The Dead Parade

Prologue

Joseph gripped the wheel and Penny screamed. Headlights, larger than most, blinded both of them. Joseph tried to say something, anything, but his mouth opened and the words stayed locked inside his throat. It didn’t matter. There was nothing to say and no one would have heard him anyhow. Penny’s voice had become a high-pitched siren that dominated all potential discussion. 

In the backseat of the car was little Mathew. A moment before he was juggling between singing and drinking. Sing––slurp. Sing––slurp. Then came the grim sound of his mother’s bellow. This caused his concentration to falter and his juice box to slip from his fingers. The box slid along his t-shirt and bounced over the strap that held him. The straw designed to pierce the box hung from Mathew’s lips, dripping purple sap. 

He wondered if there was a monster in the front seat. Somehow it seemed very possible. If there was a monster, maybe it was eating his mother. Monsters can do that, he considered. Every kid worth two cents plus three cents knows that. 

Being too small see over the front seat, the headlights of the oncoming vehicle did not blind Mathew. His eyes, round and bulging, remained sheltered from the glare as they danced between his mother and father. He didn’t comprehend the problem, but knew something was wrong. Mommy never sounded like that before. She never sounded like she was being eaten alive. 

Joseph cranked the wheel to his left, which seemed to be his best option. His decision came a little too late; the truck would not be avoided. Impact was imminent. 

Mathew’s hands moved towards his ears, knocking the straw from his lips. He inhaled deeply, preparing his throat for a cry that would never come.

The vehicles collided with a CRUNCH and the world became a blur. 

Mathew’s body lunged forward and his seatbelt locked, strangling him like it hated him.

On Joseph’s side of the car the steering wheel folded into a strange and misshapen zero. On Penny’s side, her intense and dominating scream came to an abrupt and horrific halt. The windshield shattered as both parents went through. The pavement would be stained red for weeks. 

After the accident came darkness. And for what seemed like a long time, Mathew was lost in nothing.