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Porthole Problem

A Horror Story

By Tyler C ClarkPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
2
Porthole Problem
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Eugene carefully severed Gary’s foot with a kitchen knife by the dim light of his bedside lamp.

Eugene felt sick.

Gary had been a horrible bunkmate. He smelled bad, he chewed loudly with his mouth open, and he left hair all over the sink. But the worst part was the snoring. Gary snored like a grizzly bear. A grizzly bear with asthma. That’s why he needed to die.

“Peace and quiet,” Eugene soothed himself as the foot came free. “Peace and quiet.”

He’d been smart about it, suffocating Gary so there wasn’t any blood. It wasn’t until after Eugene killed his bunkmate that he realized he had a problem. A porthole problem. Eugene had planned to shove Gary out the window. It wasn’t until he tried to pick up Gary’s limp body and heave it out the porthole that he realized how impossible this would be. The porthole was too small. Gary’s limp arms and legs knocked things over and made a clean disposal of his body impossible. So it was that Eugene found himself cutting a dead body into pieces and throwing them out a porthole one by one.

“Peace and quiet,” Eugene soothed himself as the foot came free. “Peace and quiet.”

In just a few short days Eugene would be in New York, and he’d leave this troublesome business behind.

Eugene popped open the porthole of their room and shunted the foot out the window. A frigid wind whistled through his room. It was the middle of the night, so he could only see the foot gently fade away in the dark.

“Hmm,” said a voice behind him.

Eugene nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked around but there was no one else in the small cabin. Just Gary.

Eugene prodded Gary’s body with a toe. Stiff as a board.

Eugene cleared his throat. “Is someone at my door?”

Silence.

“You’re just imagining things,” Eugene whispered to himself. Not quite convinced, Eugene stood still in his room listening for any sound or indication of life.

Eventually, Eugene got back to work. He knelt down and began cutting Gary’s leg off at the knee. Without too much trouble, he threw a chunk of Gary out the porthole. Again, as he did, he heard a breath behind him. But not so much a breath, but a brief moment of snoring!

Eugene gasped and rushed over to examine Gary’s body. He lifted the towel he’d placed over Gary’s face. Lifeless. His chest was still. His eyes, glassy and unblinking. Eugene replaced the towel over Gary’s face. Eugene stood and rubbed the back of his neck. Despite the cold air filling the room from the open porthole, a thin sheen of sweat gathered on his forehead and cheeks.

“Taking too long. This is taking too long.” Eugene said to himself.

Eugene proceeded less carefully at the other foot, hacking it loose and throwing it out the window.

Again, Eugene heard snoring from somewhere in his small cabin.

“Where!” he shouted. He covered his mouth. Shadows jumped in the cabin as his lamp swayed.

Eugene stood over Gary’s dead body, holding his knife defensively as though Gary might attack him. He stood there for a minute or two, but it felt like hours. He wiped the sweat from his face. The hair on Eugene’s neck stiffened, and he rubbed at the back of his neck again.

Eugene hacked away Gary’s limbs, throwing body parts out the window. He wanted this to be over. Sweat from his brow stung his eyes, and he cut his thumb by mistake. Eugene dropped the knife and thrust his hand into the room’s tiny sink. It was a bad cut.

As he tried to clean the cut, he heard the snoring again. This time it didn’t stop. Eugene clutched his wounded hand to his chest and backed himself against the wall, staring with wide eyes at what remained of the corpse on the floor as the sound of snores grew louder and louder. Eugene tore at his hair and gasped hitching breaths.

“Stop,” Eugene gasped. “Stop!”

Eugene took up the knife once more and hacked wildly at the corpse. His knife rose and fell with sick thuds. At long last, Eugene severed Gary’s snoring head and thrust it out the window. He could hear the snoring descend into the night, fading into the wind.

Eugene collapsed to his knees.

A booming crash thundered and knocked Eugene onto his side. He could hear shouts of alarm from the hallway. He looked out the porthole to see the massive shape of ice slide by in the dark. He ran to his cabin door and opened it. People were making eye contact with each other, measuring the shock on each other’s faces. Eugene stepped into the hallway and shut the door tight behind him. Before long, he was running ahead of a crowd of frightened passengers making their way to the top deck of the Titanic. People were already clamoring for space on lifeboats and descending down the sides. He managed, just barely, to fight his way onto a boat as it was lowered down into the frigid water. Jumpers splashed into the water around the lifeboat. As they rowed away, the Titanic pitched vertically, then, with a screeching sound of tearing metal, it crashed back down to the water.

As the Titanic sank, despite the cold, despite the sweat that now froze on his damp skin, Eugene felt a relief like he never had before.

“Titanic, you did it,” Eugene said. “You’ve covered my tracks for me.”

Eugene laughed with relief until he heard an odd sound. Something buoyant was thudding against the side of the lifeboat. Straining his eye to see in the dark, he looked down to see Gary’s lifeless eyes stare back at him along with pieces of his dismembered body. Out from his gaping mouth, Gary snored louder and louder until Eugene snapped.

slasher
2

About the Creator

Tyler C Clark

I'm a poet who discovered a love for fiction. This seems like a good place to stretch my legs.

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (1)

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  • Babs Iverson2 years ago

    Splendid story!

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