s done. If you knew what you’d just walked into, you’d already be on your way.’