"After The Move"
By Brian Roberson
II
The Fat Man lead Telly through the back door and into the house. The inside was dark, there were no lights on. All around were children of various ages. Boys and girls. They were everywhere. They were sitting on sofas and chairs, two were playing with Hot Wheels cars in front of the stairs. They were sitting in groups on top of tables, in chairs, and on the floor. All were dressed in grungy looking clothes. There had to be at least a dozen in there. They all stared at Telly in silence, except for the two little boys playing Hot Wheels. Telly was looking through the crowd of children for the beautiful young woman he saw, but he didn't see her anywhere.
"What is your name?" The Fat Man asked.
"My name is Telly."
"Children! This is our new resident! His name is Telly! Please attempt to treat him with respect!" The children simply stared apathetically. "How old are you, Telly?" The Fat Man asked.
"I'm twenty four."
"Well, that makes you our oldest resident then! Aside of course from me. I'm close to double your age. The children here range from the ages of six to...well, twenty four! The oldest until you arrived was Catherine. She's twenty. She's the one that you were chasing after when you arrived at our door!"
"Where is she? She's beautiful."
"I'm sure she would be impressed to know that you believe that." The Fat Man said sarcastically.
Telly then began to feel woozy, so he turned around and stepped back outside. The Fat Man followed him out to the porch, and sat back down in the chair.
"Catherine helps me run this place. She was actually the very first to move in. I'm sure she's somewhere in the house assisting with the children, or the chores. That's all she ever really does."
"Uhhhmm...I really should tell you...uhh... what's your name?"
"You can call me Big Bill."
"OK, Big Bill. I really should tell you that I already have a place to live. I live here with my parents. I'm about twelve houses up that way." Telly said as he pointed in the direction he had come from.
"Do you now?"
"Yeah, I really don't need a place to live, and to be honest, if I did, I probably wouldn't want it to be here."
"Are you sure that that you really live there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you really sure that you live with your parents?"
"Why wouldn't I be sure of that?"
"Are you sure that it's not that THEY live there, and you don't?"
"Why should I believe that?"
"We have several children here who's parents live in this neighborhood, but the children don't live with them. The Move was tough on a lot of families. Some of them stuck together, but just as many didn't. You might live with your parents, but you don't LIVE with them."
"Big Bill, who are what is Tans Hansell?"
"Are you sure that you don't know that?"
"I'm pretty sure, I guess."
"Tans Hansell is the peddler."
"The peddler?"
"Yes. He's the peddler. If you haven't seen him yet, and I'm almost completely sure that you have, then you will soon enough. Chances are that you just aren't associating the name with the man."
Telly then began feeling another narcoleptic attack seizing him. He grasped his head and began to stagger around.
"Sit down on the ground until it passes so that you don't smash your head open on the patio, will you please?" Big Bill said calmly as Telly staggered around. Telly then sat down on the ground, slumped over on his side, and lost consciousness.
Telly eventually woke up, and he was in the same spot. He sat up and touched his head, mainly to make sure it was still there, if nothing else. He saw that the sun was still in the same spot in the sky where it had been the whole time. He then heard a noise behind him and quickly turned around. He saw that Big Bill was gone, but that he was not alone. Sitting on the patio was a dark haired boy who looked about thirteen or so. He was surrounded by furs of different kinds, which were strewn on the ground around him. Telly saw the boy gently rubbing a mink stole over his face. He put it down and neatly folded it up. He then took a mink coat that was next to him and started rubbing that against his face. He then heard a commotion in some trees that were across the dirt path behind the house. A group of seven or eight crows were gathered in the large tree that faced the house and were squawking away. Telly looked up at the roof and saw two crows facing the tree. One of them gave out a harsh croak and they both flew off. Telly saw that the boy was now rubbing one side of his face with the mink coat, and the other side of his face with a fox fur coat. Just then, a red haired boy the same age came out with some fishing gear, put it down, and sat next to boy, and started rubbing his own face with the fur.
"Why are you guys doing that?" Telly asked.
"I don't know, probably because it feels good. " The first boy said as he rubbed his face.
Just then, the back door opened and Big Bill came waddling through.
"Evan! Take your furs inside so that they don't get dirty out here!" He said as he sat down on the chair. The boy then got up, grabbed the furs, and ran into the house. Telly saw that he only had a t-shirt on and nothing else, his white butt mooned him as the boy ran into the house. "And put some pants on too!" Big Bill yelled
after him. The red headed boy then got up and closed the glass door.
"Telly, this is Michael. He's going down to the river to catch fish. Perhaps you can go with him and help out." Big Bill said.
"I gotta extra pole if you want." The boy said in a thick southern drawl.
"So you guys have to fish and catch all your own food?" Telly asked.
Big Bill laughed. "No! We go to the store for that! Haven't you ever gone fishing before?"
"I have, just not here." Telly said.
"Well you should go with Michael anyway. I don't like him being down at the river by himself. Some very strange things can happen there." Big Bill said. Just then, Evan, the fur boy, returned with two additional poles. He had put on a pair of shorts and some sneakers, and he had the mink stole around his neck.
"I...brought...you a pole...Telly." The fur boy haltingly said.
Telly was suddenly seized with an intense blast of heartburn. It was so intense that he almost wanted to induce vomiting right there and then. He was concerned that the vomit would burn his mouth when it came up, so he kept it all down. His stomach felt burning and miserable.
"OK, thanks, I guess."
"Come on, let's go." Michael said. The boys began walking down the hill behind the house and took a sharp right. Telly followed and soon found himself scaling down a rock face which was right next to the house. At the bottom, he found himself in a large, marshy area, and he headed towards the river. The boys walked side by side and were rubbing the fur stole on their faces as they walked briskly through the wet, marshy land towards the river. They then saw a wooden bridge that went over the creek and crossed it. It was right at where the creek drained into the river. Telly noticed that it had become very overcast and misty. They soon arrived at the river. It was about 50 yards wide, and it's swift current made a dull roaring noise. By now the mist had thickened considerably. The tangled limbs of trees, most of which were dead, were hanging all around. He looked over at the boys, and they were both frantically rubbing the stole over their faces and looked like they were about to start fighting over it. Just then, a big wall of mist came in and enveloped everything. He could barely see three feet in front of him. The sound of the river seemed to be all around him, and he became disoriented.
"Michael! Evan! Guys! Where are you?" He yelled out, but didn't get any response. "Guys! Where are you?'
He then started hearing voices from a large crowd in the distance. The voices were all angrily shouting, crying out, and cursing. They began to get closer and closer. Telly gasped in panic and started running in the direction away from where the voices were coming from. He ran through the thick mist, crashing into branches and tree limbs as he went. The voices were closing in behind him. He then realized that he was crossing the bridge over the creek. Once over the creek the mist thinned out considerably, and he saw that he was once again in the open area. The sound of the river and the sound of the voices behind him intermingled into a single wall of sound. Soon, he heard footsteps on the wooden bridge. He turned around, and to his horror, he saw a mob of people running out of the mist and over the bridge, coming right after him. They were all running on all fours, like gorillas. They were laughing and shouting and yelling as they came after him. Telly saw that they were regular looking people of all ages and from all walks of life. Many were wearing party hats. They all appeared to be enraged, however, and they were coming at him full speed.
Telly turned around and tried to run away, but it was as though he were trying to run through water. Soon, the mob overtook him, and he wound up on the ground trying to curl up into a little ball as he was surrounded by the crowd, who leaned over him yelling..
"You're a liar!" One woman cried.
"You lie! You lie!" An old man shouted.
"Liar! Liar!! Liar!!! A group of children screamed.
"You liar!" A man said.
"LIAR!!!" Yet another man said.
Telly put his hands over his ears and screamed at the top of his lungs. Soon, a thick flock of squawking crows flew over head, blocking out what little sunlight there was. Telly then gave a gurgling shriek and began running full speed towards the path as the crowd silently watched. He then ran full speed back to his house, entered in a panic, and slammed the door behind him.
"Hello, Telly. Have you had a busy day?" His father asked him as he sat at the kitchen table with his newspaper and his pot of tea.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He screamed at his dad just before he ran upstairs.
"Telly? I need to talk to you." He heard his mom say behind him. He turned around, and she was standing in the hallway behind him. To his horror, he saw a skull where his mother's head should have been . He screamed in terror and slammed the door. He then looked outside, and the sun, which had been in a fixed location in the sky the whole time, suddenly and rapidly sank, and the world was plunged into darkness.
End of II