Sesame Street Horror

Sesame Street Horror - Blood Red

Jason is an average six year old kid; he likes Power Rangers, he loves Batman; but most of all he absolutely adores Sesame Street, and his favorite character is Elmo, the red, cheery, friendly, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly character of the show.

Jason has always liked Elmo, ever since he was a baby to be honest. His parents would turn on the TV and have him watch Sesame Street everyday since he started crying when they switched it to something else. It was border-line obsession and his mother, Jenny, was slightly worried about it; that is until she talked to her husbands mother and she told her about when her husband, Jeff, was little that he was the same way about Batman. That eased the fears for the most part; but there were still some isolated moments where she felt that it was bad for Jason, that it was dangerous -- for whatever reason -- and whenever she thought that she mentally scolded herself. After all, how could watching Sesame Street be dangerous? Like come on, it be more dangerous for him to be running around the park down the street than him watching Sesame Street.

And so his compulsion to watch Sesame Street was left alone by both his mother and his father. Let the kid enjoy it, it's good for him, and all these other statements of the sort came from Jeff and usually it eased Jenny's mind but there was always that sliver of suspicion left in her mind; mother instinct she called it, and when she scolded herself, she called it instinct of idiots.

That was the way it was on Friday evening; Jeff was away on a business trip and was excepted to come home the next day, Jenny was at home doing the bills, washing the dishes, cleaning, cooking, and, when she had time, writing her novel. Something that had been in the making for years, since before Jason was born even; it had grown accordingly, now a one thousand plus page story.

When Jason's school bus arrived, she was in her special room, writing away on her old typewriter, scoffing at the idea of using a computer even though it would be much more economical to use one. She had gotten a taste for writing on the typewriter and nothing could or would replace it. Jenny heard the roar of the school bus just as she finished her sentence; she got up from her writing desk, taking her iced tea with her to go greet Jason from school.

Jenny walked out of her special room which was off of the main hallway. From the main hallway she entered the kitchen and put down her iced tea on the marble counter top, leaving a ring of condensation. And then she walked to the door to greet her boy home from school, the TV already switched on to the channel that plays Sesame Street at this time of day.

* * *

Jason was giddy, getting off the bus, as he always was, eager to go inside and watch his favorite show, Sesame Street, and to see his favorite character again, Elmo. His mommy greeted him at the door, giving him a kiss on the cheek, to which he always said, "Eww! No kissing Jason, Mommy!" With a large smile on his face. Jenny, Mommy to Jason, always smiled and said "Mommy kiss Jason again!" And then she'd chase him around the house, both of them smiling and laughing.

After about twenty minutes, the stopped chasing each other and went inside, still laughing some and smiling brightly. And at that time, the fear of Jason's border line obsession with Sesame Street and the thoughts of it -- somehow -- being dangerous, were the farthest thing from her thinking. That is, until Jason, once he was inside the house, ran straight to the TV, which was just starting to show the intro to Sesame Street, smiling like a kid on Christmas morning and humming along to the music softly. And with that action of completely abandoning her company for that of stuffed animals on TV, it's a smack of reality for a brief moment that his obsession was more like addiction, and that an addiction that strong at his young age, cast a potentially bad light for his future. Nevertheless, she walked back into the kitchen to start an early dinner, which they usually ate together in the living room, while Jason watch Sesame Street like a drug addict getting his fix.