Page-Turning Tales

Part 1: Insatiable Hunger

Today was cloudy and gloomy, the trees were losing their leaves, and the sun kept making feeble attempts at peeking through the gray clouds to no avail. It has been drizzling this whole morning so the ground was moist, adding to the depressive weather.

"And so he comes back inside the house and guess what he's holding?" Stacy Wilington's chipper voice cut through the gloom like a knife.

"What was it?" The women around me asked eagerly.

What a bunch of fake bitches, I thought.

"His shotgun!" Stacy exclaimed dramatically, "He told me that he thought a coyote was outside but I was like 'Darling, we don't even have coyotes in these parts. Don't be ashamed to admit that you were sleepwalking!' " She snorted with amusement.

The women laughed, and I joined them so I could blend in.

"Can I go to the bathroom, Mommy?" Camilla asked as she ran up to me.

I looked at the park restrooms that stood about a 100 feet away from where we were standing.

"Sure honey. Just don't be gone too long. You have five minutes," I said, kissing the top of her head.

"Thank you Mommy!" Camilla beamed at me and ran towards the restrooms. I watched her walk in and close the door, then turned towards the other mothers with a smile.

5 minutes had passed and Camilla still hasn't emerged from there. I started to get nervous, but I decided to wait for another minute. When I still didn't see my daughter, I excused myself from the group and walked off towards the restroom door through which I had seen Camilla enter.

"Camilla?" I asked, knocking on the concrete door, "Honey? Are you in there? I told you five minutes and that's it."

Only silence reached my ears as I strained to hear something. Anything.

"Baby? Stop playing around and answer me." I said, terror rising in my voice as the silence continued. "Camy??" I yelled.

My commotion attracted the rest of the parents as they started to approach, asking what's going on. I banged on the door, yelling for my daughter, my beloved and precious daughter, to please answer me. Then suddenly, the sound I most dreaded to hear resounded through the door.

A muffled scream reached my ears, causing my panicked terror to rise exponentially. I began to force myself against the door, adrenaline giving me strength which caused the door to shake and rumble from the impacts.

"Hey, move away from the door, Laura!" yelled out David Wilington, Stacy's husband and sheriff of the town, as he tried to tear me away from the door through which the screams were no longer muffled but rang out loud and clear through the chilly air. I heard the other children cry out in fear as their parents attempted to console them.

Suddenly the screams stopped as suddenly as they had begun. My heart stopped in my chest as I strained to hear at least one sound. Even the children ceased their cries.

Shaking off my frozen moment, I acted. David's involvement only further fueled my rage as I pushed him away with enough force to knock him off his feet. But my previous assaults on the door didn't go to waste as I charged at the door once again and it flung open. I almost fell on my face but a hand grabbed my arm and I looked back surprised to see David holding me back, even after I had pushed him.

I shook off his grip and scowled at him before abruptly returning my attention inside the restroom. It was a single room, and pitch dark except for the daylight that provided a faded light inside the room, illuminating the horror that lay in the middle.