| Somewhere inside him, Timothy knew it was real. Time to be brave. It just had to be his upbringing telling him that if something looked a certain way,.. then it was how it appeared. Over and over he pondered this. He would never know unless.... unless... he found out for himself.
The day faded and the night was upon him swiftly, much too swiftly, yet there was no turning back. One way or another this all would be resolved once and for all. His senses keen. Having prepared all day long for the events to come. he sensed the shadowed figure of the scarecrow approaching, from the depths of his room, before he even saw it. Turning to face his.. friend? ..Foe?? It laughed at him. A raspy dry laugh with peaks of shrillness, unlike anything he had ever heard, and he was pretty sure would never hear again. "Ahhhhhhh, yes child I am real." It said its voice seeming to have more strength. Timothy looking puzzled. He stammered for the right words. "But..." Yet before he could even go on it laughed yet again. "I told you child. I am you. I am you." "What!?" Timothy blared out. Head racing with total confused flashes of images and emotions. "Yes, I am the part of you that isn't afraid, the part that isn't a victim. Time to be whole child! Time to be wholllllle." The words pounding through his head. Almost seeming to last forever in there precise lingering tone. Flashes of images went before his eyes. Him not being afraid. Coming home and doing his chores when he wanted to if even at all and getting no hype for it. His mom having a nice home cooked meal for him no stench of booze on her. No one telling him what to do. A loving family being his ultimate wish. And, he could do anything he wanted to do, anything. Timothy laughed out loud and it laughed with him. "Yessssss, all you ever wanted. You will have it all. Or.. else." Timothy stopped laughing. "Or else? Or else what?" He questioned, even though he knew somehow. "Consequences, my boy." He shrunk back. It smiled at him almost lovingly, if such could exist in his kind. "Child, haven't you had enough?" Still he cowered from it. "The manure." It said knowing that would hit a cord. Timothy fumed. “The drunking lush of a ma you got. All the beatings you have endured for no good reason, all the teasing, and all the shame. No more, NO More, NO MORE CHILD." Timothy smiled at it. "Yes no more, No More, NO MORE!" He chanted with it over and over. It touched him making him gasp. "I am you." It said. He smiled. YES! YES! YES!" It held on to him. "Time to be wholeeeeeeeee child." "Time to be whole. " Timothy said in a deeper voice that had a hint of dryness to it. Where it grasped him it glowed and, the longer it held on to him the more the glow consumed him. Turning from a pure white glow to deep fiery red. Even as the glow became deeper and brighter the room became darker and darker even though Timothy had a hug picture window and, refused to have a curtain. Loving to look out at the stars as he lay in bed. Timothy kept yelling. "Yes, YES, YES!" "Timothy! Timothy....,!" Yelled his folks. Having been pounding on the door for quite some time. "Dang nabit boy open the door or I'm gonna break it down, yeh hear!" His father was trying not to show it but he was becoming concerned. Why was it so dark under the door? That just didn't seem right. "Kick it down then." His ma yelled in a hysterical tone. Nodding to his wife, he gave the door a good kick, nothing happened. Again he kicked with all his might still nothing as if the door were made of steel. Together they tried, their fear giving them renewed strength. Slowly, the door gave. Timothy stood in the center of his room. His hazel eyes glowing with a red halo around them. The scarecrows body merging with his. The door fell in. A chill overcoming his folks, as though the darkness were trying to enter their very souls. Then they same him. The scarecrow half merged with him. Altering his features. His eyes! His eyes struck a fear in both of them they never knew existed. The halo of red like a window of evil showing them the hate and rage that had created this union. The reality, sobering to both of them in different ways. All the pain and rage. What had gone wrong? When? Timothy stepped forward. He smiled warmly at his parents. A large amount of saliva dribbled out of his mouth. He wiped it with his hand and then on the side of his shirt. It sizzled leaving a hole in his shirt. Both his parents went to embrace him. But at his touch they both screamed out in agony. Their bodies distorting. Radiating various shades of color that grew dimmer the more they distorted. Flesh becoming clear, veins and muscles showing, cellular structure showing, breaking down more and more to darkness. "Noooooooo.... this isn't how it was supposed to be!" Timothy yelled out hitting his own chest. From deep inside him it laughed. "We are one child. "He grabbed his hunting knife and began to stab himself. It laughed at him with its same deathly dry voice. His mouth too. He tried to scream but, all that came out was the shrill lingering laughter. The more he thrusted his knife the more he felt it pushing from the inside at him. Tears flowed down his face. It began to rip its way out. Both cryptic clawed hands were pulling him apart at the stomach. |