The dew is upon the grass on a brand new day. Janitor Ted came out of his house before the sun came up. He filled his lungs with the newfound air that he breathed when Janitor Ted smiled at the grace of living on this day. The Ram Charger sat in the driveway that has not seen a day of rust since he sprays the undercarriage and the wheel wells when he noticed that the sending unit in his fuel pump is going on the fritz. He had to fix that before winter. He tosseled the coat that is on his arm when he clamored to the Ram Charger with his beard growing a little bigger than he was aware from the night before. He opened the door to the Ram Charger and started the engine, driving off in the brand new day when the sun slowly came up in the breeze of the horizon.
Janitor Ted works at Sunny Graham Elementary when he cleaned up the toilets and the puke on a daily basis. He only gets paid nine dollars an hour when he peddled around with a bucket that he swore that will never be clean after he used about 1/8th’s of a bottle of Dawn Dish Soap to clean out the chunks that made him heave on a regular basis. He felt like he is better than this when he continued to push the broom around, hearing the teachers teach the little children that are named with many names that he cannot keep them all in his head. Most of the doors are closed though when he is kept to himself on an upmost basis. He talks to the teachers on a rare basis when the keys jangle on his belt loop. At four thirty, he left the school; only to go to the bar to drink a couple of beers and eat a couple of pretzels when the chatter is only accompanied by the television that is bolted from the ceiling.
There are only three or four people in the bar on the weekdays when he continued to drink in silence, wondering what went wrong when he rubbed his head. The headache will come on later when he continued to rub his head, feeling the creases on his forehead get deeper at time that does not stand still. That night, he came home to eat a couple of Salisbury Steaks that dried up in the oven when he thought about the rope that is in the closet. The rope is long and tan and hung in the closet with silence of the knots that formed the noose. The computer is on in his room when he closed the door to his closet to look at some research on his computer. The time ticked on when the night got later and later as he turned off the computer to go to bed on the night that is another in the land of true boredom.
He woke up again and started it over on minute zero. It is the same in his life when he started on the day in Sunny Graham Elementary with the broom and the bucket of water that came out of the janitor’s closet. On the day which is a Tuesday, there is a meeting in the gym when Ted arrived to the meeting, standing against the wall with his arms crossed upon his torso. He scanned the children up in the benches when one of them looked at him with some weird smile upon his face.
What does that mean when Ted felt uncomfortable with that odd look on the child’s face? The last time he saw something on a child’s face is when he was a child, looking at the faces of three children that beat another child to death with aluminum baseball bats. The child is lying there, still with no breath coming out of his mouth. The dead one looked into the clearing when the children stood over the body with that same weird smile upon their faces. The smile is insane. The principle continued on with the meeting, looking at the crowd of faces that are sitting on the benches when they listened with their minds thinking about something smaller – or something bigger.
“It is brought to our attention that Gerald Ellis passed away. We know that you children love him and he will be missed. Your parents are notified about the issue and for the next few days, you children will be picked up by your parents for the next two weeks.”
Ted knew what happened. It is the third murder that happened in town in the past month. What happened to Gerald is far from the description for any child to listen when he was at the meeting last night with the adults. The conversations rose like a catapult that is about ready to fire. Ted felt cringing just by hearing about it when he crossed his arms like he is doing now. The keys bumped on his thigh when he felt the coolness on his back. Someone came through the door when he noticed that it is Roger Daily, one of the new teachers that started his internship in the school four months ago. He came in his screaming tie and his undented black shoes when Ted didn’t make eye contact with him.
Ted kept to himself when it came to new people. Most new people don’t last long around the halls of Sunny Graham Elementary. Ted continued to listen on when the minutes tick on in the gym. He felt uneasy on this day when the gym sounded not silent at all. The children kept talking in their silence when Ted knew that they are not talking like little children at all. They are talking more intelligent than children when Ted went home after the meeting is over. The only task that he did today is filling up the toilet paper rolls and clean off the dust on the top of the doors. He went back to the bar when he noticed that Walter Roy is not behind the bar.
“Where is Walter?” He asked the man that is behind the bar when he shrugged.
“Walter is feeling under the weather. What will you have?” By the looks of the man he has no sympathy on that expression at all.
Ted thought about it for a minute when he cocked his head. He didn’t think about having a beer. He didn’t think about having a mixed drink or a shot of whiskey.
“Give me a soda.” Ted said when he felt like he is going to puke all over the bar.
Later that night, he lay in bed with the yard light blaring in the window. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes when he continued to look at the ceiling that is partially cracked with some of plaster coming down every time he closes the door to his bedroom. His mind is running through too many problems when he heard a car drive down the road, followed by a semi, followed by a bike. Ted reached to the head of the bed to grab the watch that is on top of it, looking at it when he reads the time of 2:36 in the morning. He placed the watch back on the head of the bed when he sighed. He got up to watch some television as his mind continued to ponder on the problems in town. He finally went to sleep at four o’clock in the morning as he knew that it is his day off tomorrow when he slept through the morning with not a care in the world.
He went to town a little later to see what is happening in the daily paper outside of the public diner. The news is never the same as another person is murdered in town. Ted felt concerned when he read his as he flipped the pages over to the sports section, feeling happier when he read along. The sun came over the horizon on another day on his only day off. He has to work on the weekend. Fixing articles in the school that needs fixing before the school burns down on a case of a simple accident or the toilet floods that cause flood damage. Kids are prone to screwing a lot of stuff up when Ted ordered the usual for today. He had to do his business of sort in another town.
That night, he didn’t get back home until nine o’clock in the evening. The night is upon the town and the trees started to dance with the wind of the coming storm that should hit overnight. He opened the window in his bedroom when he lied on the bed to look at the sky from where he is slowly lumbering to sleep. He looked at the sky when the thunder rolled in the distance as he sees nothing but darkness. The lightning appeared in the sky after he fell asleep. When he woke up, he got ready for his job when he grumbled after he got up. He shaved in front of the mirror as the stubble cut away and brushed his teeth to the sound of the birds that are waking up from their sleep. His shoes are tied tight when he smiled at the tips of his shoes. He remembered when he first bought these shoes at a sale in a shopping mall. The girl that was over the counter kept to herself when he bought these shoes, trying them on for the first time and thinking to himself that these shoes were the best shoes that he ever wore. It only happened a very few times in his life when he looked at his shoes now. There is some age to his shoes now. The sides of them are all dented and there is a slight cut from the left one. He smiled just the same when he got up to observe the new day outside his grimy windows. He walked outside with not a cloud in the sky.
The first thing he did on the morning before walking into the school is seeing the low branches of the trees that are almost touching the ground. He called Pinkland on the matter of getting the loppers out of the shed that is past the playground when he thought he got Pinkland on the other end of the line. He only heard the sound of the button being depressed on the other walkie after he spoke into it. He waited when the button came off of the other walkie, creating white noise when Ted thought of getting interference on a third walkie. It happens on occasion when Ted looked at the school with the blinds all closed.
Why are all the blinds closed? He wondered with pure bemusement, cocking his head a little with the wind slightly blowing over his hair. The flag out front of the building swayed with the wind, creating a dance within the wind when it blew back and forth on the day that is getting older by the minute. The blinds flickered a little when he looked at the utility shed that is on the other side of the playground. Then there is silence all over the area, making Ted a little nervous.
Feels like a ghost town prodigy around here. Ten winced at something that stabbed into his jeans. He looked down to see the wasp that is dangling there on his jeans when he crushed it down with the palm of his hand.
Oh no, I’m allergic to wasps!
He got his feet pouncing to the Ramcharger that is parking in the lot that is more than a decade old. He swung the passenger door open to unveil the Epipen that is hidden in the glove compartment when he jammed it into his thigh as the needle poked into his skin. He felt it when he yipped, clenching his teeth to snuff out the pain when he looked around the parking lot with the cars full. The lot is cracked beyond belief with so many patches that it looks like an artistic piece that should be in the Art and Culture section in the Smithsonian Museum. The cars are newer with people living the dream of middle class but living below the bar with the bills piling up.
There is still no activity from the school when he pulled the needle out of his thigh and placed it back into the glove compartment for later disposal. He looked on the other side of the property when he sees the leaves blowing on the ground. The sound of the chains from the swings can be heard from where he is standing when he turned back to the school and sighed, feeling ten years older when he walked back to the school. His shoes slowly cracked over the tarmac when his pressure is felt on the bottom of his feet. He winced at the pain when he opened the door to the school and walked in, feeling the coolness on his face when he closed the door behind him.
The hallway in the school is silent with the sound of the air conditioning kicking on over the ceiling tiles. Something banged on the other side of the hall when Ted crept on his tippy toes to wonder what that sound was.
“Who’s there?” Ted asked the phantom on the other side of the hall. The phantom beyond the door closed when Ted stepped three paces down the hall with the cold air blowing from the vents. The sound of voices are not from the schoolrooms around his field of hearing as he stood there, unable to do what is needed to be done until he found the courage in his heart to do it. He sees the janitor’s closet that is next to him when he sauntered to that with the keys jangling, opening the door to see the odd shapes that are in darkness. He grabbed the mop handle and unscrewed the head from the clasps as the mop dropped into the bucket, creating some stick with a metal tumor that is on the end of it. He appeared back into the light again with the mop handle that is within his hands.
He felt nervous, going to the first door to touch the door knob when he croaked before doing it. He opened the door, blinking his eyes three times when he walked in with the stick in his hand. He looked into the classroom, seeing nothing there when he looked around at the empty space. He rubbed his head to the absence of a classroom that should be in operation at this period. The room is in darkness when he looked at the white board that is in front of the class, seeing the past stroke of people that used that board when he felt unease to the classroom that is now a ghost school with no one in sight. He went back out from the room when he is back into the light of the hallway now.
He closed the door when he started going from classroom to classroom to poke his head in. He saw nothing when he closed the doors, feeling that hard bit of ice melt away in his chest when he got to the faculty office to peer through the windows. There is no sign of life in the office when he gulped, feeling the shakes in his hands start up when he started to breath heavy through his mouth and through his nostrils. He felt the keys rattle like bell clops in his head when he turned and hunkered down against the wall. The basement door is in front of him when he looked at the dark colored door. He moved his head up when he continued to look at the door that looks like it is going to blow up in his face anytime now when he thought and thought for a span of a few seconds.
He got up when the door blew open, sending him back against the wall when something slimy wrapped around his neck in a split second. Ted’s eyes pulled open when he saw the shape of insane monstrosity slither in the darkness with a thousand eyes gather in many shapes that dance and stop, dance and stop like a cobra dancing in front of the prey that is amazed before the strike of death happens.
“Let’s play, Emily. Let’s play!” The thing mimicked a little girl’s voice when it snarled after.
Ted felt something else grabbed his ankle when the slimy appendage pulled him towards the door that is now a splintered mess all over the hallway. The thing mimicked another voice of a boy that Ted does not know when Ted thrashed about in the hallway.
“Give it back, smartass. Give it back or I’ll belt ya good!” The Thing moaned something ungodly when Ted did a one eighty on the floor. He rolled and rolled when the monster felt the pain through his appendages coil around Ted’s body when it reeled faster and faster. He rolled when something splattered all over his body when he felt the appendages unfurl around him, making him jump up like a scared cat when he ran to the office door and locked the door behind him. He ran like the place is about to blow when he jumped into the principal’s office and closed the door behind him.
“What? Who is there?” The principal jumped from behind the desk with a gun in his hand.
“Who is there? I’ll fire!” The principal giddied with spit coming out of his mouth. He laid the gun on Ted when Ted waived his hands in the air in a sign of peace.
“No, don’t Peter!” Ted roared.
“It’s me, Ted!”
The principal kept the gun on him when he started to laugh a little.
“How do I know? I can feel it in my mind, clawing its memory at me. It wants me to go down into the basement. It wants me to go down to the party and a party it will be!” The principal placed his hand upon his head, feeling something behind his eyes that is hitting the high point of pain that is looking worse on his brain that is about to leak out of his ears.
“What are you talking about?”
“The monster in the basement; it’s been unearthed from ten thousand years of imprisonment. It got to the children first and made them commit murder! Then all the children went into the basement after killing off the teachers, hauling the bodies in the basement where it is. Did you go down to the basement recently?”
Ted for the life of him cannot remember when something shattered in the office.
“It’s coming in. the beast. We have to burn down this building, you and me. We have too!” Peter laughed when he rolled towards the window and pulled it up with something falling from the sill.
“Let’s get out of here and get some gas cans. We can’t talk to no one about this.”
“What about the children?”
“Just go and forget about them. They are dead already! Just go.” The principal turned outside when something moved him back two steps.
“Oh god, oh no!” Peter stammered when he sees the faces of a thousand youth that is standing outside with baseball bats, rocks, and switches that are within their hands.
“What are you kids doing out there? Help us!” Peter ordered the children when one of them threw a rock into the window, shattering the panes when the window dropped down and slammed the glass that is all over the sill. The glass went flying when another rock smashed in, sending the glass flying when the rock went through the glass like butter and struck Peter in the temple. He was dead before he slid down the wall behind him.
The gun slipped out of his hand and clattered to the floor. Ted went to grab the gun and pointed it to the door that leads to the faculty office. He was sure as shit in a pickle when he crept up to the window to speak with the children outside.
“What do you want!?” He asked the children.
“Warning;” That is all the children say.
“Of what;” Ted spoke a little louder with his mind pulling in all directions.
“That the end of your existence is near. Hallowed be its name: Anoc.”
The door knocked when Ted jumped off the wall, jumping around the wall and through the window. He dropped onto the ground and pointed the gun at the children that are amassed almost in a thousand.
“Back up or I’ll shoot. Back up, now!”
***
Walter, the bartender is cleaning the glasses in the bar as the sun went down. The radio is tuned to classic country that is playing John Anderson’s “Seminole Wind” with some of the static playing through. Ted came through the door with one of his boots missing when he walked to the bar with his head down. Walter didn’t see him until he sat down, turning his head when he walked to Ted with his head still down.
“What will you be having, Ted?” Walter still sounds like he is under the weather when Ted looked up and then looked down with his hands upon the bar.
“A tall beer,” He felt it in his mind, eating away his memories and his sanity when he pulled out the gun from his jacket pocket.
“And a hearse,” Ted added in when he placed the gun underneath his chin and pulled the trigger.
General