DOODOOCACA
Sunshine Farm A Short Story by Amanda Landry It rained. The cold, pouring rain drenched everything within a 5-mile radius; the old estate, the large cemetery across the street, and the long lonely road that served as the only way to escape the dismal, solitary place deemed Sunshine Farm, though there were no documents stating a farm ever having been there, nonetheless the happy feeling towards it that the name suggested. Perhaps the owners named it thusly in hope that things would brighten up - to no avail. It seemed as if the place had been this dark since the beginning of time. The place, with its forbidding atmosphere and rumors of murderers and ghosts, had attracted many people, teenaged rebels looking for a place to smoke to people looking for a place to spruce up, which is exactly what had happened. A young man, dimwitted but fairly attractive, had inherited the place from his parents in their will, after they had disappeared while fixing up the Manor. They never finished and Stuart, their son, didn’t mind as he needed a place to live. So after the search party had given up on ever finding the old couple, he moved right in. Of course, at that time there were no beds or furniture, so he invited two friends of his to come live with him; men by the names of David Hobbs and Michael Murdoch. Once the two had moved in, the house had gained new furniture; beds, a kitchen table, chairs, lamps, posters, stereo systems, a 27-inch TV and even a family... a deranged family, but a family nonetheless. Even with his new companions, Stuart was still lonely. Michael was often at bars, working what little of a charm he was able to muster on the ladies (and often bringing one home), and David was usually either with him or alone in his room, listening to his collection of old school hip-hop. So in a final desperation, he visited an adoption agency and befriended a 13-year-old Japanese girl named… actually, he didn’t get her name. The girl knew but one English word, so he decided to call her that: Fork. The two became fast friends, and were always together playing video games, watching zombie movies, just going for a ride, anything. And Stuart thought as Fork more as a friend than a daughter. She was the only one in the house that really took to liking him. Day after day, the house grew warmer - more like a home now that it ever was before. Michael was often seen strolling about the old cemetery alone, looking over the graves. He found it rather strange that all of the graves dated from before June, 1867 yet the ground looked as if it had recently been dug up. Grave robbers, perhaps? He didn’t think so. Being a very superstitious man, he quickly passed it off as vampirism, so after a week he had acquired several thorn bushes and planted them over the most suspicious-looking burial sites. After doing so he felt a bit more secure, having just done what the ancients did to ensure that their dead would not crave blood, rise from the grave and begin attacking the villages. And still, nothing happened to break up the ‘family’. The house was never repaired, though, and smelled faintly of death and alcohol, a smell that had been there as long as Stuart could remember, even back when his parents had bought the place. He still feared that their bodies were out there, but wasn’t about to go searching. He was fine where he was, without dead corpses. Meanwhile two bodies decayed silently in the attic above the dining room, bony hands still clutching butcher knives that used to fight off whatever had ultimately killed them. Of course, the current residents had noticed that it smiled, but the door leading up to the basement was locked and showed no sign of ever giving up it’s firm hold. It grew nearer to Halloween of that year, and everyone in the house was excited, but none as much as Stuart and Fork, who’s plan included cuddling up on the ripped sofa in front of the TV and watching as many zombie flicks as they could squeeze into one night. They’d have the entire house to themselves, which would be especially creepy. The other two residents were more excited about beer and women up at their usual bar. Two long weeks crept by slowly as an ill turtle, and the now-sunny outdoors was slowly changing back into it’s usual black-and-darkess. Another thing happened during this time... The date of Stuart Albarn’s parent’s disappearance was going to be exactly two years ago on Halloween of that year. Finally, Halloween night came, and both Michael and David took off in the only car the roommates owned to a town nearly half an hour away, leaving stuart and Fork to fend for themselves if anything happened. It was only 6: 00 pm and they were on the sofa, attacking bowls of macaroni-and-cheese as the previews before the zombie movie they were about to watch rolled, advertising other bad horror flicks that neither of them had heard of. During said movie, they mowed down on candy they had bought in hopes that children would wander down the road, but none had came, and as it began to thunder outdoors, they didn’t think any would. Presently they were fighting over the last tootsie-pop, which popped out of their fighting hands and flew through the room, hitting the T.V. then resting on the shag carpet below. With a glare, Fork murmered in broken English “You get it.” Stu stuck out his tongue and got off the scratchy couch, then turned back to his companion, “If I get it, then I get to eat it, right?” And growled as the small Japanese girl jumped before him, grabbed the lolipop and before ripping off the wrapper, poped it into her mouth, which was now curved into a sadistic smile.