Carcass

There once was a young lad, just out of boyhood, who was loved by many women and made love to them in return. He was the son of a rather wealthy businessman, who was unaware of his son's lifestyle.

The lad had made love to many women, and his unfaithful ways were known across town, whispered in the half empty mugs of angry fathers and jealous husbands, who dared not tell the father least he accuse them of slander. So it went on for many days, until inevitably, one such tryst lead to a girl getting with child. When her father learned of this, he wasted no time in telling his fellow grandfather-to-be. Angered, the man summoned his reckless and wild offspring to him, and gave him an ultimatum; either he marry the girl and take responsibility for his actions, or be disinherited and cast out. He had until sunrise.

The young lad left that night, troubled, for he so enjoyed the life of a bachelor, but he also was unsure of how he should make his own way if he were to be disinherited. Certainly, he had friends, but would those friends stand by him in this troubled time? He doubted it.

As he drove down the road in his fancy car, he came to a stop at an empty spot in the woods, got out and began to smoke, thinking if there might be some other way out of this predicament. Then, ever so softly, he heard something shuffling about in the underbush.

Curious, the young lad peered into the darkness, and saw nothing. He supposed it to be a fox or badger and was about to dismiss it when he heard more shuffling, this time much louder and coming closer.

The young lad again peered into the darkness, and thought he saw a shape climbing up the embankment. He thought it looked like a man crawling on his belly, so he called out to them. After all, why would someone be out at this hour, crawling on their belly?

As the crawling man came closer, his head came into the headlights glow, and the young lad saw the decaying, bloated face of a carcass. The face stared right back at him with maggot filled eye sockets, mouth hanging open to reveal a swollen, purple tongue that rolled to one side. Patches of skin were sloughing off, revealing grey muscle beneath and rotting teeth. And it was crawling closer and closer across the road.

Without a moment to waste the lad bolted back into the car, shoving his key into the ignition with trembling hands. But the car wouldn't start, instead weakly sputtering and wheezing. The lad cringed as he heard the carcass crawling across the gravel road far quicker than he had expected, and kept trying in vain to start the car.

The door of his car suddenly and violently swung open to reveal the carcass now directly in front of him, silently reaching out a rotten, boney hand right for his ankle. The lad had but a moment before he tried to get out through the passenger side door when something grabbed roughly at the back of his neck and pulled him back, forcefully turning his head back to the carcass. And as the lad stared at those maggot filled eye sockets, he saw something just behind it that filled him with far greater terror.

"Bury this carcass by sunrise," it and a thousand other voices said, "or we will take you to our own lands."

The lad tried to scream but found his voice had left him, so he could only watch as the carcass clambered into the car and lay on his lap, both arms wrapped firmly around his waist. No matter how hard he tried the lad found he could not pull the carcass off him. Then the car door slammed shut, and the engine roared into life.

With not a moment to spare, the lad drove straight back to the town, intending to bury the carcass in the church graveyard. Along the way, he found another graveyard. Delighted, he stopped the car and was about to get out when he heard a tapping on his window. When he looked, he saw a young girl with long, stingy black hair and pale, dirty skin standing there.

"Take that carcass elsewhere," she said softly, "for he is not welcome here."

The lad, now as pale as the girl, started the car and drove off, not daring to look back. In time, he came upon yet another graveyard, and anxiously pulled in, hoping to finally be rid of the carcass. However, the first thing he saw was a tall man, as white as a sheet, standing in his way.

"Take that carcass elsewhere," the man said in a voice like crushed stones, "for he is not welcome here."

The lad, stunned now, did as he was told. And so it went on through the night, every graveyard he found, there would be a pale figure not of living waiting for him, and he could not bury the carcass there.

Eventually, the lad, now thoroughly exhausted, could see the first rays of the sun bleeding over the horizon when he came upon yet another graveyard, just outside the town. The first thing he saw was an open grave with a shovel and pile of dirt next to it. Feeling the grip of the carcass go slack, the lad quickly pulled up to it, then hurriedly got out and dumped the rotted thing down unto the ground. Possessed by a demonic speed, the lad grabbed the shovel and began piling the dirt into the grave. As he smoothed the fresh soil gently with his hands, the sun peeked its head into the sky and he realized he was saved.

Returning to his father, the lad declared he would marry the girl. Within a few months he had done so, and lived a long, happy wedded life - though he was always weary of graveyards.