Yee Naaldlooshii

The warmth of the morning sun bathes Joseph’s complexion as he gazes vacantly through the bay window. Desolation overcomes him when his estranged grandparents took him in a week ago. He yearns for what was, but knows it’s impossible… Not without his mother.

KNOCK KNOCK

“Morning dear.”His grandma said sweetly. “Breakfast’s on the table, get it while it’s hot.”

He glances with a half-smile. “Okay.” Joseph responds as she leaves. He kneels by the half-packed suitcase and pulls out a photo wrapped in a shirt. She was so pretty, with her long brown hair, and deep brown eyes. Joseph is a spitting’ image.

Grandpa was already at the table. He’s up before the birds, sweat and elbow grease covers him.

“We got work today boy.” Grandpa states to Joseph. “Or, you can stay with your grandma Mariel.”

“ Go head with your grandpa Al, hardwork will be good for you.” Mariel said sincerely.

After breakfast, Mariel grabbed the plates and scraps the leftovers in a bag.

Al stands and adjusts his coveralls, “When you ready, meet me at the pigpen.” He asserts. He grabs the bag off the counter and departs through the backdoor.

Joseph turns his head to follow his grandfather to an old beat up barn. It looks like the barn has lived well passed its glory days. From the window, he can see the roof has an opening due to rotting wood and termites, and the exterior bones look like they may give out at anytime. He sees Al fiddling with the lock.

“Grandma, what is in the barn?” Joseph asks curiously. “Is it more animals?”

Mariel looks at him sternly trying to think of what to say, as if she planned to tell him something but he caught her in a lapse.

“Oh sweetie, don’t worry your little head about that ol’ barn, that’s your granddad’s business.”

“But why’s he leaving the leftovers there?” Joseph pressed.

Mariel looks passed his interrogation. “ Well aren’t you a curious bee. Now get cleaned up to feed dem pigs. That old man always falls in the mud, and it’s a pain in my neck cleaning those flithy coveralls.”

Joseph obliges and heads to his room. Mariel’s eyes take on a heavy and perturbed look.

The pig pen was ten or so yards from the house and the pigs were rolling in the mud to alleviate the hot morning.

Al came in with a bucket of slop. “Come and git it!” He shouted while dumping the pigs’ meal in the trough.“Grab that other bucket there boy,” he pointed out.

Joseph looks down and by the sty is another oversize bucket filled to the brim with the pigs’ delicacy.

“Make sure you lift with your legs, don’t need you to pull anything, ya hear?” Al said as he struggles getting his legs out of the mud.

Joseph bends down and hugs the bucket where the top is a little to close to his nose. “ EWW,” he cried, “What’s this?”

“Oh it’s an old family recipe boy,” Al said proudly. “That’s why these pigs are so big.”

The pigs wait impatiently for Joseph to pour out the contents into the troughs, as he does the pigs swarm like piranhas.

“What I tell ya, they’re never full.” Al places his hand on Joseph and walks off grabbing the buckets. “Meet on the other side of the house so we can warsh the buckets out.”

As Al walks off humming without a care in the world, Joseph turns to look at that barn. Being a kid, the curiosity weighs heavy on him. He looks back to see if the coast is clear. He bristly jogs to the barn. As he arrives, a sensation of mystery flushes over him. He sees that the doors are, of course, locked and the windows are a little to heigh for him to peek through. However, Joseph is able to pull the doors just enough for the chains around the handles to tighten enough to separate.

He slowly releases his grip so not to disturb the opening and takes one last look to make sure nobody is coming from behind him. He leans forward positioning his nose where if someone would push the doors, his little nose would be caught.The first sense to be introduced to this adventure was the horrid stench. He sees nothing just the light shining from the top windows, some bugs, a half empty bag, and a loosely coiled chain illuminated by the rays from above.

“What?” Joseph said confused, “There’s….”

CLANG!

The sound startles him enough where the floor meets his bum. Joseph develops goosebumps that run up his spine like lighting bolts. He takes a deep breath, holds it ,and pushes himself up to continue his investigation. He sneaks to the opening once again, preparing himself for any other disturbances. His pupils dilate when he sees the chain slithering away like a sidewinder.

“HEY BOY! WHAT’RE YOU DOING!!” Yelled Al, coming around the corner like a bat outta hell. “Get away from there!”

Joseph nearly jumps out of his skin. “I ..I was just…” Joseph stumbles over his words. Al grabs his arm and pushes the door shut. “Get in the House!” Commands Al. Joseph runs to the house where Mariel watches the whole altercation in horror.

“Come here baby,” Expresses Mariel, as she kneels down enough to slightly pick up Joseph from the floor. “It’s okay now,” Mariel said soothingly.

Al heads towards the house where Joseph waits to be reprimanded. “Joseph, I need you to promise me that you will never go near that barn again!” Joseph looks at his grandpa’s face and sees the kindness in his eyes, but with a steely look.

“I’m sorry.” Whispers Joseph.

“Go warsh up, it’s darn near nap time.”Mariel said gingerly trying to change the tone.

The farm stands still during mid-afternoon. The sun is unforgiving and the animals seek shelter. Joseph couldn’t take a nap, not now. Dwelling about what he saw in the barn, or what he didn’t see, makes his imagination run wild.

His eyes darts toward the clock, his palms are sweating, and heart pounds in anticipation of defying his grandfather. They usually sleep for an hour. Joseph sees his opportunity.

He tip toes to the kitchen where the only sound you can hear is the creak of the old wood floors and the ticks of the clock. He knows where the keys are, Al never bothers hiding them. Joseph looks at the hook where the keys hang and snatches them.

He cracks open the back door enough to slip through. As he clear of porch, he sprints as fast as he can to the barn. Catching his breath, he stares at the lock, and pulls the doors apart again to see if it’s there. He sees nothing stirring. Joseph fiddles, finds the correct key, and inserts it. As the lock falls to the ground, the chain follows suit, leaving only the door that separates him from the unknown.

His hands grasp the handle to barn and heaves the immense door. “Hello?” Joseph said with a slight crack. “Anybody here? I won’t hurt you.” Like a solider cognizant of land mines, he walks into the barn, as if something is luring him inside. A sliver of the orange sun shines from the glassless window, making the old hay look like dancing fire. “Hello?” Joseph repeats.”If someone’s here, come out. I promise I won’t hurt you.”He hears rustling and freezes. The dragging of the chain tied to a post becomes visible by the light. A bead of sweat drops off of his temple as the sound comes closer. A slight whimper comes from the darkness to reveal… a dog?

“What?” Joseph wonders. A black lab emerges into the light. “What you doing here boy?” Joseph asks, scratching his head. The dog wags his tail in delight, although he looks thin and mangy. Joseph sees the collar with a lock that’s similar to the one on the door. “Maybe this key will work.”He tries to think why his grandfather would lock a dog in here. The dog then sits motionless staring into Joseph’s eyes. Something seems different about his eyes, Joseph thought. He looks down and tries to find the right key. Finding it, he looks at the dog, “ Imma get you out boy.” He forces the key into the rusty lock and struggles to pull it off the metal collar. Before the lock even hits the ground, the ungrateful dog bolts out of the barn. Confused, Joseph runs after him, but he’s nowhere to be found. A feeling of dread overcomes Joseph’s entire being. Shaking, he grabs the chain to wrap it around as it once was.

During dinner Mariel notices Joseph is quiet throughout the meal. “Sumin wrong honey?” She asked suspiciously.

“It’s nothing, just tired.” Joseph responds.

“Dem pigs worked you ragged huh boy!”Chuckles Al.

“I think I’m gonna get some sleep.” Joseph utters, just wanting to get this day over with. All of a sudden, they hear a blood filled squeal, making Joseph cover his ears.

“Da’ hell was that Al?” Mariel exclaims looking out the kitchen window.

“Wait here,” Al demands as he grabs his gun.

“What’s going on?” Pleads Joseph.

“It’s okay baby, it may be dem darn coyotes got into the pen.”

Al explodes through the door with the fear of God in his eyes.

“Al…What is…”, Mariel couldn’t finish before he interrupts.

“It’s out, the DAMN thing is out Mariel!”

“W… what? How?” Mariel struggles while trying to comfort Joseph.

“ I don’t know, I locked the…” Al stops, looks at Joseph. The dread in his grandfathers eyes fills Joseph with terror. “ Did you let it out boy?”

“I … I didn’t know, it was just a pup.”

“That thing wasn’t a damn dog ! ”Shouted Al.” Mariel, take the boy upstairs, lock the doors.”

Mariel, in a fluster ran to the front and secures the lock. She commands Joseph to go upstairs and lock his door. He latches his door behind him, and heads to the window where the sounds of screeching livestock fill the darkness.

BAM! BAM!

The sound of Al’s shotgun goes off with a bright flash that lights Joseph’s room.

A long silence.

“ARGHHHH!” The cry of his grandfather pierce the still moment. Only thing Joseph sees is two silhouettes made by the porch light. One dwarfing the other.

“AL!”, screams Mariel, as the towering shadow grabs him. The sound of gargling blood is deafening as the shadow constricts Al.

CRACK!

The monster discards the lifeless body on the yard. Joseph is struck with trepidation as the shadow disappears.

“Get back!” Mariel yells as the sound of glass shatters. A slight screech comes from the staircase. Then silence.

A THUD, is heard as something heavy is thrown from the landing.

The shadow he just saw out the window is now seeping through the bottom of the door. The cracking of the wood sends splinters flying as the door slams open.

The sight of the beast was if you were witnessing the power of an avalanche, Joseph was frozen. It had the legs of an oversized wolf, the torso of a man, and a massive buffalo pelt that covered it’s head.

Those eyes. They weren’t the eyes of a human, though not quite animal either. They were filled with wrath. The yellow eyes fixate on Joseph, who realizes they look familiar.

Joseph drops to his knees, in defeat, and out of options. “Please…” he beseeches. He begins to weep, and shuts his eyes tight.

A moment of stillness is broken by a gust of wind that knocks him on his back. He opens his eyes and sees that he is alone. He stands, fearful of what just happened, musters up the courage to look out the window.

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In the distance, past the old beat up barn, the black lab disappears in the darkness….