The Redemption of Stingy Jack

Chapter Six

"M! Come on. Come open the door." Lyn cried, when her jacking on the door handle proved futile. Drowsiness coiling insidiously about her.

Maud left their front yard and dashed to the door. She pulled out her keys, with Lyn looking at her like she'd delayed her for hours, and she plunged it into the keyhole.

"Someone's out there?" Maud muttered, and turned the key.

"Santa's out there?" Lyn dropped her head in amazement. "Where?"

Maud pulled out the key, heaving a sigh. "Someone. On our yard."

"What? Really?" Lyn said, and instantly turned around.

She tried to steady her glance, as they traveled from right to left, scanning the lit pumpkins, all the way till she noticed something. She walked down the stairs, facing the left part of their yard. She noticed him. A man or a boy, she wasn't sure. He was in an old suit. And he was faced down into one of their mashed pumpkins.

"Well look." Lyn pointed, and when she turned around, Maud was behind her. "He's having a rest." Lyn said. "Which is what I would really like to do right now. So would you please, M, open the door." Lyn pleaded this time. Brown eyes glinting under the moonlight.

"I already did." Maud's nose flared. How drunk are you?

"Thank you!" Lyn praised, and instantly, she marched up the stairs into the house.

Maud’s eyebrows pulled together, as she wondered why she’s the only one being rational there. Well, she was sober, so it was expected of her. She surveyed the unmoving man one last time, and then followed Lyn into the house.

Lyn didn't turn on the lights, so Maud did.

As soon as warm light spilled over everything there, Lyn seemed to retrace her steps. She was facing the wall that divided her room and Maud's. On realizing this, she then went left; to her own room. Maud sighed, seeing the reason why Lyn begged her to come with. She would have been a drunken mess, and she wasn't even sure Cole would be able to handle her. Who was she kidding. Cole was probably even more drunk than her. Now she’s not sure who to blame. Cole, for having such a variety of alcohol at his party, or Lyn who couldn’t resist and kept taking sips after sips. She wasn’t ready for that thought, so she waived it off.

She tossed Lyn's purse on the couch. Her eyes darted to the table to see the unopened bag of Doritos and a bottle of soda. She sighed, thinking if she could still watch her horror movie. She pulled out her phone from her hoodie pocket, and the time on the face read, eleven minutes past eleven. The night was still young. Was it not? Then it hit her. The unconscious man outside. Lyn said he was resting, but definitely couldn't believe it. Why would he want to rest in their yard. Was he homeless or something? He looked kind of strange, though, like he wasn't from here. Maud hadn't locked the door, and so she went back outside.

The man was still there, unmoved. He'd been like that for long. Was he dead? Her heart banged faster on her rib cage for a hot second. She scanned everywhere for a moment. The night was quite silent and chilly. The hoodie was doing its job at the moment. Some people could have been seen from an apartment far off going in. The main road was all quiet, no cars for now. And voilà, a stranger on their yard. She walked closer to the body, not fearing a thing anymore.

"Sir." She crouched.

"Hey, sir." She called again, hoping he'd hear her.

No response and then she swallowed hard. She took breaths, and then she stuck out a foot at him. She tapped him once, twice, and then the third time was a hard one, as it made the body turn over. The man was now laid, belly up, and Maud could see his face. His costume looked so surreal. It looked like he shoved a pumpkin down his head, and then tied bandages around them to hold. Then he carved a really strange looking mouth, nose and eyeholes. The eyeholes were shut at the moment.

"What a weird looking costume." Maud muttered.

She sighed, not knowing what to do. He broke one of their pumpkins for one. And now make that two, counting where he just landed his surprisingly powerful hand. And what's with the odd looking lamp. Is that a... a turnip? Maud moved closer to the glowing lamp, not quite far from the man's body. It was a hybrid turnip, with some orange light glowing inside it, like the belly of a firefly. She glanced at the body, and wondered if the man was dead. She slowly reached for his neck, which felt dead cold and slimy on the touch. Her mouth twisted in disgust as she pulled away. Was that slime or sweat on her hand? She yanked it off, and she gave the body a look. He wasn't dead after all, just unconscious. But why their yard? Why their apartment? Had he broken in to steal something? She glanced at the kitchen window, and they looked intact. Should she call 911? Well, he was unconscious, not dead. She didn't know him, did she? What if he didn't have a place to stay? Where was he from? And finally, how did he make his stretchy pumpkin mask so real?

She sighed. All these questions had to be answered. And so she gathered all her scattered impulses into a passionate act of courage, and boldly took him in.