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Phobia
Short
Fiction/
Soon to appear in The
Muse's Carpenter
Word Count 3,027
"That’s
it, Diane, really, I’m not ever telling you about my phobias again.”
Wayne said, half smiling, only to hide his humiliation. He drowns
another french-fry in ketchup and shoves it into his mouth, in a
dramatically irritated motion.
“Wayne” Diane teasingly scratches his back as she tries to
get him to look into her face. She scoots up close to him, making an
embarrassing sound against the leather covered booth. They both chuckle
but Wayne refuses to look at her. “Wayne, look at me” she says in a cute
pouty voice. Wayne sticks another fry in his mouth. She grabs his chin
and turns his face towards her.
“Everyone has things that they’re afraid of.” She says.
“It’s just a little funny that a big strong guy like you is afraid of
spiders.”
“See, there you go again.”
Diane laughs.
“Ok, Diane, what are you afraid of.” Wayne asks, looking
right into her beautiful Hazel eyes.
“Well, I’m afraid to watch horror flicks, because they give
me nightmares.”
“Lame…something real please.”
“I’m afraid of big dogs, falling in love with a financially
unstable man, and undercooked steak. No blood for me!” Diane laughs.
“You’re just not right, Diane.”
She leans into him and puts her arms around his neck,
squeezing, “But you love me.”
“Yeah, yeah”
The two get up and leave a few extra dollars on top of their
check at the table. As they walk out the door, Diane makes her fingers
crawl up Wayne’s back, like a spider running up his spine. He jumps.
“It’s ok, no spiders,” Diane laughs, eyes watering, “just
five little piggies.”
“You really tickled yourself with that.” He grabs her hand.
“No more. Besides, these are not your piggies, they are you fingers.
What, did your dad sit at the wrong end of the bed when he sang to you
as a child?”
“You’re mean.” Diane says, still wiping her face and
laughing.
Wayne opens the door for her and waits until she gets in his
red 1994 Mustang convertible. He leans in and gives her a kiss, and then
just looks at her shaking his head.
“You’re a silly girl, you know that?” She just smiles.
On the ride to her house, a mosquito lands on Wayne’s arm,
Diane sees it and just as she is about to swipe at it, Wayne smacks his
arm really hard without looking. “I think a spider bit me.”
“It was a mosquito, Wayne.”
“No, I felt a spider.”
“Wayne, I saw it land on your arm and I was about to smack
it before you smashed it’s guts all over your arm.” Wayne looks at his
arm and sees the spattered blood and dark specks that used to be its
body.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Wayne… I’m sure. It was a mosquito.”
“It felt like a spider.” Wayne says under his breath.
“Everything to you is a spider.”
They drive along the coast, along Huntington beach and take
a few minutes to share the sun set. “Let’s walk on the beach, before you
drop me off. It’s so nice out here.”
“Sure.” Wayne lets the soft top down, hops out of the car
and opens her door. She takes off towards the water, and Wayne runs
after her. Laughing and breathing hard they both collapse on the sand
thirty feet from the water. Diane lays her head in Wayne’s lap and they
watch as the sun disappears into the ocean – a huge golden fire sinking
into the Pacific, burning the atmosphere, in a brilliant display of
artistry and magic.
“So romantic” Diane says. She pulls her head up, eyes
closed, and Wayne meets her with a kiss. Suddenly Wayne jumps up and
starts smacking his clothes and arms looking at the ground.
“What is it?” Diane says, excited.
“A spider just crawled across my hand!” Wayne’s face is a
mask of fear.
Diane looks around where they are sitting and sees a clump
of grass right next to his hand impression in the sand. She points at
it. Just then a small breeze grabs a hold of it and sends it across the
beach. “That was your spider, Wayne. That is why you dropped me off your
lap and ruined a perfect moment.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just that spiders…”
“No, Wayne, it was not a spider. It’s your imagination. You
need to get it under control.”
Wayne sits down in the sand next to Diane and silently looks
out over the dark blue ocean. After a few short moments, Diane leans
against Wayne. She points up into the air. “Look” Wayne looks up. The
stars start to twinkle brightly.
Wayne musters up enough courage to swallow his feeling of
humiliation and points at a cluster of stars. “There’s Orion, over
there’s the big dipper, and that, the little dipper.” Wayne puts his arm
around Diane. “And see that group of stars?” Diane looks out into space,
eyes searching in the area he points. “That’s the Making out Lovers. The
story goes, if you make out while under those stars, you will be lucky
the rest of your life.”
Diane whispers in his ear, “You’ll be lucky, or get
lucky?” They kiss.
***
An officer patrolling the beach rides his bike along the
sidewalk and nearly missed the couple lying on the beach about to break
a law. Diane lies on top of Wayne as they make out. Wayne’s arms are
around her waist and her legs wrap around him.
“Ok, guys!” The officer says.
The two jump up and pull themselves together. “Hi, officer”
Wayne says, “nice night.”
“I can see that.” The officer muses. “You kids came pretty
close to spending a night in jail. You can’t have sex on the beach. I’m
pretty sure that you’re folks wouldn’t care to know that their kids are
on the beach riding each other instead of the waves.”
There was no reason for Wayne to mention that he lived in a
studio by himself. No reason to possibly make it worse for Diane.
“Sorry, officer, you’re right. We’ll get home.”
“Good idea” The officer says, as he hops back onto his bike
and rides off along the beach.
Wayne looks at Diane and they both chuckle. “I guess we got
busted” Diane says.
“Yeah, it must have been the making out lovers.”
They both get back into the car. Wayne takes Diane home. By
the time he gets back to his studio and pulls into his parking spot it’s
1:00 am. With a song in his head and a lover’s dance in his step Wayne
waltzes through his door and kicks the door shut. His studio is all of a
bed, love seat, TV, kitchen sink, fridge, and microwave all in the same
three hundred square feet; a four by four foot shower room with a toilet
squeezed into the corner. Wayne throws his clothes on the love seat and
turns off the lights. As he hops into bed he feels something run across
his leg. Quickly he jumps out of bed and turns on the light. Pulling the
blanket and sheet off his bed, he doesn’t find anything. Stop it,
Wayne. This is stupid. He thinks.
He turns the light off again and lies in his bed, covers
pulled up to his nose.
“This is going to be a normal night.” Wayne says. “There are
no spiders. No spiders.”
Suddenly something crawls over his stomach. Wayne jumps. “No!” He yells.
“No, no spiders, it’s my head.” He feels it move again, up towards his
face. He tumbles out of the bed, arms flailing around slapping himself
and the blanket. “I can’t handle this!” He yells.
He turns the light on and grabs the phone. He calls Diane’s
cell.
“Wayne?” Diane whispers.
“Hey, you sleeping?”
“It’s two o’clock in the morning, Wayne. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, it’s just…”
“What, Wayne, tell me.”
“No, Diane sorry, I shouldn’t have called. It’s my stupid
phobia.”
“It’s alright, Wayne. That studio of yours probably really
has spiders crawling around. Listen, if you really need, come over I’m
sure that my parents would be fine if you sleep on the couch.” Diane
says.
“No, no, I really am being silly. No, Diane I’m going to go
to sleep and just deal with this. I have to face my fear, and just get
over it once and for all.”
“Alight, Wayne. Listen, it’s really no big deal if you want
to come over. If you decide to, the extra key will be under the rug.”
“Alright, thanks.” Wayne says.
“Good night”
“Good night”
“Wayne” she says.
“Yeah”
“How about I bring some breakfast over in the morning?”
“Sounds great, now get some sleep” He says.
“You too”
Wayne sets his cell phone on his pillow. Then he walks back
to the light switch. He looks around the small room. “There is nothing
to be afraid of. No spiders. It’s all in my head. It’s not real.” He
turns the light off and jumps into his bed, grabs his cell phone and
cuddles up under the blanket.
Immediately he hears the sound of tiny scratches in the
walls. Wayne covers his head.
The
sound gets louder; eight legged insects crawl around in the walls and
ceiling all around him. Wayne pulls his pillow over the top of his head
and growls, trying to shut out the sounds. “It’s not real.”
It begins to rain. But, this is not the rainy season. It
pours, almost as hard as hail. How odd, Wayne thinks. Is it rain? As
each rain drop crashes against his roof, it seems to grow legs and
scurry off, down into the cracks leading into the room.
The pipes make funny noises, like the desperate breaths of
someone choking on a bone.
“Shut up! Shut up!” Wayne yells. “It’s my mind, stop it,
shut up!” He cups his hands over his ears as hard as he can. “None of
this is real!”
Suddenly something softball sized falls onto his bed,
landing on the covers between his legs. Wayne‘s erratic breathing
silences and he finds himself holding his breath. Like an invisible
stranger grabbing at his groin; large fingers spread out on the blanket.
He slowly pulls the blanket down over his eyes and peers down towards
the thing.
Two purple eyes glow at his waist. The creature spreads out
and moves its branch like leg towards his face. “AHHHHH” Wayne’s face is
a white mask of terror. He pulls the blanket apart flinging the spider
into the air. He grabs his phone and starts to dial the number. Looking
around the floor he doesn’t see the demon spider anywhere. Wayne closes
his cell phone, drops it on the mattress. He puts his hands in his hair
and paces back and forth. “This is nuts, just nuts, I can’t live like
this.” The sounds of spiders filling his walls, falling on the roof,
filling the pipes continues. Wayne points at the walls, “You’re not
real. I’m going to sleep; you’re not getting the best of me.”
Everything quiets to total silence. He jumps back into bed.
Wayne covers his head up and listens. After about thirty
minutes of silence he can feel his desire to sleep kick in. He pulls the
blanket down from over his face and looks around the room. Everything is
quiet and black- uncanny.
He squints his eyes as he peers into the darkness. It’s
too black. He thinks. The walls seem to pulsate. Wayne reaches for
his cell phone. He opens it to illuminate the room with its small
screen. The blue light shines dimly around the room. The walls look
alive, covered with spiders of all shapes and sizes, thousands of tiny
black eyes, reflecting the blue light as they stare back at him.
Wayne throws his cell phone against the wall. It breaks into
several pieces. He quickly pulls the blanket over himself and curls into
a ball. “What’s happening, this can’t be. It’s my mind, that’s all.” He
feels that he must be going insane. Some mental breakdown has caused him
to trip out tonight. Now my phone is gone too. There’s no help
tonight, I must fight it. He thinks, eyes glued shut, teeth
grinding. Suddenly he starts to yell at the top of him lungs,
uncontrollably. The fear and adrenaline, pumps a shot of courage into
his veins. He tightens both of his shaking hands into fists, and roars
like an ancient warrior running into battle against some mythical beast.
He throws the covers off and jumps on the floor. His eyes still sealed
shut and his body shaking under the force of this deep scream.
Finally feeling the strength and belief in himself to
conquer this fear, he opens his eyes. A raging unseen fire consumes him
– resolution, determination, overcomes him. His eyes widen.
As quickly as his inner volcano of fury erupts and sets him
ablaze, the fire dies- extinguished by the glazing of sheer terror.
Wayne’s jaw falls open. A tear escapes his widened eyes and runs down
his cheeks. He swallows. Two black basket ball sized eyes with six
smaller ones embedded around them stare back. He sees his own frightened
reflection in each one. His heart stops pounding against his chest, his
head suddenly feels calm. Everything stops moving – like death.
“Not my imagination” he whispers softy.
***
A blue Ford Explorer pulls into the driveway behind Wayne’s
mustang. Diane gets out with a bag of breakfast burritos in her hand.
“Honey, are you sure that you just want me to leave you
here?” her father says.
“Dad, I’m fine, I think we can handle ourselves.”
“Ok, I’ll see you for dinner. Your mother said that Wayne
could come over too, if he wants.” He says. She waves him on. He starts
backing out of the drive but waits until he sees the door open, as all
dads do.
Diane watches her dad stop at the end of the drive. She
smiles and knocks on the door. No answer. “Wayne, open up, I’ve got
breakfast sleepyhead.” She pounds on the door. Her Dad taps the horn.
She looks at him and he puts his hands up. She shrugs a confused shrug.
He rolls down the window.
“What’s the matter?” He asks.
“Wayne isn’t answering. I don’t here any music or TV
either.”
Diane’s father gets out of the vehicle and walks up to the
door. He pounds on it like a police officer. “Wayne, wake up.” He pounds
again. Then he reaches into his back pant pocket and pulls out his
wallet.
“What are you doing?” Diane asks.
He pulls out a library card. “I’m going to open the door. If
Wayne has slipped or hurt himself, we can help. If he’s gone, we’ll just
close the door and leave.” Diane’s silence was approval enough for
him. He slides the card in between the handle and begins to wiggle it
into the lock. With a few wiggles it slides in. Diane notices a smile on
his face. He looks at her and lifts his eyebrows.
“You’re such a nerd” Diane says. They both laugh.
He opens the door. A thick white layer of webbing covers
the door-too concentrated to be real they both think.
“Crazy kid,” her father says, “I’ll teach him to scare my
girl.” He says laughing. He grabs onto the webbing and pulls it down.
They step in and freeze.
Diane screams.
Her father quickly turns and pushes Diane out the door. He
steps out behind her frantically locking the door behind them. Diane
falls to the ground screaming. Her father sits on the ground next to
her and holds her.
“Calm down honey. Shhh, shhh.” He grabs his cell phone out
of his pocket. “Diane, go to the car and wait for me.”
“No Dad, what about Wayne.”
“Diane! Go now!” he snaps.
“But Dad…”
“Now Diane!” He yells. She runs to the Explorer and
disappears inside.
He flips the phone open and dials.
***
“This is 911 Emergency, what’s your emergency?” The big
black woman listens to the man on the phone giving a “yeah” every few
sentences. She leans over in her chair and smacks the guy in the next
answering booth over. He looks at her irritated. She points to the phone
shaking her head and making a gesture with her hand that the person on
the phone is crazy.
“Spiders did that?” She says and she pushes a few keys on
the board. “Ok, sir I have a car on its way as we speak. They’ll be
there in five minutes. Just calm down and stay there. They are going to
want to talk to you, ok. Ok, sir, I have to go, there are other calls
coming in.” She hangs up and bursts into a cackle.
“What was that, Barb?” the man next her asks.
“The man on the phone...” she starts.
“What about the man?’
“He said that his daughter’s boyfriend was killed by some
monster spider. He said that the apartment had been turned into a spider
nets and the boy’s body was swollen and infested with thousands of
spiders.”
“How did he know that it was a monster spider that did it?”
the man said.
“That was the funny part. Apparently it was soo big that
it’s legs left broken impressions in the walls, from the floor to the
ceiling.” She laughs, “I should have asked him how it got in and out if
it was that big.”
“That’s crazy” the man said. “Did he sound serious?”
“Yeah, he did. What a head case.”
A few minutes later a man in another booth jumps up and runs
past them into the operations office. A commotion is heard. The
operations manager steps out of his office and scans the room over. He
spots Barbara Lemmon. He points at her.
“Barbara, in my office now!” She looks at the guy next to
her.
“I wonder…”
The man who had run into the office walks back to his desk,
passing her. He whispers, “Police just called, it was no joke.”
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