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Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS:

Episode 21 Chapter 19

Joseph, Rosetta and Martin stood staring at the farmhouse in disbelief.    The incarnation of the Devil that was painted crudely on the front door had them perplexed.   Deep down, they had not been expecting to find anything at the farm, never mind something so ominous.

   Rosetta was the first to speak.  “What does it mean?”  She asked, but her words, not unexpectedly, failed to gain a response, “My father wasn’t into devil worship,” she continued, “he was only using the farm for storage.   Why would anyone think that there was something like that going on going on here?”

   “I have no idea,” Martin answered, “but with no security here, it’s my guess that it was only children getting their kicks with spray cans and graffiti – after all the gates were wide open when we arrived.   Anybody could have gained access, and with it being a village it is more than likely that everybody that lives in it would be aware that it is now currently unoccupied … and the reason why.   They would have all known by now that your father was in hospital and his brother was missing … and the police haven’t blocked it off because it’s not a crime scene.   Your father was found several miles from here … though it may be soon if somebody reports us for being here.   Perhaps we should have reported to the police first.”

   “Yes, I agree, Martin,” Joseph chipped in without thinking,   “Children are the most logical answer.   But as far as the police are concerned we should be pretty safe.   If they do turn up we will just have to tell them that Rosetta wants to make sure that nothing of importance has been taken in her father’s absence … and she is also looking for clues as to her uncle’s whereabouts.   Well, we may as well start here and search for any clues the professor may have left as to where the statue might be hidden.”

   Joseph surprised himself with his sudden decision to put himself at the front of the decision making, wondering what had got into him.   He was assuming a bluffing position, a ‘question me if you dare’ attitude.   Yet Joseph knew he was far better off agreeing to Martin’s decisions than assume a leadership role when he had absolutely no idea what he was doing in the first place: far better to let Martin make the mistakes than him; far less questions would be asked if the directions and decisions backfired.   But from the minute they had arrived at the farm Joseph had begun to feel something taking place within his mind that he couldn’t quite understand: a sense of déjà vu: something vaguely familiar, but still out of memory’s reach was surrounding his thoughts.   Something that gave him the firm impression that to remember whatever it was, was an absolute necessity.   But, for the moment at least, he had absolutely no idea how to force it to resurface.

   Whatever it was, it made him feel that it was to do with the rationale for the constant thoughts that had rolled into his mind throughout the morning telling him he needed to be there; that he was destined to be involved.   The feeling that he was a preordained cog in a preordained chain of events that could not, or would not, work successfully without his involvement remained locked in his mind … and it was a feeling that persisted in his mind the more he remained with his present company. 

   Joseph tried his hardest to dismiss the thought, but it would not leave his mind.   And the mere fact that he could not discuss this strange emotion that was running through him with Rosetta and Martin made it all the more harder for him to control his frustration with the path his life and lies were taking him.

   “Good idea,”   Martin replied exuberantly, much to Joseph’s surprise.   Joseph had really expected an objection to his advice from the tall man who stood in front of him, grinning like a schoolboy on a day out with the teacher he admired the most.   Martin’s face betrayed his admiration for the man that Joseph was pretending to be and a new wave of guilt flooded through Joseph’s entire body.

   Joseph immediately regretted his thoughtless tongue, he had not meant to gain gratified approval from Martin for displaying signs of overriding authority – he hadn’t meant to say anything at all – it had just slipped out.   And Martin’s reaction had frightened him somewhat – ‘Would this mean that I now have to take a leadership role?’    Joseph wondered worriedly, ‘I hope not.   I am not who he thinks I am … and I don’t intend to play-act the role just for his benefit.   I am afraid that this it, old chap.   The truth must prevail.   I have had enough.’    And this time the guilt complex his mind was precariously hiding regarding Rosetta and her father hit him so hard he capitulated to it, turned to face her, and began to make his confession.   Regardless of any thoughts Joseph had been receiving in his mind about being the pivotal centre of this entire event he no longer cared.   He had no idea what his mind was talking about, in fact he was now no longer certain why he had even become involved in things in the first place.   Now he wanted out.

   But before his tongue could turn up the audio, before his mind, his heart, his soul went into total meltdown, like a bolt of lightning, the missing memory, and the strange feeling that always accompanied it, flashed through his mind, tore the words out of his mouth – immediately absolved his guilt, and gave him not only the confidence to carry out his deception – but was demanding it.   This time he had seen the memory for long enough for it to send a tremor down his entire body.

   Rosetta had caught Joseph’s strange actions, his sudden turn to face her, the unheard words escaping from his lips, the slightly inane look on his face that seemed to last forever, and she misunderstood his intentions and smiled coyly, but excitedly happy, at him.   And she was pleased with his reciprocal smile.

********

   Joseph returned Rosetta’s smile automatically, but gave it, and its possible meaning, no particular thought.   Joseph’s mind was suddenly in a happy place again because he now felt protected in his charade by the feeling that the extended image had provided him … the same sense of protection that had been constantly entering his mind since he had met up with Martin and Rosetta at the hotel the previous evening.   

   The memory that had flashed through his mind had been nothing more than a blurry image of something buried deep in the murky waters that housed his memories when it first arrived … something totally unintelligible, yet ostensibly expressing a sense of hope and expectations.   But unexpectedly, this time the blurriness momentarily disappeared.   Joseph could now see a narrow creek lined by soft brown and white stones running through an apparent wilderness.   The water was crisp, clear and fast flowing judging by the speed in which the odd leaf and twig on its surface travelled past the small basket that provided the warmth and safety for the young, blanket covered child that was enclosed within.   The weather had seemed cold and overcast.   Perhaps even verging on snow, but the child appeared to be warm and comfortable in the seemingly hostile environment.  

    Joseph’s perception had been of one looking downwards from an elevated position, but suddenly he found himself lying on his back, presumably at the edge of the creek, and looking upwards towards the bleak grey sky that now engulfed his vision.   The sudden change of viewpoint both surprised him and confused him.   There seemed no reason for this abrupt change of perception for there was now nothing to be seen whatsoever.   The seconds seemed to pass by like hours as he lay there bored and frustrated, all due to an obstructive, unimaginative memory that refused to desist … and he began to wonder why the image was remaining in his mind if it was not releasing information to him.   Joseph began to shake his head in an effort to remove this unwanted intrusion from his brain once and for all, but almost instantly stopped his action, pricked up his ears … and listened.  

   From somewhere out of his sight, in the fast approaching darkness of nightfall his strange memory was conjuring up, he could hear a weird, scraping noise.   At first it only seemed to move a few paces before stopping – then moved again – then stopped again, but with each movement it eventually undertook, the creature, or whatever it was, was getting closer and closer to his prone body.  

   Then there was nothing for several heartbeats; an agonising silence for what seemed an eternity.   Suddenly the thing in the semi-darkness moved again and the sound appeared to be so close it sent cold shivers down Joseph’s back.   But this time it was but a solitary shuffle … then silence ruled again.   It was as if whatever was approaching was hesitant: uncertain of its own safety.   Joseph, however, despite the indecisive movements of whatever was out there, was becoming extremely worried for his safety; his fear and concern as much due to the fact that he couldn’t see anything from his prone position, as was the fact that he couldn’t move either.                   

   Unreality was settling comfortably into Joseph’s mind as the strange, unexplained world that currently resided within was taking full control of his thoughts.   He was by now fully convinced that he was no longer receiving a memory returning to the fold, but he was actually, physically, laying on his back on the bank of a stream in some remote forest, god know where.   Though not yet panic stricken, desperation urged Joseph to use the only organ that he had currently available to him, and slowly rolled his eyes around in every direction that he could manage, but all he could see was the slowly fading light of the evening sky that forced its way through the ever threatening clouds that hovered above him.

   “Where is it?   What is it?” he asked himself as he spun his head and eyes around and around even faster, feeling more and more frightened by every sound he heard … and everything that he could not see.   Suddenly something shook him so hard it momentarily caused him to roll over on to his side before rolling back to his original position.   Without thinking, he swung his eyes back towards the sky above him and nearly had a heart attack when his eyes came in direct contact with those of a middle aged man whose head hovered less than a foot above his.  

   The man, too, had looked surprised when their eyes made contact, but quickly reached down and lifted Joseph up into his arms and held him tight against his chest.   Joseph had no idea what to do, or who the man was, but as the man gently patted him on the back he felt the warmth coming from him, he felt comfortable, he felt safe.   Joseph also felt confused.  ‘Was he the child now?’ He wondered, ‘was he in the basket?   Was that the reason why he hadn’t been able to see anything?’   But the questions began to float away from his thoughts as the image became blurred again.  

   Joseph could begin to feel changes in his environment as the darkness of the night began to dissolve before his eyes.   All he could see now was a thick grey fog, and even that was beginning to break up as his mind slowly began moving back to the real world – when a new image unexpectedly appeared before him.   An image that made him recoil in horror and terror.   A huge creature; blood red and orange in texture, with razor sharp teeth, and a stench emitting from its huge mouth that threatened to cause Joseph to dislodge the contents of his morning meal, appeared before him.   And blazing hatred emitted from the menacing eyes that stared at him.   Evil, penetrating, blood shot yellowish-green eyes that put the fear of death into Joseph’s heart.  

   But before Joseph had a chance to react to the fear that was threatening to engulf his mind, a ball of flame, like lava escaping from an active volcano, exploded around the massive creature’s body … and the creature was lost from sight, completely enshrouded within the black smoke that intermingled with the red glow that flowed within it.   Inside his own head Joseph could hear the cursing and screaming that raged in the creature’s voice – then it too disappeared as fast as it had arrived in his mind and Joseph felt strangely warm again.   Safe, as if he had been saved by something, or someone, but he had no idea what he had been saved from … or how.

********

   Everything that had happened inside the unreal world that the memory had taken his mind to had taken place in a ten second time zone inside his head, and Joseph wondered if he had been experiencing an awakening.    Perhaps some memory of his real family was finally going to be exposed to him, he thought with some excitement.   Perhaps something here at the farm was triggering it, though he did not think at six months of age he would have been exposed to very much, so there would not be much to remember.    

   His afterthought slightly disappointed Joseph once again, and he was about to dismiss the thought completely from his mind when he remembered reading an article pertaining to the impact the mother’s life had on the unborn child during pregnancy.   How the child learns so many things when they are still in the womb.   Sounds, voices, music, traffic and so on that form a backdrop to their daily existence in the womb, and a newly born child is quite content with the same noises appearing in the background as they sleep.   However, to change their new environment in a presumption that the child needs silence to sleep can often have a detrimental effect, and vice versa for a child exposed to a quiet environment at the same stage of life in the womb.  

   The article had also argued that many children were born with a greater knowledge of things that had occurred before their birth than ever was known by their parents, mainly because of the time taken to be able to effectively engage in conversation with their parents.   Usually by the time the child was able to communicate fluently and effectively, the event had been buried deep within their subconscious.

   However, this wasn’t always the case.   And it was this particular part of the article that had really caught Joseph’s attention at the time of the reading when the author of the article, who was also the author of the report, noted that there was proof that some children remembered, or held in memory, events that the mother had been involved in during the nine months pregnancy … and when the occasion dictated, were able to recall the event … with complete accuracy.   It was this suggestion that had made Joseph wonder if he did know more about his family than he realised.   And it was that thought that prompted his mind to reconsider that the resurfaced memory may very well have been the beginning of an awakening.

********

   “Are you alright, Joseph?” Rosetta asked, with some concern in her voice.

   “Yes, I am fine.   Sorry, just remembered something that might or might not be pertinent.   Why don’t we try the front door first, and if that doesn’t work we can look for an open window … or lever one open if necessary.” Joseph suggested, his mind suddenly snapping back to the present so quickly he didn’t notice the strange, quizzical look on Rosetta’s face due to the facial contortions he had been making when under the influence of the recovered memory, but, of course, Joseph had no idea that he had even made any.

   “Lead on, McDuff … you’re in charge.”   Martin said with an enthusiastic and joyous laugh, and Joseph rolled his eyes in despair, “Let’s get this show on the road.”  

   Cautiously Joseph reached out and tried the handle.  To his immediate surprise the handle turned and the door rolled forward of its own accord.   Years had passed since the hinges had last been oiled and they squealed piercingly in the still morning air on the desolated farm as the wooden panel slowly retreated towards the wall.  

   As the door swung back, a strange, rather obnoxious odour was released from the house and they were all forced to momentarily step back out of the way of the gushing air until it had all passed by.  

   “Not the fresh countryside welcome I would have expected.”   Joseph said, as he took a huge gulp of fresh air in his lungs before entering the building.   The others, following suit, were right behind him … and as they did so, the slight shiver that had run down their spines when the door had first been opened – increased in its intensity.  

   The markings on the front door had not prepared them for what they found inside.

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