Humans Can Lick Too
By: Ashley Johnson
Tonight was Greg's turn to tell a
ghost story. Greg was the oldest kid at the campground and always had
to remind everyone of this fact. He wasn't very smart, so he tried to
make up for it by taking advantage of the
younger kids.
Greg held a piece of paper in the
fire and watched it burn in his fingers. As the fire slowly spread, he
only released his grip when the fire was merely centimeters from his
flesh.
"This girl, Kristen Adams, who's
in my English class told me this story about her grandma. It's really
scary, so if you kiddies don't think you can handle it, you should
leave now. Seriously. No wimps tonight," Greg looked around the fire,
waiting a moment for anyone to leave, and then nodded his head.
"Well, Kristen's grandma had this
dog named Duke. He was basically her best friend since her husband had
died a few years earlier...."
Mrs. Adams
loved her dog, Duke, for he was always there for her, especially when
she needed him most. Ever since Mr. Adams had passed away, Mrs. Adams
had become increasing scared of the dark. Her fear became so intense
that she had trained Duke to lay by the side of her bed and
reassuringly lick her hand whenever she woke up frightened in the night.
The night of
October 13th was like any other night. Mrs. Adams said her prayers,
kissed Duke goodnight, and crawled into her large, comfortable bed.
Mrs. Adams
awoke around 11:45, not from her own fear, but because she could have
sworn she heard Duke whimper. Mrs. Adams reached down to the side of
her bed to find Duke as usual. He licked her hand and Mrs.
Adams sighed
and fell back asleep.
At 11:59 Mrs.
Adams awoke again to the sound of Duke's whimpering. However after
reaching down for him again, his whimpering ceased as he reassuringly
licked her hand.
Mrs. Adams
awoke for a final time at 12:16. She was positive that Duke had yelped,
however, he again licked her hand when she reached down for him.
"What a crazy
old lady I am," Mrs. Adams thought as she rolled back on her side and
fell asleep once more.
Mrs. Adams'
alarm rang at 7 a.m. the next morning. She could hear a faint dripping
noise coming from the front of the house.
"First I think
I hear Duke yelping and now I have left the faucet on all night long,"
Mrs. Adams thought. "I AM going batty!"
Mrs. Adams
pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom where she
slowly opened the door.
As she gazed
into the brightly lit bathroom, Mrs. Adams soon discovered that she had
thought incorrectly--she was not in fact going crazy in her old age.
Her discovery though did not bring a sense of relief, but instead a
sickening horror.
Hanging from
his tail in the shower was Duke. His dark blood slowly dripped down
into the bathtub. Drip, drip, drip. He had been brutally murdered.
Mrs. Adams
shrieked in disgust and terror and turned to the counter to brace
herself. Gulping for air, she slowly looked up into the mirror.
Written in
hasty, bright red letters created by a finger were the revolting words:
HUMANS
CAN LICK TOO
Mrs. Adams
fainted on the spot. She was not discovered in her home until four
hours later when her daughter, Kristen's mom, came over for lunch.
"The intruder who had killed Duke
was never caught and Mrs. Adams refused to ever live alone again," Greg
finished with an odd expression on his face.
Elizabeth's insides turned over.
That poor dog, that poor old lady!
She looked to the faces of the
others and could tell that similar thoughts filled their heads.
"Well, this is it then," Nick
suddenly said after a few minutes of silence. "Tomorrow we all pack up
and go back home."
A depressed silence overcame the
group as they all stared into the orange flames.
Elizabeth felt a sadness creep
over her as she thought of returning to school, to real life. She
always hated leaving the campground, her friends, and her sense of
freedom. There was always something sad and deflating about watching
the adults crank down the pop-ups and fold up the tents. The circle of
chairs would be removed from around the campfires and the spot that
used to be full of such life would be reduced to a lonely mound of
ashes.
All of these thoughts ran through
Elizabeth's head as she stared into the dying fire.
"But you know," Nick continued as
a grin spread across his face. "I think I saw the 'Slab People' up to
something earlier. I think they are definitely in need of a good spying
on..."
Elizabeth perked up and smiled at
Nick. Kathy let out a laugh and the younger kids stood up, excited.
Suddenly, tomorrow didn't seem to
matter much anymore. A spying mission was quickly being formed as Nick
began dividing the kids into teams.
Elizabeth smiled and felt at home.
What could those Slab People be
doing this time?
Author's
Note:
I was
unsure about which story to write for my final storybook entry this
week.
There is a particular ghost story that I used to hear when I was young,
but I could not find a retelling or any information about it on the
internet, so I went with this one instead.
I think this particular urban
legend is especially scary and gruesome because it involves a dog. Dogs
are usually viewed as family members and their owners become very
attached to them. I think it is this universal connection and love for
animals that makes this story so incredibly scary and sad.
Bibliography:
"Humans Can Lick
Too"
Halloween Web:
Where Things Go Bump in the Night (No Author Provided)
Weblink
Image Info:
"Bedroom"
GettyImages
(Search:
"Dark Bedroom")
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