Psycho

Image: MRZ

This story was inspired by a pool we skated, called “Crazy Train”. The home owner had built train tracks in the backyard. The train wagons were big enough for a child to sit on and he would let the kids in the neighborhood ride them. When we skated the pool, the trains hadn’t been running anymore and the train tracks had been overgrown by weeds. However, the old train wagons and the rusty tracks gave the backyard an eerie atmosphere.  

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All stories on my blog are entirely fictional and based on nothing but my imagination.

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“Hey Dad, the skaters are here. I’m gonna let them in the backyard”. The house was quiet. The morning sun cast dim light through the thin white curtains that had yellowed over the years. Slowly, he moved over the worn carpet, maneuvering around stacks of old newspapers, broken children’s toys and cardboard boxes of clothes that hadn’t been worn for a long time. His foot struck an empty soda can. He kicked it out of the way and it rolled under the kitchen counter.

He liked when the skaters came by. Especially Vance. He was a famous skater. He liked Vance. He opened the front door. Five guys with skateboards stood in the driveway. He was disappointed. Vance wasn’t there. “Hi Randy how are you man?” One of them greeted. “Good, good man. I’m gonna let you through the side gate.” He opened the gate and they followed him into the backyard.

Weeds had long taken over most of the backyard. Rusty garden tools and broken kitchen appliances were fighting for space under a rickety shed. Piles of old trash cans and buckets were stuffed into a corner. They maneuvered around an ivy-laden wheel barrel with a flat tire. Rusty train tracks winded – barely visible – through the grass. A kid- sized train wagon sat forgotten under a palm tree. He remembered when his dad had built the train tracks for him, when he was a little boy. He would sit in the wagon and his dad would push him through the backyard for hours. He should ask his dad to fix the tracks and get the train wagon running again.

Image: MRZ

The pool sat empty in the back of the yard. He hardly ever walked back here. A puddle of dark green water had formed in the deep end. When he was young, he would spend long summer afternoons swimming in the pool. His dad taught him how to swim and how to hold his breath. He would dive to the bottom of the deep end to retrieve small stones that his dad would throw into the pool. Now, the pool had been empty for decades. “Enjoy the pool guys. I gotta go back in the house. My dad and I are working”. There was no need for him to stay when Vance wasn’t there. He rushed back to the house.

Image: MRZ

A black widow had spun a web in the corner above the small kitchen window. He sighed. With a pair of tweezers, he reached for the spider and pressed it onto the kitchen counter. He watched as it franticly flailed its long legs trying to escape his relentless grip. With a sharp scalpel he carefully separated the spider’s head from its body. Its legs instantly froze and the spider’s body contorted into a small black ball. It always amused him when they did that. He thought it looked funny. He skewered the spider’s head onto a tooth pick and dropped it into a big glass jar that was half filled with insect heads, each mounted on its own slender pin. A smile played around his lips as he gazed at his collection. He liked how their little eyes were staring at him.

He sat at the small kitchen table. Tools and metal parts were spread out. Oil had left dark stains on the weathered wooden surface. He ignited the soldering iron. He liked the smell of melting metal. His dad had showed him how to build things. Together they would fix broken tools and kitchen appliances that people had thrown out. That was a long time ago. He dropped the solder and it rolled under the table. He slammed his fists on the table and stood up. He stomped to the living room window and moved the yellowed curtains. The skaters were sitting on the shallow stairs. Laughing and cheering each other on. He was mad that they didn’t bring Vance. He closed the curtains and hurried back to the pool.

“Hey guys. My dad said you gotta go. He doesn’t feel good and wants to take a nap”

“Uhm okay… I guess we’ll pack up then…” one of the skaters shrugged. They grabbed their skateboards and once again forged their way through grass and weeds.

“I’ll see you next time. Tell Vance I said hello”. He waved as they got into their cars.

Back in the house he eased into one of the two comfortable armchairs that sat side by side in the living room. “You know dad, last time, I told them to bring Vance.” He looked over.

“Oh, you dropped your napkin dad.” He murmured softly as he leaned forward to retrieve a crumbled tissue from the floor. He offered it to the figure in the other armchair. Stillness. The figure seemed frozen. Its limbs were shrunk and appeared like weathered tree branches. Its skin had turned into a dark-brown layer of dry leather. Every evidence of life had long since left. Hollow eyes were sunken deep into the recesses of a bald, frail skull. Its gaze fixed upon an invisible horizon. For a moment his hand lingered in the air. Confusion flickered across his features. “You’ve fallen asleep again dad. I’ll let you rest.” He quietly stood up and retreated to the kitchen table. With a sigh he retrieved the solder from the floor and ignited the soldering iron. The smell of melting metal filled the kitchen.

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Thank you MRZ for the images

Thank you Ozzie Ausband for proofreading and making my writing better – Blue Tile Obsession