“What ARE you!?”
Andrew asked once again to the red devilish looking creature.
“There’s no time! No time! Need meat! Need meat!”
It then opened its jaw to a disturbing degree as it dove from the ceiling.
“AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
It then swallowed Andrew whole.
“SLURP SLURP! GOBBLE GOBBLE!”
As it finished, wiping its mouth rather politely, it leered its head over to Edward, clearly entranced by his aroma.
“MACARONI!”
It leaped to Edwards unconscious body licking his fingers. Tears fell from Edward's eyes.
—-
“A-AH!”
He shot up out of bed, flustered to find his infant daughter suckling away at his fingers without even a hint of embarrassment.
“Eugh…”
A woman on the left side of him rose drearily upon hearing Edwards squeals. She rubbed her eyes while yawning.
“What…? You okay Eddie..?”
“Yeah,yeah. Just shocked is all… What in the world are you doing up so early, May-May?”
He turned his attention to the leg of the bed, realizing that the cradle May-May had slept in was tilted over, Luckily enough it was tilted over, creating a bridge for her to safely crawl onto.
“Oh- Oh God! Ellie! Ellie!
Ellie sat herself up in an annoyed grumble. As she looked clearly at the tilted cradle she opened her jaw fell for a few moments weirdly enough though, that concern quickly diminished.
“Hah. Damn. That would’ve been really bad. Huh?”
She said while stretching over Edward, and poking at May-May’s stomach playfully.
“YEAH! No kidding!”
Edward calmly lifted his daughter next to her mother, walking up to the cradle to further observe it.
“This- This is a Green Frog Walking cradle! It follows all of the safety guidelines-! It’s lightweight-Durable- Balanced, why did it fall?”
Edward analyzed every inch of the cradle for any potential errors in design, Ellie looked at him with a very calm and collected demeanor, whereas their baby continued to smile, laughing at Edwards anxieties.
“Maybe she was just really uncomfortable and pushed the cradle til it fell over. Who knows.”
“She can’t be that strong- I mean… She's one Ellie…”
“You’d be surprised. It’s fine. We just need to reinforce it. For next time.”
“No, no! We need a new one. It’s not safe…”
Ellie sighed. She got up from the bed, wobbling over to Edward with her half asleep legs and cupped his face.
“You worry too much.”
She kissed his forehead.
“It’s not like she fell out of a window or anything. It would’ve been a little drop on our soft carpet floor… But if it makes you feel better, we can put pillows around her cradle,okay?”
“Okay…”
A soft thud could be heard from Ellie’s side of the bed. Edwards' eyes immediately darted from Ellie’s gaze, only to be met with May-May. Though instead of her bawling as he anticipated, she was crawling them with her usual playful disposition.
image [https://imgur.com/a/K62M8lh.jpg]
“So energetic in the morning…”
Ellie said with a slight chuckle.
Edward picked May up, holding her over his head while putting his mouth to her stomach.
“OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!”
May let out joyous laughter while attempting to kick Edward away. Drool continued to drip down her chin which Edward wiped while chuckling to himself.
“What time is it anyway?”
He handed May over to Ellie, walked over to their bed, and lifted his pillow. The date on his phone was April 17 of 2021, 5:20 AM.
“Oh God I’m gonna be late!”
Though before he could turn around to spread even more of his anxieties, Ellie handed him his newly washed clothes from the closet.
“Ah thanks, thanks…”
“Your stuffs in the fridge too.”
“Thanks!”
He hastily threw on his clothes, kissed his daughter and wife on the cheek, and exited the room.
—--
Upon entering the kitchen, the bottom of Edwards feet were greeted with a chilling sensation which travelled all throughout his body. He shuttered. Today he would need to wear his thicker coat, as evident by the roaring winds from outside, which fought valiantly against his kitchen windows.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
As he flicked the switch of the kitchen, a light which was even brighter than outside, flashed him. He flinched, rubbing his eyes, while still making his way to the refrigerator. He navigated to the best of his ability through touching his surroundings. He walked around his smooth island, with a bowl of fruits he would nearly knock over with his heavy hands. Finally, he reached their well decorated refrigerator with magnets from tobago, England, Hawaii, and other places further on the fridge.
As he placed his hand on the handle, opening the fridge, a hard object slammed onto Edwards foot!
“AH!”
He hopped back holding his foot.
“What the-?!”
As he glanced downwards, his brows furrowed. It was an unthawed piece of raw chicken. Edward rubbed his feet to warm himself. His mind pondered on yelling at his wife for leaving raw meats in the fridge as she frequently had done. But he didn’t. It was either that the butcher had a personal vendetta against Ellie, or He picked up the chicken, shoving it to the deepest recesses of the fridge, past the danimals, eggs, and milk. He then retrieved his tray of lunch and dinner, slamming the door with a tinge of frustration, but ultimately getting over it as he noticed the time on the fridge door.
“Agh!”
—
His feet pit patterned against the cold marble tiles of the kitchen as he left. He then leapt through his warmer living room, past their red couch and tv, to the entrance of the door. He leaned against the wall of the short hallway, forcefully pushing his feet into his shoes without untying them, then turned to his backpack which hung onto the door knob of the closet. He carefully placed his lunch and dinner next to his laptop and other items, then finally opened the closet, retrieving his blue parka. Though before he could exit the house someone had tapped him. He turned around, it was Ellie.
“What's up?”
She handed him his phone and wallet.
“In such a hurry to forget everything?”
“Oh gosh… I’m really losing my head this morning… Thanks.”
She then zipped his coat up to his neck and kissed him on the lips.
“You better be back at five thirty on the dot, or else Imma whoop your butt? Got it?”
They both laughed.
“Yeah,yeah… I will… Love you.”
He gave her another kiss, and left.
“...”
As the cold air invades the house for a few moments, Ellie looks down at the palm of her hand. She brings herself closer to the door.
“... I hate….”
She stops herself. As she dragged her feet against the carpet her stomach growled intensely. She made her way into the kitchen.
—---
“...HEY….. HEY! GET OUT OF HERE! THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M GONNA TELL YOU!”
Next to the building, a group of older men with large statures yelled at several reporters, and guards who continued to invade their construction site. None of them looked particularly pleased at the situation they found themselves in.
“We have every right to interview each of you! This isn’t normal!”
Said a tanned brunette woman with bangles.
“What really isn’t normal is that look on your face… I mean what the hell is wrong with you people!?”
Another, shorter, younger man shouted. The other workers around him shot a look of shock, and worry in his aggressive engagement with the reporters, though the guards and reporters eccentrically jogged over to the man, forcing their cameras and mics on him.
“Two of our men are in that building, probably scared for their lives, and you all have the gall to look so damn pleased with yourselves!? This is what’s wrong with society!”
He waves his fist as his face reddened. Though a noticeable fire was lit. His words began to roar, and his eyes began to protrude confidence in the feelings surging inside of him.
“Twenty years Edward Matthews worked in construction, and none of you took notice of his work to the city YET. But the second shit hits the fan, you’re all waiting to eat it up!”
He pointed at the tanned brunette woman.
“You’re the problem! AND YOU! AND YOU! AND- AH!”
An even smaller, yet older man came up to him, pinching his back. As he yelped the shorter man dragged him by his shirt, forcing him back into line with all of the other construction workers. All of the reporters eyes shifted over to him as he stood in front of them silently, and with a deep irritation about him when glancing deeper into their eyes, in search of anything of substance. Nothing. He thought, as he let out a deep sigh, which suddenly rose in volume and became an aggravated groan.
“We don’t know a thing. Point blank. There’s nothing to be reported, there’s no inside scoop of the scene, you’ll just have to wait until they come out of the building. Leave. Us. ALONE.”
As he barked his last final words, some of the reporters jumped back in fear of the mans well muscular body, and disposition. In response to this, the guards came closer together separating the reporters from the construction men, and bringing them off of the premises.
“Tch. Can’t even do their jobs right. They never should’ve been welcomed in… What kind of logic…?”
“And that’s exactly what’s wrong with America! Always willing to play by the rules of “free speech”, or “freedom” when it suits them- fits their narrative or whatever, but not when it’s the other way around!”
“Quiet, you.”
The air grew tenser. The building next to them was still incomplete, as it was missing its exterior, and many glass panes. Another sore thumb in the sea of other unfinished projects they each had in their personal lives. Not many of them had enjoyed the work they committed themselves to. It was physically straining, life threatening, and above all for many of them, unfulfilling. Out of the forty of them,not many would have chosen to work in construction at this point in their lives. Some of them were older, men and women who were simply trying to make ends meet. Though the majority were children. Children who hadn’t come to terms with their place in the world, nor held onto many strong ambitions. But still.
“... Well he’s not wrong.”
Said a curly haired woman who sat on the floor, whilst cracking her knuckles.
“I’ll be the first one to say that I don’t think Andy would do something like that… He’s not that kinda guy.”
“Yeah.”
A younger man with an afro and large sideburns shook his head.
“He’s a weird guy, but I don’t think he would assault Mr Matthews for working overtime… He called us all in and asked us each if we could. He wasn’t forcing anybody.”
“Exactly… That’s why these accusations are pissing me off!”
The shorter man looked back up at the unfinished building, and back to the building Edward and Andrew had been in.
“... Maybe it’s not about that.”
“...”
“Then what…?”
The curly haired woman ran her thick fingers through her hair while looking up at the building.
“What Mr Matthews…?”
Everyone else’s gazes shifted to the building. What? What was going on that was so important to disrupt their work? His work. To them, despite their lack luster motivation to work, as well as some of their physical disadvantages which made the work harder, they couldn’t help but hold Edward to a high degree, as well as each other.
—-
Finally, Edward had arrived at his office. After putting away his lunch and dinner in the fridge, he walked over to his water cooler, took a big gulp of water, pulled his laptop from his backpack, and sorted through the objectives of the day. Afterwards, he would make a few calls, gather all of his workers to discuss their jobs for the day, and oversee them while attending to other matters, such as the budgets needed to fund the project's scale.
Though while he wasn’t doing that, he would observe each of his workers. Usually none of them would require further instruction, as they were older, more experienced men and women who understood how to almost perfectly execute each job, making it somewhat easier for Edward, though something continued to fester at the back of his cranium.
He would gently kick some of the leftover debris by his office before letting out a slight groan of frustration. Edward had the habit to walk, sometimes with purpose, though most times it would be pointless as it prevented his mind from sinking to uncomfortable depths he would rather not think about. Regrets specifically. In his office he clicked his pen relentlessly while staring at a photo of his wife and daughter, biting his lip. He gave both of them a kiss while setting them down on his table. He threw his pen across the room. At the corner of his eye he spotted a piece of paper. He quickly crumpled it, dropped it to the floor, and began kicking it around his desk, as if he were playing soccer.
Briefly, images of Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi entered his mind as he continued to kick his little paper ball. The faster his passes to himself became, the more his pretend soccer ball began to ruin, as it would flatten, and tear away. This would wake Edward to reality, calming down his fixations. His eyes dullened. He kicked the paper one last time into the corner of the rpp,. He reeled back further into his chair, sinking while closing his eyes. Nothing Edward could be so exciting forever. Could it?
Bzzt!
Edwards' eyes narrowed. A skimpy fly dashed back and forth in the air, seemingly celebrating its own arrival.
“Huh.”
Must’ve snuck in when I was coming in, Edward thought, sitting up a bit from his chair. The fly’s continued to hum its annoying tune, flying speedily while exploring every corner of the office. The fly’s shrill buzzing was beginning to naw at Edward.
He reached from his desk drawer the air conditioner remote, however before he could press the button, the fly approached Edward landing on his face and crawling. This sent a sharp coldness and stiffness on the left side of Edwards body. As he felt the fly crawling up to his eyelid he closed his eyes tightly, though for some reason he made no actual attempt to brush it off. The fly sat there. Edward basked in his discomfort… The corners of his mouth rose as he chuckled to himself. Soon the fly continued about its business leaving Edward alone.
“…”
Edward wiped his face, realizing a sweet smell on him. It was his cologne.
——
As Andrew was gobbled up by the red creature he could feel the top half of his body beginning to numb. A colder and unfeeling voice in his head began speaking to him.
“Give up. Let go. Die. Die.”
It was as if every muscle, sinew and joint in Andrew's body was willing to commit itself to being the “meat” the creature so desperately desired. And so it did. Andrew's legs slipped into the monster, and before he knew it he began falling.
“E d ‘ s . . . !”
Andrew called out in his much weaker tone of voice. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot into Andrew's stomach. He began to cough up mucus while holding his stomach.
“N O!”
As Andrew's face started to turn red, he began to feel a sinking sensation in his stomach. His stomach acids began to boil within him which caused his toes to dance in a frenzy, and his esophagus to let out soft whimpers for help. Yet no one came. This feeling continued, as Andrew felt his stomach beginning to shrink. His muscles were tightening as all he could do was curl into a ball. That is until Andrew was greeted by the sight of blood.