AUTUMN
by William Pauley III
‘twas the second of October
& they were up to their necks
guns, knives, things that gave birth to explosions
strapped to every strap
& the mud on their boots
was more red than brown
as they marched the pawn’s march
through a sea of wet flesh
& with every step
the ground boiled & steamed
as hot gas shifted towards the surface
loose internal organs
[spilled from other soldiers’ torsos]
blossomed from the mud
with every belch
& on occasion
[though outside the realm of this certain Hell
the soldiers would never admit it]
the butchers would not only butcher
but also ingest
for meat was far sweeter
than anything plucked from a vine
even those fetid scraps were divine
when paired with potato & tulip wine
& of the five
not a one
knew where they were
or what to do next
strangers in a strange land
forgotten
even by the country they sacrificed everything to protect
but they knew how to survive
surviving meant killing every creature in their path
so as they marched
they too pummeled
& stabbed
& shot
nothing could compete
though
on the final night
of a three-day squall
the soldiers came upon
new ground
& no longer did their boots
sink deep into mud
no, now they stood firm
on hardened sands
& they rested their eyes
on the shifting black ocean waters
that came crashing upon the edge
of their beautiful country
& they took off their boots
pressed their backs to the earth
& breathed sighing breaths
under the forever starry sky
the moon was a diamond reflecting
the soldiers’ minds were anything but
it wasn’t long before these tired men slept
& once their eyes shut
they were shut a long time
& their dreams
well, they were nothing special at all
but they took them deep
far away from that darkened beach
& for many days
they slept
bodies never stirring
resembling a line of skewered corpses
each a finger on the hot hand of death
& not even an animal came near
not once
in eleven years
peculiar as this may seem
scared, they were!
at not the appearance of these weathered men
but at what they sensed in the cloud of collective breath that
surrounded them
every creature knew
the fate of these slumbering men
belonged to someone else
however
at the beginning of
the eleventh year
the soldiers five
woke all at once
brushing snow & salt
from their eyelids
sand
from their lips
& once their eyes adjusted to the bright
but ominous gray sky
they became focused on a dark figure
haunting the shoreline
standing still
shrouded in black
its robe
licking the air
like a healthy death-swathed flame
“what say you?”
spoke one of the soldiers
& the creature’s response
flashed & sparked
“come with me into this well…”
its words fueled by electricity
then the creature pointed to the shifting
infinite horizon
the same soldier laughed
“why that’s no well, you crooked bat!
where you stand is the edge of the world
& those waters beyond
they ain’t the kind for drinkin’
hell, they ain’t even the kind for swimmin’.”
one of the other soldiers lifted his hand
covered his right eye
& the creature blurred before him
“they say those waters there
belong to one Old Joe Booth.
now, I reckon you wouldn’t know
where we could find that mangy wretch
would you?”
the soldier grinned
the others resisted
the creature said nothing
but its robe flickered
& its bony finger remained
fixated to the sea
"boys…
would you smell that?”
the man continued.
the soldiers instinctively gripped at handles
“I know its been years
but I’ll be damned if that ain’t
the stench of that putrid
rotten
yellah
vapor witch we been chasin’ all these years”
in unison
the men inched ever closer to the figure
“come with me into this well…”
it repeated
the stench of hot electricity
huffed from its mouth
as burning words cooled
& dissipated
becoming one
with the frost of the air
the soldiers
[knowing firsthand
the abilities of this strange beast]
carefully toed the line
between ‘close’ & ‘too close’
as they contemplated
their next move
knowing this bearded witch
was keen on a good mystery
one of the soldiers
stealthily maneuvered
behind the others
knelt
& buried his fist
deep inside the torso of a
festering beached seal
dead for days
the skin of which
tore rather easily
rapidly retracting
like the shrinking latex
of a burst balloon
as his fingers penetrated
just below the ribcage
& a belch of hot, stinking gas billowed
bothering not this cold & hardened soldier
for this was no worse
than having been witness
to the brains of his brethren
blossoming from crushed & leaking skulls
& no worse than drinking his own piss
for inches of time
so the soldier thought nothing
of locking his fingers around
that putrid, still heart
& tugging at it with such force
that the weakened flesh of every branching artery
stretched & snapped
until it was completely separate
from the body
useless & temporary
as the maggots that writhed about inside
would have totally consumed
within hours
had they the chance
but instead
the soldier took this rotten thing
& pushed it into the right cargo pocket of his BDUs
then hissed at the creature
to grab its attention
& at this, the creature moved toward him
blurring & leaving pieces behind
much the same as a cloud
or plume of smoke
until the creature’s hot breath
sick with electricity
was directly upon him
“you will come with me into this well…”
it repeated
though this time
the awful thing
addressed him solely
“now look here”
the soldier started
“we know what you are.
we know what you’ve done.
how you go roamin’ through our land
pluckin’ up the souls of those unlucky bastards
who just happen to cross paths with ya.
young, old.
no matter.
we know you’ve taken children, babies
animals too.”
the creature did not respond
however it seemed to be listening
“& we know your name.
Old Joe Booth.
& notice I say it without a quiver.
know this, beast,
I am not afraid of you.
coward.
we are not afraid of you.”
the creature circled now
around the man as he spoke
& the tail of its robe
wrapped & slithered
& constricted
as if preparing to devour
but the soldier remained
apathetic
“we know this isn’t what you really look like
that you hide
behind skins & cloaks.
smoke & mirrors.
again I say:
coward.”
rattling now
the creature
pushed its face to his
& as if the man hadn’t said a single word
it spoke
“you will come with me into this well…”
& its voice
smelled like flames
fueled by gasoline
the soldiers all laughed
fear did not exist within them
“I’ll tell you what”
the man spoke again
“we’re willin’ to make a deal.
the five of us
we’ll go with you into your well
but only if you agree
to eat everything
inside our pockets.
everything.”
the men snickered
knowing now they had it
right where they wanted
the creature only expelled another round of
hot gas.
“& just so we know exactly who we’re makin’ a deal with
how’s about you go on & show us what you really are?
what you really look like…”
the shore seemed darker now
to the soldiers
as they awaited its response
& at this they knew
twilight was fast approaching
each of their throbbing hearts
rumbled in unison
as the creature
all at once
discarded its flickering robe
tossing it to the rolling wind
immediately evaporating into it
& as the soldiers looked on
they became witness to the creature
in whole
in truth
possibly the first to have ever done so
to see this beast
as the gods intended
naked & hideous
& once revealed
the soldiers were stunned
to see the beast was
without bone
just flesh upon flesh
pale & white
almost translucent
like a tumor without a host
& its face
well, there was almost nothing to it
just holes & slits
like a carving
like dry open wounds
strangely accompanied
by a thick beard of twisted
curling whiskers
all twitching
individually
like a nest of spiders
on what surely was its neck
& nowhere else
& when the beast moved
it only got worse
more unpleasing to the eye
as its limbs were many
impossible to count
& all a range of varying sizes
so as it writhed about on those hardened sands
it was difficult not to focus
on slithering tentacles
or how the ends of them
each resembled a knotted ball of slugs
worm kings
gripping furiously at the earth
& atop its head
sprouted what our soldiers could only assume
were antlers
but more resembled
hardened arteries
fleshy tubes with throbbing branches
dry & flaking
as if in need of amputation
& for a long while
the soldiers could only stare at the beast
to take it in
to process & accept it as truth
then came a parting of the fog
that rolled over the sea
as a rowboat drifted onto the shore
precisely where they stood
seemingly birthed from the
bell black ocean
itself
nearly a foot of water
enveloped the soldiers' boots
as they stepped into it
following the beckoning call
the twisted, summoning gastropod digits of
Old Joe Booth
who was somehow already perched at the bow
in a blink
a flash
despite not a one, of the five
having seen a single tentacle motion
toward the boat
& the evidence
the misplaced sand
the sunken trenches
was nowhere
was nothing
it did not exist.
still, the soldiers did what they did best:
they followed,
without question.
& Old Joe Booth
took them out upon that black ocean water
toward the cooling, tired sun
that was just now submerging
into those same waters
& witnessing this sunset
gave one soldier
a sense of closure
an ending to his story
however, the others thought nothing more of it
than an act of god
& something they’d live to see again
& again
& again
just before the light left their part of the earth
one of the soldiers dug deep inside his pocket
& removed the rotted seal heart
dripping coagulated chunks of blood
& writhing open-mouthed maggots
into the collected pool of ocean water
at their feet
& tossed the gore
with anger
with violence
at the barreled trunk of
Old Joe Booth
& said
"eat it, you bastard."
& without hesitation
the wretch pushed the rotted flesh
between its lips
the longest of the five slits in its face
& gnashed
& gnawed
until every festy gob was swallowed
& nothing but glistening trails of gore
leaking down its cold, unrelenting face
remained
Old Joe Booth,
with its writhing mollusc limbs
acting as ores
rowed the men deep into the night
& stared tirelessly at the surface of the sea
awaiting the next challenge
the next meal
a photograph
carefully removed
from the breast pocket
of the second soldier
was pushed to lips
[a final kiss
goodbye]
then reluctantly handed over
to the horror
to the squirm
& the thing didn't even
take notice of the image that light
had once seared upon it
the faded portrait of a woman & child
a woman who was just as lost inside the night
as this broken-down soldier
& a child who was no longer a child
[her current age escaped him]
an image so dear to the soldier
his hands trembled as he presented it
to the beast
& only seconds later
it had dissolved to mash
on the acid tongue of
Old Joe Booth
& immediately the soldier
began to
forget.
the next man
knew of only one item
resting inside his pocket
but searched feverishly for
something
anything else
for that one item
was perhaps
the only thing
to give meaning to these dark days
for nothing & no one else mattered
to him
but this
sterling silver pocket watch
that once belonged to his beloved
late grandfather
& as he searched
the twenty-some pockets sewn about his tattered uniform
every ticking second seemed to expand
becoming more pronounced
as if to say
"this is the sacrifice.
this is what you'll pay."
& after a minute or so
of batting the ticks away
he finally gave in
& surrendered the artifact
turning his head down
averting his eyes
in the event that his
grandfather was somehow there
still attached to the thing
shame tugged at every nerve
as silver bent
as glass shattered
& wheels & cogs & springs
all popped & shot
under the crushing press
of pocked teeth & calloused gums
unrelenting
this devil's mouth
& the soldier
with his empty pockets
leaned back into the shadows
& light never saw him again.
without delay
almost excitedly
the fourth soldier
retrieved from his own pocket
a hand grenade
of dullish green
the last explosive
in their collective inventory
& his heart raced
feeling the weight
of death
in his hand
anticipating
the gratuitous violence
the shower of minced brain
ejected teeth
& other bits of bone
the gentle mist
of arterial spray
coating his face
& lips
deep red
or whatever color fluid
fueling this caitiff's
mutant heart
this gore fantasy
unfurled slowly
inside the soldier's mind
& as he pulled the pin
from the grenade
he couldn’t help
but to be completely
& utterly
elated
unbridled joy
shaped his every feature
as he gifted the therianthropic mass
this bud of a poison blossom
as a fourth
[penultimate]
offering
upon accepting
Old Joe Booth
spoiled the fun
by swallowing the weapon
& absorbing the turbulence
totally
completely
with nothing but a harsh belch
of black smoke
& the lingering
stench of hot metal
to confirm the grenade
had even gone off at all
fanning the smoke
from his crumbling eyes
the soldier's joy
quickly faded.
the attention then shifted
to the pocket of the fifth
& final soldier
& every eye gawking
[except those belonging to
Old Joe Booth]
already knew
oh, yes
had already known
well before
the game was played
& the stakes were made
hell, they've all known
for eleven years & longer!
exactly what they'd do
with the one object
reflecting now
in each surrounding iris
as it's removed from its holster
& clenched tightly
in the soldier's fist
glowing brilliantly
majestically
in the mist of the
spitting sea
this object was curious
& unknown
even amongst the uniformed men
but they knew what they'd been told
& they were told this object
this mysterious illuminated glass orb
when swallowed
would at once
put an end to the violent reign
of Old Joe Booth
& this, my friends
was the sole purpose for this
morbid game
this alone
was the moment
they had all been
marching toward
& now they only had one
final objective:
to get it down
deep inside
the ghoul.
& just as they'd hoped
Old Joe Booth
took the bait
though
this time the creature paused
& took a moment to study
the glare
the light
the subtle heat emitting
& the soldiers' skin dampened
with cold sweat
worrying the wretch
was too clever
for their rouse
they waited
& waited.
it's all they could do
Old Joe Booth's hot breath
blotted the cool
evening air
& the light of the orb
stuck to it
until it faded to nothing
again
& the soldiers' sweat dripped
pitting the ocean
pooled at their feet
as Joe just sat there
breathing.
then
quick as a blink
the light was
gone.
the bastard did it.
the filthy bastard actually did it.
Old Joe Booth
took the orb
into its festering gullet
& the ribbed flesh lining
the esophagus
spasmed & pulled the thing
until the warmth
was deep inside
the pit
the core
& once there
it began to grow
warmer & warmer
& glow
brighter & brighter
until the heat became so intense
tentacles whipped & writhed
rocking the rickety paddle boat
with such incredible violence
that each of the soldiers five
tumbled backwards
headfirst into
the unlit
sea.
& at this
the soldiers knew
the end was nigh
but still they quivered
& squirmed
their way back to the surface
for one
final
satisfying vision
the boat creaked
until it splintered
& split
& before long
it was nothing
but debris
still
every writhing tentacle
gripped pieces of the wreckage
tightly
at every end
& each took turns
slapping the boards
against the hard edge
of the rolling
waters
until they too
disintegrated to slivers
& Old Joe Booth
desperate to cool
its blistered insides
finally opened
its whimpering maw
& dove deep into
the black heart of the abyss
taking with it
the sight
of the soldiers five
seeing
only darkness now
at every turn
though it wasn't long
before the ocean sighed
for Old Joe Booth
torpedoing into it
was like a needle
piercing the skin
a razor into the wrist
gravel against bone
so the waters too
now writhed
& twisted in knots
around every pulsing tentacle
flittering behind
the speeding barreled
bullet torso of
Joe Booth
going down
& as the waters
coiled
the swallowed orb
white hot with blistering
blinding light
began to sweat
toxic acid
& organ flesh boiled
bubbled & steamed
until every beam of light
was so sharp with heat
that it extended
through & beyond
the flesh
the body
of Old Joe Booth
& the light was so bright
so fantastic
that the bobbing soldiers
transitioned from blind
to blind again
& Old Joe Booth
metamorphosed into a pulsating
radiating
brilliant star
deep inside an ocean
of pure dark
a moment of intense
cosmic beauty
that is,
until it wasn't.
for only seconds later
the body of that ancient wretch
erupted
boiled & burst
until Old Joe Booth was nothing
but steaming fleshy bits
streaming through
empty walls
of salt water
& nothing more.
the light was gone now
& gone, it remained.
the soldiers wept in darkness.
"I reckon we did what we
came to do,"
one soldier said
breaking the silence
the other four
said nothing.
"& I reckon we've lived
just about as long as we'll live too."
& at that exact moment
when the words escaped his lips
his fingertips brushed upon
brick
concrete
some type of solid
man-made surface
& although he could not see it
his gut still trembled
with hope
at the thought of living
beyond mere hours
he shouted at the others
& they waded towards
his beckoning call
until they too
came upon this curious
architecture
& they pulled themselves up onto it
holus bolus
until all five were standing tall
amongst the crashing waves
on this impossible
slab of stone
formed inexplicably
there
in the heart of the
bell black ocean
the men used their
military training
to explore the platform
& did so on all fours
like an animal
[though unlike any belonging
to the sea]
& on their bellies
they discovered the surface
to be level
a complete square
that took several minutes to walk
the full length of its edges
it was perfect
& without a doubt
constructed to be just so
& although the presence of this platform
[the sheer impossibility of it]
disturbed these men to no end
even more curious
was what these men
found at its center:
a portal
[seemingly]
a perfectly round hole
just wide enough for any of them
to slip down inside
though they dared not
press their luck
for upon this discovery
a sulfuric wind
soured the air around them
& the five assumed
the origin of this
putrid stench
lingered somewhere
deep down inside
this mystery hole
& they bickered
about the many things
they each thought it could
be.
but every one of them
were wrong.
the source of this sour stench
was all around them
& closing in.
had they known
the gore
the blown apart pieces
of Old Joe Booth
[yes, every bloody bit]
was still writhing with life
inside those surrounding waters
no doubt the soldiers five
would never have stepped
outside the salty ocean
for the job
was not finished
& had they known too
that those slivers of gore
had all mutated
transformed
& taken on a new life
each becoming
skinless human skulls
with protruding crab legs
& pinchers
[more than fifty of these beasts
in total]
[nightmares
even for the wicked sea]
yes, had the men known this
surely they would not
have been so quick
to turn their backs
to the sea.
it didn't take long
for these new Joe Booths
to sniff the men out
nor for their newborn
crustacean [arachnid] legs
to paddle their way
to the platform
[as the soldiers once called it]
to the well
[as Old Joe Booth once called it]
the soldiers realized their mistake
only after there was no time left
to correct it
only after
the tide brought in the swarm
only after
the pecking of each of their limbs
tapping furiously against damp concrete
drowned out
even the incessant howling
of the trade winds
only after
the air became sick
with electricity
the soldiers each turned to face the ocean
& saw nothing.
smelling salt
sulfur
hot electricity
& tasting the same.
the men were tired.
so when these little thieves
grabbed ahold & moved them
violently through the night
for once in their lives
the soldiers five
did not
put up a fight.
instead
they went deep
deep
into the well
the tower
some hideous space
& light
never saw them again.
Autumn
© William Pauley III, 2023
All rights reserved.
Storytime: "AUTUMN"