I was walking up the stairs. It was time. I'd had my fill of bad water down there in that moldy basement, and it was simply time to leave.
Halfway up, something reached through the riser and grabbed my ankles. I glanced down and saw dozens of grey, leprous hands...Then the voices started.
"Don't go, Roger. They'll only stab you in the back.", I heard, in my own voice.
"Have you forgotten already? How they fucked you over?", that sounded like my grandmother, who spent the last 55 years of her life in the basement.
"What about me?", asked Michelle - the old girlfriend who had left me for my brother, "How can you leave me? How can you forget me?"
"PWNT!", said Hugh.
"Hey, runt, you can't forget me and Paul Hicks. We left you in the road when you got hit by that car when you were six, while you were chasing us that time we ditched you. That has to count for something, right?" That was my brother.
A dozen, a hundred, a thousand old hatreds continued the litany. The temptation to return to my vintage hatreds was pretty immense. Just hearing about them again made me angry. But I also heard my grandfather, The Terrible Old Man.
"It's been years, Roger. How long are you going to let these pissants control you?
The screeching under the stairs rose to a fever-pitch. Things that happened from 1973 to just last month, howling and clamoring to not be forgotten. All those years, all those horrible shitty things that others did to me, or I did to myself, festering in that basement.
I looked down through the risers, at the grey things down there. After a moment, they paused their screaming, as if waiting for my answer.
What could I answer? There was really no choice, obviously.
"You don't haunt me anymore."
I walked out of the basement, into the bright daylight. I squinted until my eyes adjusted, while fists pounded on the other side of the door. Then I grabbed a hammer and nailed the door shut.
After all this time, it was really that easy.
Or Kill Me.
FUCKING AWESOME!!!
:mittens:
If this series doesn't speak to everyone on some level, they are lying to themselves.
This is another series that works best when read in order. Excellent conclusion to a darn good set, Rog.
Loved this series. Loved it. I want to print these out and hang them in my office cube.
Nice.
This post made me :banana: :banana: :banana:
Holy fuck, Rog. If this is on the level this is big fucking change for you! What gives? Some kind of epiphany?
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on February 09, 2011, 06:10:27 PM
Holy fuck, Rog. If this is on the level this is big fucking change for you! What gives? Some kind of epiphany?
Nope. Just some self-examination. I figured out that all that "see things the way they really are" stuff applies to me, too.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on February 09, 2011, 06:11:32 PM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on February 09, 2011, 06:10:27 PM
Holy fuck, Rog. If this is on the level this is big fucking change for you! What gives? Some kind of epiphany?
Nope. Just some self-examination. I figured out that all that "see things the way they really are" stuff applies to me, too.
:mittens:
WTG! I'm sure your blood pressure will thank you :D
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on February 09, 2011, 06:13:56 PM
WTG! I'm sure your blood pressure will thank you :D
Oh, I'm still full of rage. It's just directly differently, now.
Yes.
:mittens: The bit about your grandfather really did it for me. It's exactly what I tell myself when I get pissed off at people and I know it's a better idea to let it slide.
OP still makes me :banana:
<3
This was a wonderful piece, mate.
:mittens:
You're grandfather sounds a bit like mine.
This whole series is top-notch stuff.
:mittens:
Wish I could say I've been able to nail mine shut. The closest I've come is getting to the landing, hovering around the door and smiling at daylight passers-by like absolutely nothing's wrong.
"Ho hum! I'm just putting away the broom I took out to show my therapist."
I've been putting away the same broom for years.
Awesome! Glad you found your way out, Rog.
Wish we could all be as honest with ourselves.
:mittens:
I've always thought you were a great writer, Roger, but this series is brilliant in both conception and execution.
I just read these in one go and they are awesome!
I thoroughly enjoyed these. They have the atmosphere of horror, but without the actual horror. And the pace of comedy, but without the funny bits. The sharp, cutting precision of satire, but without the satire. You didn't so much break the fourth wall, you just walked right through it like it wasn't there. Then built it up properly, brick by brick, from the other side. This side. You spooky bastard.
(I'd mittens it, but BB Code seems to be borked)