Creeptober Horror Spree: Volume One

There's a Hole In Sarah's Yard

As Sarah closed the gap between the living room and the kitchen, something past the patio doors caught her attention. Through the corner of her eye, she saw a void in the center of her lawn and turned. She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Deb?" She called, voice echoing through the vaulted ceilings.

"Yeah, babe?" Her head popped out of a doorway, her hair in a lopsided bun.

"Why the hell is there a huge hole in the yard?" She asked.

"What?!" Deb strode out and down the hall to stand beside Sarah, peering out of the sliding door. "What the fuck?" She mumbled, pulling out her phone. "I swear to god if Charlie had anything to do with this, he's out of this relationship," She mumbled, furiously texting.

"Call me crazy, but it looks like it's dug out from the inside, don't it?" Sarah slid the door open, stepping barefoot onto the concrete and sliding a deck chair out of her way.

Behind her, Deb's phone rang, and an argument ensued. Charlie meant well, but he was terrible at doing his share of the chores. Sarah had a suspicion that he had only been interested because of some cliched fantasy of his.

"You never do any of the chores you're assigned, and now there's this big fuckin' hole in the yard-" Deb ranted, voice fading.

Sarah stood before the opening, flexing her toes in the cool grass. The hole was about five feet around. Sarah leaned over the edge, looking down into the darkness, wondering how deep it went. When the logic struck her, Sarah jumped back from the edge and jogged back towards the house. "Leave him alone, Deb, and call...I don't know. Someone. The fire department?"

Deb took a break from criticizing their partner to give her a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"It goes straight down. It's a sinkhole. We should get out of here."

Going slightly pale, Deb raised the phone back to her ear and said quietly, "I'm sorry, Charlie. I've been stressed. You still need to do your friggin' chores, but, Sarah actually thinks this is a sinkhole. We'll keep you posted. Yeah, the house is okay. Oh, okay, thanks. Bye." Deb hung up, looking wounded. "He said we have to call our insurance about this, but 911 if it starts to open up real bad."

Sarah nodded and went inside, watching her with an amused look. It wasn't the first time Deb had gone off on someone to find out they hadn't done anything wrong. Someday, maybe, she would learn to control her temper. Sarah found the number for their insurance, called them, explained the situation, and scheduled a visit by the end of the week. If the hole started to get bigger, they were to leave immediately. Otherwise, they could go about their days like nothing was wrong.

Charlie came home that afternoon and quietly did all of the chores he'd been neglecting, barely looking Deb in the eye. By dinnertime, though, the hatchet was dead and buried. They all laughed around the table, Sarah occasionally glancing towards the hole at the end of their yard, swearing she saw it get bigger. Longer and longer, she stared at it, until Charlie nearly had to shout to get her attention.

"Sarah?" He asked with a raised voice.

She jumped, focusing back on the conversation. "Oh, sorry..." She brushed the hair from her eyes. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted seconds," He laughed.

"Oh. No, thanks." She slowly turned to look back outside.

"Are you okay, babe?" Deb asked, brushing her arm with her fingers.

"Yeah," Sarah replied distantly. "I just thought I saw it get bigger. Does it look bigger?"

Her partners looked outside, squinting. "No, I don't think so." Charlie shook his head. "It makes me anxious too, but the insurance guy's coming on Friday, right? That's not too long. Don't let it freak you out."

"I won't," Sarah said plainly, preoccupied with the yawning space in the grass. She didn't feel anxious about it in the slightest. "I'm not scared. Just...it's interesting, no? I wonder how far down it goes."

Deb got up to clear the table, motioning to Charlie to help box up the leftovers. "Well," She said, stacking plates. "Let's not find out, mmkay? No wandering around out there until the insurance company can repair it."

Feeling strange, Sarah opted to sleep alone in the second bedroom, hoping that uninterrupted rest would help. She fell asleep quickly, sinking into an odd dream. Her back yard, now miles wide in all directions, stretched out in front of her. The sinkhole, the only blemish in sight, seemed to be patiently waiting for her. The pull grew stronger with every step she took until she was running towards the hole. It opened up even larger, presenting to her a vast abyss. When she leaped into it, Sarah woke with a start in the real world, heart racing.

Maybe I have a phobia I didn't know about, She thought to herself. For the next two nights, she suffered the same dream. Sarah kept the nightmares to herself. The appointment was a day away, and soon there would be no hole to drudge up primal fears in her subconscious. Charlie and Deb were long gone, having left for work hours ago, so Sarah set to catch up on cleaning. Every time she passed the sliding doors, she couldn't help but glance at the hole.

Sarah caught herself standing and staring, unable to recall how long she had been at the window. She regarded her body's movements with vague understanding as she slid open the door, stepped onto the patio, and slowly made her way across the lawn. One more peek inside, she thought. Just satisfy your curiosity and get back inside.

Step by step, Sarah approached the hole, which seemed to grow before her.

Charlie got home before Deb, confused. Sarah's car was still in the garage, but she was nowhere in the house. Sighing, he walked to the patio. Charlie stopped dead, staring ahead, bewildered.

The hole was gone.