Bones
“As I gazed upon the destruction, my eyes clouded. I ran my sleeve across my forehead to brush away the sweat and tears. My chest burned as I was overcome by feelings of regret and shame. I tried to swallow the pain, but it welled up within me like molten earth in the heart of an active volcano. I clutched my stomach and suppressed the urge to vomit.
Strewn before me like an abandoned game of pick up sticks was a heap of bones. They had been picked clean of flesh and jumbled together in a haphazard pile. In such a state it was impossible to know the number of the slain. The ivory bones were in stark contrast to the dark slate beneath, making them appear like chalk marks on a blackboard. Tally marks that grew to such a quantity that the record keeper lost their mind and gave up.
How I survived, I do not know. Any why? Again I am in the dark. I cannot remember the beast’s arrival. I cannot remember witnessing the massacre. I cannot remember anything about the event. Except for the sounds. The awful sounds that echo in my nightmares. The tearing of skin and muscle. The wet slurp of flesh being swallowed without first being chewed. The snapping of bone and the sucking of marrow.
Yet there I was, staring at a mass of remains, alone and unscathed. I thought about running, but where would I go? I thought about hiding, but how long would I wait? The beast responsible for the carnage was surely not the type to leave survivors, so why was I not also reduced to my skeletal frame? Was it my destiny to slay the beast? Should I try to fashion a weapon from the bone and fragments? Would I overcome my sorrow and cowardice and strike down the beast with-“
A deep sigh interrupted the man’s tale and he turned to face the young girl at his side.
“What?”
“Oh my god, Dad, this story gets longer and lamer every time you tell it,” she groaned as her eyes rolled back in bored disgust.
“What are you talking about? It’s a great story.”
“Ugh, can you just finish telling it so we can go home?”
“Alright. Where was I? Oh yeah, the Beast. Would I strike him down with-”
“Daaaaaaaaaaaad!”
“Alright, alright. Keep your head on. So anyway, turns out I was the beast all along. I conquered the inferno wing challenge and I got a free T-shirt and my name on a plaque on the wall plus free wings for a year and that’s why I’m here every Friday. The end.”
