They Come from Below
A Short Story
“Shhh, you can’t say anything, or the monsters will get you,” his sister Emily whispered in the pitch-black room. Joseph nodded, scared if he moved his head too much, it would hear his hair rustling, but he would be quiet. He always was.
They had left their farm the day before her fourteenth birthday; Joseph remembered because that meant it was six months to his sixth birthday, and he thought it was rather mean of his parents to leave without celebrating. Emily had been so excited, but their father spent their last moments on their farm trimming his beard instead of celebrating.
He missed his bed, and the farm. There had been an old castle downriver from their farm. Emily would lead him down so they could look at it when they weren’t supposed to. Joseph loved it. Seeing the red brick castle brought his toys to life, and Joseph imagined he was one of his little wooden knights running along those walls and fighting a dragon. Emily said there were lots of dragons around now.
Joseph didn’t quite understand what was going on. Always going from place to place was tiring, and sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable. Emily always told him not to make a sound, so Joseph would just fall asleep when they went from place to place. He didn’t understand why his parents and Emily couldn’t just sleep. It was easy! Instead, they always seemed like they were going to get in trouble.
Even if the dragons were around, there were still plenty of knights. Just that day, Joseph had seen them through the little window, which was the only way they got any light in. Dad wasn’t too happy about that when he saw him. He thought they were spectacular, though, Marching in lines with their big silver horses and black suits of armor. How could there be monsters with so many knights around?
There was a knock from below the floorboards that were his bed.
Joseph closed his eyes. He’d be quiet. He always was. He was a good boy. Next to him, Emily held her hand over her mouth. Their parents were in the small room across the attic. He hoped they were asleep. Being quiet was easy when you were asleep.
Then he heard the voices.
“Wo sind die Juden? Schnell!”
“Kein Juden! Nein!” The man below said in his broken, heavy accent. Joseph liked him.
More shouting followed.
There came a crack of thunder followed by what sounded like a bookcase falling. Joseph opened his eyes. These must be the monsters, or worse, maybe that thunder was a dragon. He prayed with all his might that the knights would come.
A scream pierced the attic.
At first, Joseph thought it was Emily. But no – he saw her lying there dead still with her hand over her mouth.
It must have been Mommy then. Dad really wouldn’t like that.
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A/N
It's really important to read as writers. This was written for RM Stockton's 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 (𝐔𝐧𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞), until I went back and actually read the prompt....Anyway, it's a great challenge that you should participate in! This was a tough piece to write-sorry for the preweekend downer everyone.
Challenge info below:
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About the Creator
Matthew Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of random knowledge. The best way to find your perfect story is to write it yourself.
Here there be dragons, and knights, and castles, and quests for entities not wishing to be found.
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Over the Top
The mud below Edward’s feet jumps like fleas as the first guns unleash their dreadful howl. Not even the rats suffered them. The feral things run across the bloated boards as if escaping some cursed and sinking East Indiaman at the barrage. He envies them. They’ll spend the night in some deep, warm hole, well beyond where the shells can get them. Edward will spend it cold and wet in the broken earth of France.
By Matthew Fromm7 months ago in History
The Snake-Worshipping, Fur-Wearing Woman Who Made Alexander Great
What do you know about the mother of Alexander the Great? It's not a trick question. The woman who gave birth to one of history's military greats has been much obscured by the long, dark shadow of history. Short of a few awkward caricatures in film, little has been brought into focus about the infamous Olympias of Molossia.
By E.B. Johnson 7 days ago in History
Comments (30)
Congratulations on your top story.
Like it
Wow! Best! Congratulations on TS!
https://vocal.media/history/history-of-virudhunagar support me
Congrats on Top Story!🥳🥳🥳
Scary stories are fun! Good job. I think you would like my stories.
Oh man, Matthew. Seeing it through Joseph's eyes, the eyes of innocent whose only monsters are dragons and seeing soldiers as knights. This made me tight in my gut on reading it.
💓Congrats on top story! Love your story! 💓
Loved this one.
I like how your story encapsulates sibling bravery in the face of uncertainty. Keep sharing your tales—they resonate with courage and hope.
Matthew, you out did yourself on this piece. I was on edge wondering what was goi g on, and oh boy did this have a lot. So much in a short story. That ending was a cliff hanger. Congratulations
What a terrifying innocent view point of a horrendous injustice of crime against humanity. My heart aches for Joseph and his family. Very well written. Thank you
Damn impressive!
The worst monsters are the ones that live next to us, look like us, that are us, and that hate us just for being us. Then again, we've probably been monsters tl for hating them just for being them. Nobody can control the state of their birth and who they're born unto, it is what we do with being born that makes us good or bad. This gave me flashbacks to "Night" by Elie Wiesel, Schindler's List, and a story who's name I can't quite recall (the granddaughter ends up traveling back through time and meeting her grandmother, and her grandmother is against tattoos because of the number she had drilled into her arm, if I recall correctly the grandmother's name is Eva). I feel for how innocent Joseph is. Especially to lose his sibling like that, right in front of him. Some people, especially children, take a while to process death. For me, when a loved one of mine passed away it didn't hit me until a fee months later. Poor Joseph, I hope that they remain hidden and eventually reach freedom. May Emily be at rest and eternally at peace. It's sad that Joseph must learn about the fact that fairytale and make believe monsters don't exist and some will never be as terrible as we are. Think about it, the flames of a dragon, the toxic sting of a wyvern, the instanteous death from a basilisk's gaze, the gnashing fangs or a werewolf don't seem as bad as the torture that we put each other through when we dehumanizing one another. In a sense, those creatures have a lot more grace than we ever will, and that we will ever bestow unto our enemies.
That wasa great entry. Congrats on the TS.
Terrific work! Keep it going—congratulations!
Ohhh god how truly torturous and confusing for a child to be in such a situation!! Very well written and thoughtful piece
https://vocal.media/history/ridiculous-wars-in-history Have a lookk!!
I am so pleased to see this gem getting the recognition it deserves. Congrats on a well-deserved Top Story, Matthew!
Excellent storytelling Matthew. You kept me intrigued through the end. I love this story. Joseph's imagination kept him feeling brave. He was able to remain brave even in the darkest recesses of his mind. Joseph's courage never falters as he holds on to hope for the arrival of his knights. The end threw me for a loop. It was sad yet at the same point hopeful.
Nice short story, Matt. The ending packed a punch! I'm going through RM's list now. Read quite a few already.
My father called me and read me this entry, and inspired me to finally join his silly writing group and submit a piece to his challenge. This is absolutely beautiful and heart-wrenching. I've been thinking about it since my dad read it to me and now I've read it three more times for myself. Really incredible work.
This builds up so well to the climax. Well done!
I think this fits perfectly.
The last line was done so well...