Easy eyes

Easy eyes

The sun was setting, and it was the usual time to say the closing prayers by the children in the school premises.

This was the only school close enough to the settlers in this small town far away from the big cities and it was quite a mile off and a distance on foot, making it a regular sight of seeing little children walking home in groups being led by an older child, for there had been news of missing children in this small town, yet the news was not able to deter students from seeking to learn because here education was paramount to parents who wanted their children to become something great in the big cities, an opportunity they saw to help break their offsprings from the claws of small minded thinking, but for this little girl who wanted even more, felt this was not the only way, Bold and brave she was, and adventurous in her quest to finding more even at this her tiny age of six, for when it was time to draw the shape of a circle in class for an example, she would draw a circle with a crown on it.

Today at the end of school she refused to take part in the prayer recital being chorused by the serenade voices of her fellow classmates... She just wanted more, more out of these cages for uniforms and these boring routines for learning... This simple desire became heavy on her tiny little heart, and on this very day as she walked home with the rest of the children, she pondered so much on things, things quite out of the reach for the mind of a child, it made her lag behind the group, soon she found the interest in chasing after floating and hopping insects making her move in bearing patterns of circles and zigzags till she was far off from the others, but her realization of the obvious didn't scare her a flinch... Instead it awoken her instinct to freedom, as for now there were no yellings of, "be in line everyone!" or "hold hands!" from the older children, this time she was her own voice, her own leader... And so she led herself through footpaths so narrow you would at first glimpse think they were not there, and it was so because obviously no one had walked these paths in a long long time.... She could hear the faint noise of the hustle and bustle of her little town from afar off, but she wasn't ready to trace that now all she wanted to do was feed this adventurous desire and so deep in with this narrow path she went, through shrubs and bushes, crossed branches and over dead trees, The paths led her further and further away from the little town till the faint noise from far away became nothing but utter silence... Just the whistling of strange birds and the buzzing noise of the rotating wings of insects that flew past her face... Her brief escape for adventure soon became torturous to her feet and her stomach for it had taken longer than she had thought; time had far gone the sun was almost out of the sky and so now her hungry stomach and tired feet had helped her make the decision that it was time to go back home... But what direction is home? She thought to herself, she tried to find the bearing back to the original place she was before but all she ended up doing was walking in complicated circles, till she finally saw something different... A house up on a hill, her desire to know more led her small feet to take steps up the hill to have a proper look of it, climbing on both hard and loose sand almost making her trip to fall until finally she was up on the hill with success dusting the dirt off hands on her already dirty uniform, she was delighted, an adventure accomplished making her briefly forget the hunger pains running through her stomach walls, she could see her little town far away from up here the houses on the streets looked like toys, the people going about their duties in the cool of the evening were like ants, the smile on her face was one of pure excitement and in that excitement she calls out in a loud voice "hello", to see if anyone down there could hear her and see how high she stood on her new accomplishment, but her voice was not powerful enough to ride on the backs of the cool breeze, and now the smile gradually faded to the realization that she was all alone. But there was still one adventure left in her, "the house", she turned around to see her prize, the reason why she had climbed this far; what she saw was an old ugly house, Its outside walls looked like decaying flesh its roof was filled with weeds growing on it, its windows were locked but the door wide open into a home so dark she couldn't see anything from where she stood outside. "Why stare at my home?" a husky voice from out of the blue coming from behind her suddenly frightens her to knowing she was not alone... She steadily turns around to see who it was.... what she saw could only be described as the home she had been staring at... It was a man, an old and ugly man, ghoulish in all sense of the word, the pale skin on his face was wrinkled and contorted with a frown, his back stood bent in a bow his skin wrinkled and sore, he smelt like weeks of going without a proper bath, he had dirty rags for clothes... But in his eyes; were things that didn't speak of length in age or of weakness or frail but of complete dubiousness of intentions, for they were red like the darkness of hell and firm with their gazes. "I am so sorry.... I was looking to find my way home" the little girl hurriedly replied getting out of her fright into a state of composure.... The old man walks closer to her and leans his frame close to her till they stood nose to nose, "are you all alone?" He asked with his stench for breath enveloping the atmosphere around her, forcing her to answer abruptly "i am", now the answer pushes a grin on his face.

licking his sore lips with his tongue wetting it with his stenchful saliva, as he stared at her, he asked has any of them ever touched you down there before?" The little girl now being totally confused asked the question "down where?" The old man quickly points his finger in the direction of her little town down hill still partly visible under the evening sky "down there" he replied.... "Yes" she innocently replied nodding her head emphatically, "I get touched all the time sir... By my fellow mates as we hold hands to school, by the older ones as they carry me over pools of water and over muddy fields... And also by my mum who helps bathe me clean most of the time" she added.... "I meant them", the old man said try to make her understand the question, "who is them?" She asked now more confused than before, " never mind!" He says abruptly as he became even more curious to seal and make do his intentions, "is your mother by you?" he asked the rhetorical question as he circles her like a predator would do its prey, slowly putting his dried diseased infested ugly feet on the ground one after the other rather unsteadily with eyes fixed on his target that was her never letting go for even a moment as he travels round her like a patient beast tasting the meal to come... the little girl showed no fear because to her he was just another old man who but this time was dirty and so there were no screams on cries just a simple answer to his question "NO"....

"then you must be quite hungry?" he added gently as he consciously ran his ghoulish fingers through her hair all the way to her chin with a smile revealing in his mouth the ugly hideous dentition he had inside... the little girl gave a nod with her head suggesting an answer "yes" to the question he had asked.... "oh! not to worry i have something here for you to eat and sure you would like... yes you would like" he said, with the evil smile on his face, as he with one hand still working through her hair reaches with the other slowly down to his dirty raddled trousers, his fingers tardily running through the waist of it and then down to the hole by the side for a pocket, he slowly pulled out his hand and in it, is an apple accompanied with the debris of dust and dirt from the dirt hole for a pocket... "here you go", he said giving it to her with his eyes glued on her's, she takes it from him and does the dusting off the dirt with her school uniform. "Go on... eat" , he said with the smile still vivid on his face, she puts it to her mouth and bites a mouth full off and started to chew..." Ye..s go on eat child... eat"... he said with his eyes bulging out almost falling from its sockets from anticipation.. As he ran his tongue anxiously across his lips as he watched her swallow the now well chewed chunk in her mouth... "now that's a good girl" , he quickly bringing out a doll made from dried sticks and pieces of fabrics from his other pocket, he gives it to her.. she smiles collecting it from him... "you like it?" he asked ... "Yes" she replies almost under her breath... he then takes her soft hand in his dried decaying one and says softly to her ears, " come with me.. there is more inside"...gently leading her into his crude home as he slowly shots the door to the outside world....

in his home was nothing but pitchblack to the eyes of the little girl "Why is your home so dark?" she asked not out of fear but out of curiosity, "oh... let me get the lights" he replied as he hurriedly meandered through the obstacles of rubbish on the floor ones not visible to her eyes yet...but with the sound of metals clapping and objects rolling on impact, the strange disgusting smell of something rottenning accompanied the buzzing sound of flies all around, it could easily be noticed that his house was untidy..."my home is a mess"... and i'm sorry for what you are about to see" , he said as he struck the match sticks repeatedly with failures, the flickering of sparks with each strike puzzled in the spooky nature of his home to the little girl... "there are things you cannot explain", he continued as the flicker of light from each strike partially revealed some monstrous looking things in obscurity hanging on the walls to the eager eyes of the little girl, now she really wanted to see... "let me help you" she said as she motioned towards him only to be stopped by something huge lying dead on her way bringing her little body crashing to the ground... "oh little one" reacted the old man as he hurried towards her to help pick her up, but she's up quicker than he could get his weak knees to close the gap inbetween them... "what was that?" she asked. "This?" , he replied as the light dramatically came aglow on the candle stick he was holding... revealing a human head dangling from his other hand... on the floor was the headless body of a man the obstacle that earlier brought her crashing down... the little girl now stood petrified, the blood stained axe on the wall accompanied with shovels and knives both big and small, she could see that his windows had been barricaded with plywood nailed to them... his home had the feel of horror... on his table were rats feasting on the remnants of a roasted rat on the plate he had been eating from... cockroaches heaved their robust bodies up and down his walls, the house was as creepy as it was. "are you afraid? " he asked "no" she replied under her breath... "do you feel like screaming?" He added, "no" she replied still under her breath, like she had lost her voice... "there are things so evil that goes on at night my child and these are no fairy tale" he said as he motioned his crooked body to take a sit on his old ratchet rocky chair. He heaved a sigh... and then placed the severed head on the floor just by him and with the other hand he beckoned the little girl to come over... "come... sit", he said to her, she slowly walked toward him... he gently guided her to sit on his laps. Now to her, this old man was not just dirty as she had earlier thought... this old man was as evil as he looked... now all she could do was cry out... But the little girl was a little bold one and so she mustered up the courage to question the puzzles that now sat as fear in her heart... "is that the head of the body lying dead on the floor?" she asked... "yes" he replied... "did you do that to him?" she asked further... "yes" he replied... "are those the knives you used? " she asked... But this time he was silent... "are those the knives you used?" she gently asked again, "no... I used the axe" he answered pointing to the specific weapon... she could see the dried blood stain still visibly smeared on it... "why did you do it" she asked... he heaved a sigh again "come with me", he said to her as he steadily got up from his ratchet rocky chair, leading her by the hand to a dusty old binoculars hanging on a wooden frame looking through an open patch on one of his barricaded windows, "look through" he said to her. She looked at him like she knew he had some tricks up his dirty sleeve, "look through little one.. I will not hurt you" , those words gave her a little comfort, she gently puts her eyes to it but she shuts them for fear of the unknown... "open your eyes", he tells her... she finally gave to obeying, staring keenly and more keenly through the binoculars to the now night skies painted in total darkness save for the weak beams of light from the moon... she hovers her gaze through the roofs of the houses in her little town and then down to the lonely streets... It was quiet all through, the market was empty, the hustle and bustle of the day had died into complete silence, everyone seemed to be in their beds fast asleep she thought to herself until she gazed even further and observed some beings moving as quietly as the evening breeze; the streets weren't as lonely as she had earlier thought, the images she saw were as hideous as the home she was now in... for what she saw were men huge ones with beards as thick as bushes hands so strong and long, she watched them stretch them through the windows of homes snatching the children from their beds as they slept loading their still sleeping small bodies into large bags as they took off as quietly as they came...

Surprised by what she now saw but yet inquisitive she said to the old man, "I see them carry children like me in bags."... "you see?" , the old man asked "yes I see", she replied quickly " who are these men?" she asked anxiously, "gbomors" he replied the name sounded like the names from a fairy tale book, but there was no time to question the legitimacy of the word only questions to know further, "what will they do with them?" she asked... "eat them" he replied... Now this fear she had struggled all these while to keep at bay suddenly came upon her like a coat, her little mind wondering the cosmos thinking of how it could all be over with the push of a rewind button, and now for the first time the words "please... I want to go home" trickled out of her mouth right under her breath... "I am afraid not little one", the old man aswered abrobtely walking to the door to inspect it as securely locked "there are things you should know little one", he said reaching for the blood stained axe hanging on the wall, the fear like a coat on her became even tighter crushing her rib cage, her heart raced like it was going to break out.... he moved his crooked frame to the grinder and started to meticulously sharpen the axe... "please I would really want to go home" the little girl whimpers this time with tears so close to pouring from the already welled up eyes... the old man paid her no mind as he continued in his business, "please" she cried out again, but she is quickly cut off with a hard whisper of the word "quiet!" from the old man accompanied with a curious stare at her... he motioned his index finger vertically over his lips, "shuu!", he said, while taking a position like he was trying to listen to hear something, it wasn't too long to get to the knowing why, when just feet away from his house could be heard the sound of foot steps and men whispering to one another in a language that was foreign to the ears of the little girl... But before she could teach her ears to understand what was being said, a loud sound like the sound of two metal teeth clashing... "Yes!!" exclaimed the old man with a smile on his rumpled face... he gets a firm grip of his axe and springs towards the door not like the old man he originally was, but something different... his clinch on the handle of the axe was firm his muscles as tough as that of a young dynamic wrestler... his frame was not that of a curved cringed old man any more, this time he stood up straight, his spine as erect and firm as could be his chest muscles well defined and wide his abdomen built with muscles too, he was tall and huge like a transformation of this being took place right before her eyes, the loud sounds he made from his mouth were like the howling of a hundred wolves into the darkness of night like a pocessed being he turns to her revealing the mystery that now sits as his face... for he had eyes like a dragon with fangs for teeth, he looks her straight in the eyes the ones now consumed in complete trepidation, "do not be afraid little one.... for there are things the dead of night holds in secrecy", he says to her in a voice that sounded like heavy iron chains being pulled along a metal floor.. and right before her eyes she watched him rush out the door like a whirl wind and like a whirl wind she watched him desend on the gbomors choping them in halves... they too manifested in the most hideous of ways the flesh on their faces became scales for skin... their eyes glowed in the dark like that of demons she watched them scream as his blade struck them with the most brute force... their fangs and teeth clashed as they try to fight back... it steadily before her eyes became a fierce battle the tunderous sound of his weapon landing most aggressively on the flesh of these demonlike creatures... she watches in terror as they swoop on him from all corners she watched him number after number and body after body prevail against them, chopping heir heads off with his axe to their death... It made sense now to her for the headless body that brought her crashing down earlier was one of these things, in this pool of terror she held her breath and her scream locked between her teeth... But this evil night of blood and gore suddenly became too much fear for a child her age to hold back... finally she lets out the scream, it was peircing and travelled far into the night skies... So potent enough to catch the attentions of the monsters, and that of a now disappointed old man whose secret had just been discovered, they look to the direction from where it came, through the open doors of the old man's house... and there it was for them the sweetest of revelations their new target standing all alone unsecured and petrified... now their taste buds moved them to want her... they charged toward her like wolves to a bleeding sheep... she screams even more with eyes shut tight in terror and fear but just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there, she could here the old man yell "little one!", but in a flash of light they were only inches away from her, with fangs ready to in a snap drive their way into her soft flesh...

"Wake up... You have to get ready for school", mum's voice brings her to reality right on her bed and still in her pyjamas... As her sleepy eyes opens to the real world. Mum's voice waking her up for school today became the sweetest and most relieving thing to be heard. "you would be late for school again", mum says to her as she walked out the little girl's room... she excitedly jumps to her feet getting off the bed, school never sounded this good, but a creaking sound from beneath coming right from under her bed calls her attention... she gently goes to her knees and then on all fours to see what exactly it was and to her surprise right there before her eyes coiled up in the shadows looking directly at her with a crooked smile, was the ugly diseased old man, "hello little one", he says to her.

The end