Chilling Tails of Terror

Mischief Makers

     As I look back I wonder how I ever made it to adulthood. My mother always told me that I had an over active imagination, and there was nothing there to be afraid of. She could not see what I saw.

     They were always causing some sort of mischief like when they would cause a plate to fall on the floor and break, or turn things on out of nowhere. My mother would always say how clumsy she was and chalk it up to accidents or forgetfulness. Once they turned on the radio in the middle of the night, and my mother just explained it away by saying that there was a power serge or maybe a loose connection.

     I got out of bed one day to find her in the kitchen when I saw those things messing with the stove. They had figured out how to put out the pilot light and turn the gas on. My mother turned around and put a pan on the stove and turned the burner on. When nothing happened she lit a match which caused a small explosion and caught her dress on fire. She quickly put out the fire and told me that is why she never wanted me to touch the stove.

     We couldn't afford to replace anything we had. After those things killed my father my mother struggled just to put food on the table. My father was a farmer, and anytime something would go wrong he would fix it himself. This seemed to anger those little things, so one day while he was working on his tractor they figured out how to turn it on. That was the end of him fixing things they broke. They were after my mother, because she never let them get to her I suppose.

     I tried to keep her out of mischief's way, however this was a greater task than I had anticipated. I had to watch those things all the time. Once in a while they would trick me. One of them would disappear from sight and distract me, while the others would go to lay traps for whoever came across them. Once I caught them taking out the screws from the knife shelf above the cutting table. They took the biggest clever down, and set it on the table for my mother to find. After they were done they left in a hurry. When mother came in I told her that it looked like the screws were coming out of the shelf just before she put the cleaver back in its place.

    This did not bode well for me when they started to shift their gaze towards me. I knew I would be punished I just didn't know how or when. It was almost three a.m. when I heard scuttling around my bed. They were plotting for their revenge. I tried to sit up to see what was going on, but I was tied down to my bed. I tried to call for my mother, but I was gagged. I was trying to figure out what was going on. I looked to my left and right. Sitting on each side of my head were the little demonic creatures, grinning and laughing menacingly. They were mocking me and poking me with sewing needles. Soon I felt one on my chest and I looked down at him and I discovered that he was holding my father's hunting knife.

     Even being tied down I managed to rock my bed, which knocked the lamp off of my night stand. I hoped that my mother had heard the noise, and would come to check it out. Being a child I didn't think of the consequences of my actions. I was just so scared that I didn't think at all. As the creature on my chest moved closer to my face I began to cry. Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted a tall shadow.

    It was my mother. She stood there in shock, as I lay there tied to my bed. Her mind seemed to snap into focus in an instant. She couldn't see them I could tell, but it didn't matter. She charged forward, and fought the string around my legs, arms, and chest. For the first time she seemed afraid. Once she got me free she pushed me towards the door.

     The imps changed their target, and started biting my mother's ankles. She screamed in pain as they ripped at her flesh. She was scared I could tell, but she still pushed me forward. That's when I realized she wasn't scared for herself she was scared for me. I reached the door, and stopped to look back at her. She told me to keep going. I was too scared to stay, so I ran at top speed out of the house. I didn't stop running until I reached the nearest neighbor we had. They took me inside, and got me to calm down. Once I was slightly calm they drove me back to my father's farm. They checked inside, but my mother was nowhere to be found.

     They never believed me when I told them about the imps, but then again it was even hard for me to believe. Even now I have trouble believing it was all real, but I still go to bed with my light on just in case.