Some dark Halloween humor for Sparky
Title: Collect Call
Genre: Addams Family
Rating: R
Warning: This is not a happy, feel-good story. It speaks of child abuse and death.
Prompt: A girl goes missing. Fifteen years later, her parents get a call from her older self. But they listen in fear because they killed their daughter that dark night years ago.
Sparky, I hope you still like this as much as you did before and thank you for your help. Sorry it's so dark!
They were busy, but when weren’t they busy? Their friends said it was to mask the pain and suffering they’d experienced since the death of their daughter. That showed how little their friends knew. No, for the Whalens, they weren’t compensating for the death of their daughter; they were celebrating it.
Elaine had been a difficult child from birth and by the time she was old enough to be enrolled in kindergarten, not one would have her. She was mean, vindictive and just plain rotten. They cited a danger to the other students and Jack was quick to agree with them.
When they woke one night and saw Elaine standing at their bedroom doorway, knife in hand, they knew something needed to be done. They turned to the best doctors and psychiatrists they could find. No one could or would help.
They had locked Elaine in her room for the night when just joking, Jack mentioned The Bad Seed.
“It wouldn’t be so bad, would it, if she just went to sleep and didn’t wake up?”
Everyone said was a tragedy it was that Elaine found those pills, so brightly colored and looking very much like candy. The medicine cabinet had been locked, but broken into, not an exception to the rule for Elaine. She was well known for breaking into things. She was also well known for hurting anyone who got between her and candy, as evidence by the Taylor boy, who carried permanent scars, just because he made the mistake of picking up a piece of Elaine’s candy.
After a brief investigation, the police came to the conclusion that it was a tragic accident and the Whalens got on with their lives, filling it with travel, friends and happiness, all things they were denied when Elaine was alive.
“That was a magnificent production.” Jack hung his coat in the closet, sparing only the briefest glance down at the box that held Elaine’s things.
“They do such a lovely job,” Laura said, placing her purse on the table. “I can’t wait to see what they do with Camelot next season.” The phone rang then and they exchanged glances. “Who would be calling at this hour?”
“No idea.” Jack picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hello, Father. Have you missed me?”
“Is this your idea of a sick joke?”
“Not at all. At least I’m not laughing. Is Mother there? May I speak with her?”
“No, you may not.” He slammed the receiver down and shuddered.
“You’re as white as a ghost. Who was it, Jack?”
“No one.” He left the receiver off the hook for the rest of the night, just to be sure.
By the next morning, it seemed like a bad dream. Even so, Jack jumped the next time that the phone rang. Thankfully, it was nothing and the day unfolded just as the one before it did. He picked up some new eyeglasses and they checked in with their travel agent. Jack had the hankering to go someplace quiet.
Then the phone rang. He didn’t even think about it when he picked it up.
“Hello, Father. I liked your new glasses.”
His voice faltered and his mouth worked. Laura couldn’t stand it and snatched the receiver away from him.
“Who is this?”
“Hello, Mother. It’s me, your daughter, Elaine. Have you missed me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Elaine is dead.”
“Not quite. You should have used a better lock.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing. It was your job to protect me. You failed. Do you know what the price of failure is, Mother?”
“We failed no one,” she shouted, then spun and screamed. “This is your fault. You said she was dead!”
“She was dead. I made sure of it.”
“You both failed me. Time to pay the Piper. I’m home.” There was a knock at the door.
Jack wrestled the phone out of his wife’s hand and pulled the plug from the wall, that accomplished, he threw the phone as hard as he could at the window. It shattered into a million pieces, the pieces flying everywhere.
Laura kept screaming and screaming as she clawed at the glass in her face, but Jack was too busy contending with the shard in his throat to help her. It took them a long time to bleed out, but some would say not long enough.
Quietly, Wednesday Addams hung up the phone and gathered her notes. She’d been studying the Whalen case in her Unexplained Deaths class and the answer had seemed quite straightforward to her. They were lousy parents who had done nothing to promote their child’s natural proclivities. What a waste. She played a hunch and it turned out she was right. They were guilty of much more than that.
“All through with your homework, dear?” Morticia smiled at her daughter, who smiled back.
“Best term paper project ever.”
Genre: Addams Family
Rating: R
Warning: This is not a happy, feel-good story. It speaks of child abuse and death.
Prompt: A girl goes missing. Fifteen years later, her parents get a call from her older self. But they listen in fear because they killed their daughter that dark night years ago.
Sparky, I hope you still like this as much as you did before and thank you for your help. Sorry it's so dark!
They were busy, but when weren’t they busy? Their friends said it was to mask the pain and suffering they’d experienced since the death of their daughter. That showed how little their friends knew. No, for the Whalens, they weren’t compensating for the death of their daughter; they were celebrating it.
Elaine had been a difficult child from birth and by the time she was old enough to be enrolled in kindergarten, not one would have her. She was mean, vindictive and just plain rotten. They cited a danger to the other students and Jack was quick to agree with them.
When they woke one night and saw Elaine standing at their bedroom doorway, knife in hand, they knew something needed to be done. They turned to the best doctors and psychiatrists they could find. No one could or would help.
They had locked Elaine in her room for the night when just joking, Jack mentioned The Bad Seed.
“It wouldn’t be so bad, would it, if she just went to sleep and didn’t wake up?”
Everyone said was a tragedy it was that Elaine found those pills, so brightly colored and looking very much like candy. The medicine cabinet had been locked, but broken into, not an exception to the rule for Elaine. She was well known for breaking into things. She was also well known for hurting anyone who got between her and candy, as evidence by the Taylor boy, who carried permanent scars, just because he made the mistake of picking up a piece of Elaine’s candy.
After a brief investigation, the police came to the conclusion that it was a tragic accident and the Whalens got on with their lives, filling it with travel, friends and happiness, all things they were denied when Elaine was alive.
“That was a magnificent production.” Jack hung his coat in the closet, sparing only the briefest glance down at the box that held Elaine’s things.
“They do such a lovely job,” Laura said, placing her purse on the table. “I can’t wait to see what they do with Camelot next season.” The phone rang then and they exchanged glances. “Who would be calling at this hour?”
“No idea.” Jack picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hello, Father. Have you missed me?”
“Is this your idea of a sick joke?”
“Not at all. At least I’m not laughing. Is Mother there? May I speak with her?”
“No, you may not.” He slammed the receiver down and shuddered.
“You’re as white as a ghost. Who was it, Jack?”
“No one.” He left the receiver off the hook for the rest of the night, just to be sure.
By the next morning, it seemed like a bad dream. Even so, Jack jumped the next time that the phone rang. Thankfully, it was nothing and the day unfolded just as the one before it did. He picked up some new eyeglasses and they checked in with their travel agent. Jack had the hankering to go someplace quiet.
Then the phone rang. He didn’t even think about it when he picked it up.
“Hello, Father. I liked your new glasses.”
His voice faltered and his mouth worked. Laura couldn’t stand it and snatched the receiver away from him.
“Who is this?”
“Hello, Mother. It’s me, your daughter, Elaine. Have you missed me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Elaine is dead.”
“Not quite. You should have used a better lock.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing. It was your job to protect me. You failed. Do you know what the price of failure is, Mother?”
“We failed no one,” she shouted, then spun and screamed. “This is your fault. You said she was dead!”
“She was dead. I made sure of it.”
“You both failed me. Time to pay the Piper. I’m home.” There was a knock at the door.
Jack wrestled the phone out of his wife’s hand and pulled the plug from the wall, that accomplished, he threw the phone as hard as he could at the window. It shattered into a million pieces, the pieces flying everywhere.
Laura kept screaming and screaming as she clawed at the glass in her face, but Jack was too busy contending with the shard in his throat to help her. It took them a long time to bleed out, but some would say not long enough.
Quietly, Wednesday Addams hung up the phone and gathered her notes. She’d been studying the Whalen case in her Unexplained Deaths class and the answer had seemed quite straightforward to her. They were lousy parents who had done nothing to promote their child’s natural proclivities. What a waste. She played a hunch and it turned out she was right. They were guilty of much more than that.
“All through with your homework, dear?” Morticia smiled at her daughter, who smiled back.
“Best term paper project ever.”