“Man, you’re a buzz kill. Most twelve year olds shouldn’t worry this much.”
“If I turn thirteen, I’ll remind myself of that. Now get your ass over here now!”
Junior let out a sigh and walked over to Seth. “I’m here. What is so damn important?”
“The wall,” Seth replied, turning Junior’s face, and pointing him towards it.
If Junior could have pissed cold yellow ice, he would have, at that moment.
On the wall, was a skull and crossbones symbol, blood red, dripping and running like it was bleeding or freshly painted?
Below this skull and crossbones there was a message:
‘let yea who pass here be warned, this be the devil’s virgin sand, he be the beast that walk amongst the ground, he be the beast inside the grains, life is in the sand, if you be here when the moon is full, use the seas water, mix it with the sand, whatever is created, next night, the devil’s life it will have’
After Seth read this message out loud, a mouth appeared on the red skull. The mouth opened up revealing large sharp teeth and a black empty portal. Two red eyes appeared in the empty black eye sockets a second later, and then this symbol laughed at them, laughed an evil sinister laugh.
The boys turned to look at one another, fear upon their faces; and without a word, they ran.
3
As time passed, the boys (best friends their entire short lives) barely talked to one another even in school. They just nodded when they passed in the halls. Fear had pushed them into silence, and they feared that if they talked about what they had seen on that beach, bad things would befall them. It was Junior, of course, who broke the silence. He knocked on Seth’s door, late one Saturday morning, both friends had stayed at home instead of meeting up for their weekly dose of Hammer horror.
“Hey Junior,” Seth replied, standing in the doorway, looking at his friend. Both of them dressed in shorts and tee shirts, their normal dress for warm days.
“I’m going back to the cave, man.”
“Shhh. My mom’s right inside,” Seth replied, pushing Junior outside and onto the wooden porch. He closed the front door, and faced his friend. “Why?”
“Do you want to go with me? It’s going to be a full moon tonight.”
“Are you crazy? I thought we weren’t going to talk about that place let alone go there again? Did you not read what I read or see what I saw?”
“Frady cat, aren’t you?”
“What, no, and I am a little tired of you calling me that every time I don’t want to do something you want to do.”
“You are just a scared little frady cat. If mommy was going, I bet’cha you’d go.”
“You just don’t want to go by yourself. You’re the one that’s a frady cat. Admit it?”
“Look, if you want to be a baby about it, then I wouldn’t want you to come. You may start crying and wet yourself or something. Just forget it, okay. I’ll go by myself!” Junior turned to go; but before he could, Seth grabbed him on the arm.
“Wait, Junior. I’ll go with you. Okay?”
“Great!” Junior was happy now that he got what he wanted. “I’ll be here tonight around eleven. Don’t wuss out on me,” he replied, and walked away.
“I won’t,” Seth replied, and watched him go. He wondered, as he stood there in the warm sun, if he had done the right thing or not.
4
Seth spent the rest of the day shopping. He hated to shop for clothes with his mom, but it was keeping his mind off the near future, so he was more than happy to do it. His mom didn’t seem to notice his blank stares or his worried looks, which he was thankful for, less questions. She was just happy to have her boy needing her help again.
As Seth approached home, late that afternoon, he could almost feel that cave calling out to him, beckoning him to come back. He also could feel the pull of that strange forgotten beach, as if it too was calling out to him. Junior had a way of getting him into some form of trouble, and he had a feeling tonight wouldn’t be any different.
Junior spent the day at home, watching scary monster movies. Besides the Hammer horror movies, he loved the old black and white films. The Wolfman was his favorite of the classic movie monster bunch.
When bed time arrived, both boys kissed their parents good night, said their prayers, and then they were all alone waiting in the dark of their rooms, waiting on the clock, waiting with anticipation to see what the night would hold.
5
Around eleven, a knock came upon his window. Seth looked up from his bed; and, sure enough, there was Junior holding a flashlight up to his face. He was smiling, of course.
Seth got up, slid on his jeans, put on a shirt, and then put on his tennis shoes. He looked for light under his bedroom door, but he didn’t see any. That meant the coast was clear, and his parents were now fast asleep in bed.
He moved over to the window and opened it. He took out the screen, pausing at the screeching noise it made. He looked back over his shoulder, but there was no light under his door, no footsteps in the hall, no parents stirring. The house was still quiet and silent. Feeling like it was safe to leave, he grabbed his back pack, and slipped out of the window, landing softly on the ground outside.
“Ready?” Junior asked, standing there in jeans, tee shirt, and tennis shoes.
Seth slid on his back pack and turned to face his friend, who was holding two things, a large flashlight and a bucket.
“Yeah,” Seth replied.
“Let’s go then,” Junior replied, moving in the direction of the cave.
Seth took one last look back at his house where safety and security lived. He hoped he would see it again, and then followed after his friend.
6
When they reached the cave, they stopped just outside the entrance. The full moonlight above did not penetrate the blackness inside the cave. That light seemed to reflect back to them, like it was scared to enter that enclosed space.
Junior turned on his dad’s flashlight, which pushed out a light that was almost worthy of spotlight status. This light was somewhat soothing to the boys even though their heart rate didn’t agree. They were now beyond afraid. They had now moved on to full blown terrified, but they weren’t about to turn around now.
“You ready?” Junior asked, knees shaking.
“Sure,” Seth replied, surprised his friend was not sending insults his way, daring him to go in first.
“Let’s go then,” Junior replied, and stepped forward. The interior of the cave swallowed him up with eagerness.
Seth looked back towards home, to the sky and moon above, breathed in, breathed out, and then followed after his friend.
7
Suffocating.
Claustrophobic.
The interior of the cave was even worse at night than it was during the day. The drips and drops of water seemed louder, more intense. The echoes of their feet sounded angrier, and more alive. The rocks and shells they had found earlier were all now glowing a bright red, and they all pulsed like a heartbeat as they watched the boys move towards the exit onto the beach.
Seth looked behind him, staying as close to Junior as he could, and his heart sunk. He couldn’t see anything but thick dark behind them. The beams of the full moon were nowhere to be seen.
They moved on, deeper into the cave. The beam of Junior’s flashlight was doing its best to show them the way, but it was struggling. The batteries inside of it, its very life force was slowly being drained as it struggled to perform.
Seth tried not to look around, tried to follow the beam of light, because when he looked away from the light in every corner there stood a ghost or goblin, or some fiend ready to snuff out their young life. The interior coolness of the cave also helped to add to this effect.
Somehow they found the entrance that led to the forgotten beach, and paused for a moment in front of it. The beams of the full moon were unable to penetrate this opening as well.
“Are you sure about this?” Seth didn’t c
are if he was called a baby or not. He also didn’t care if he was called a frady cat, a sissy, a wuss, or any other insults Junior could throw at him. He was super scared, about to pee his pants, and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Junior again, surprised him. “We can turn back now if you want. I think I’ve seen enough.”
Seth thought about it for a moment. This was his chance to escape without fear of ridicule, but he didn’t take it. Instead, for some strange reason, he said this to Junior. “No. We’ve come this far. Why turn back now? Might as well see what happens.”
“Okay, let’s go then,” Junior replied, as he stepped through the opening, and disappeared from sight.
Seth paused, and then followed after his friend.
8
The waves roared onto the shore, pounding and tearing apart the coastline. The night was calm, cloudless, but the waves seemed to be agitated and angry, like they were being stirred up by a hurricane.
The moon above them painted the beach with a soft light, but this light was unnatural. It was too bright, too shiny, and too yellow.
The grains of sand under their feet seemed to move as they stepped on it, and they were just a little too white, a little too squirmy to be just regular grains of sand.
The cliff walls seemed to be wet with something dark, blood or water, who could really tell, and Seth thought he saw things lurking just under the creepy overhanging trees with the limbs that seemed to be reaching down towards them. Was that yellow eyes, lots and lots of yellow eyes staring down from up above?
Seth turned away before he lost his nerve and bolted for home. He turned his face up to the sea breeze, and let it cool his hot clammy skin.
“What do you want to make?” Junior asked, eager to be done with this experiment as much as Seth was, but he wanted to know if there was indeed life in this sand.
“I guess if that saying is right on the wall,” Seth chucked his thumb back towards the place where the message was written. “Whatever we create in this sand should be timid, a turtle or a rabbit perhaps, because I don’t want to give birth to anything that might gnaw my face off while I sleep.”
“Agreed. I’m on board with that,” Junior replied, and then walked down to the water with his bucket. When he kneeled down, the wet sand didn’t just sink from his weight like it should have, but it opened up and wrapped itself, conformed itself, around his two knees. He scooped up a big bucket of salt water, and noticed that the water sparkled, gleamed an unnatural blue, and seemed to teem with life almost as if it was breathing.
“What would you want to make?” Seth asked Junior when he returned with the water.
“I don’t know. That rabbit idea isn’t too bad. Bunnies aren’t supposed to harm us, right?” Junior asked, hoping Seth would agree with him, trying not to think of how the marshmallow man at the end of Ghostbusters had gone so horribly wrong even though it wasn’t supposed to.
“Sure. Let’s do this and go,” Seth replied, kneeling down beside Junior who was already hard at work pouring water into the sand.
About thirty minutes later (working quickly in silence), the boys had made a crude harmless bunny rabbit in the sand, a sand that had felt like live squirming maggots in their hands once the water had been applied to it.
Seth, while he stood there looking at their creation, got an eerie feeling that they were being watched. He turned around, in order to reassure his mind that they weren’t, and that’s when he saw a figure dart back inside the cave.
“Did you see that?”
Junior looked at him, and then to the spot where Seth was staring. “See what?”
“The figure behind us.”
“What figure?” Junior asked. “I don’t see anything.”
“It was there a minute ago. I swear.”
“There is no one there, Seth. It’s just your imagination, frady cat,” Junior replied, getting back to his old usual self.
“I’m not a frady cat. I came here, didn’t I?”
“Sure, man points for that I guess,” Junior replied, sarcastically. “So, what happens next? Wasn’t this thing supposed to come alive?”
“Didn’t that message say something about the next night it will have life?”
“You’re right. Forgot that part,” Junior replied, flipping on the flashlight, batteries now only able to push out enough power for a dim bulb. He shined his light onto the wall where the message was written in order to confirm this.
In the light of the moon and Junior’s weak spotlight flashlight, they noticed that the words beside the cave entrance had changed.
They now read: ‘your life for my creature, death to its creators’
While they were standing there, looking at the wall, the words evaporated, and in their place a gigantic white bunny rabbit head appeared. It had long ears that ended in sharp razor like points, black lidless eyes that seemed to stare at them, a toothless mouth, and no nose.
They looked from the wall to their sand creation. It was now gone, and the sand was smooth and dry, like it had never been disturbed.
Seth and Junior wasted no time.
They fled back into the cave and out to the safety on the other side. They never stopped running until both of them were in the comfort of their own homes, tucked away in the warmth and safety of their own beds.
9
The next day, Junior and Seth were sitting on a park bench, watching the girls in skimpy warm weather clothes frolic about.
“Would you want to spend the night at my place tonight, just in case?” Seth asked, breaking the silence, biting his lip, hoping Junior wouldn’t see how scared he was about the oncoming night. “Tomorrow’s Memorial Day. Schools out. I’m sure our parents wouldn’t mind.”
“Just in case what? You still scared of that stuff we did on the beach? You know, you’re being ridiculous, Seth. Nothing is going to happen; but, if little frady cat needs someone there, I’ll be there,” Junior replied, glad Seth had asked him to spend the night, because he also didn’t want to be alone. He had been watching the light in the sky all day, watching it as it slowly drained away. With the shadows now starting to grow thick, he really wasn’t ready to face this night alone either.
“Quit calling me frady cat.” Seth punched Junior on the arm.
“Now, did you see what you just did?”
“Come on, Junior. Not that.”
“You didn’t wipe it off.” Junior balled up his fist and hit Seth with all of his might, right on the upper part of his arm. The hit was so hard that the sound of the pop echoed out across the park causing a couple of the girls to look in their direction.
“Dammit, Junior!” Seth moved his arm back and forth, as he felt a slight tingle in the spot of his flesh where Junior had just made hard contact.
A car pulled up near the bench.
It was Junior’s dad, who had been out looking for him in order to get his son home in time for dinner. His dad blew the horn, and waited impatiently for his son to get his butt moving.
Junior got up, and looked back at Seth. “I’ll be over tonight. Frady cat,” he replied, and laughed as he ran over and got into the car.
The car pulled away a second later, once Junior was strapped in, and Seth sat there a moment longer before collecting his things and heading home for the night.
10
Sometime in the middle of the night, as the boys slept, one in the bed, one in a sleeping bag on the floor, a little tap developed on the window right outside of Seth’s room.
It was just a little tap.
A little teeny tiny tap that never grew too loud, because frequency was what the tapper wanted, frequency would be enough to cause one of them to stir.
Sure enough, one of them did stir after a few moments of this frequent light tap.
The tapping stopped when Seth woke up. He sat up, stretched, and then slid out of the bed, trying hard not to step on Junior, who was passed out like a comatose victim on the floor with his arms and legs spread everywhere, snoring loud.<
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Seth walked over to the window and peered out into the yard. He couldn’t see anything out there, but he knew something had pulled him out of sleep. Something had stirred him from his troubled dreams where monsters made of sand chased him across sandy white beaches. He was about to turn and go back to bed when he noticed something, something glowing white just below the window sill. Seth got up on his tip toes, pressed his face against the glass, and strained his eyes to see what it was that he was seeing.
A second later, Seth, in his fright, stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell onto Junior when the glowing thing rose up in front of him.
Junior woke up, and he was none too pleased. “Trying to get a cheap feel while I sleep? Get off me man!” Junior pushed Seth off of him, and onto the hard wood floor.
Seth shook Junior’s leg. “Look at the window! Look at the damn window! Our creation is here.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“The window, just look at the fucking window,” Seth replied, getting up. He found his clothes, jeans and a tee shirt. He put them on never once taking his eyes from the thing staring in at them.
Junior looked from Seth to the window. What he saw there made his blood run cold, chills do the tango up his spine, and his arms come alive in goose bumps. He slid out of the sleeping bag wearing only his boxer shorts, and then backed up to the wall that Seth was pressed tight against.
The thing watching them was the bunny rabbit they had made on the beach. This was no friendly cute little bunny though. This bunny had two long ears, each one of them ending in a long sharp pointy spike. The face was that of a rabbit, but it was crude and misshapen. The eyes were rough ovals. The nose a hole of black. The teeth were razor sharp, and all of them were glowing red like the rocks and sea shells inside the cave.
Below its head was a human body, naked, genital free, and the sand fur that covered it moved and squirmed like it was made up of a billion tiny glowing white maggots. It was a living, breathing, pulsing thing with strong yellow eyes, yellow eyes that were now trained on the boys pressed tight against the wall.
While the boys watched, the rabbit beast evaporated.
The boys waited a moment, neither one able to venture over to the window to see if it was gone or just some kind of trick.
It Sleeps at Dawn Page 4