“Agggggggggghhhhh, what is that”?
shrieked Jill.
“its my new pet mouse mum” replied Bryan
in a surprised open mouthed kind of way
“well I want it out of the house now Bryan Harris !
Your not having any pets, I told you” countered Jill
“filthy mouse at that” she added turning her back at a shocked and disappointed looking Bryan before making her way up stairs.
Bryan took his new friend and sat down for a moment to gather his thoughts and spoke to the mouse telling it softly and reassuringly that things would be ok in the wild sobbing softly to himself before placing the suprisingly calm house mouse back in the garden.
Later that day Bryan found himself in his usual footy kit walking down to his local park when he noticed something move beneath him. He had kicked something small and something that was`nt ment to be kicked ,It was a small mouse ,and a dead one at that! Bryan bent down (being his curious self) and took a closer look and instantly recognised this particular mouse as being the one he had let loose this very morning!
“ I killed it “ cried Bryan “I killed the mouse” he screamed.
Now Bryan usually being the calm collected type (especially at 15 years old) found it strange himself that he had just screamed at the top of his voice in the middle of the street complaining about a dead mouse, so much so that he failed to notice the in coming speeding car which he was about to encounter head first.
“Damn that hurt” mumbled Bryan “wow the light is bright, what`s this room? where the hell am I? ,who are you“? wondered Bryan as he felt himself pass out.
Things were only gonna go down hill for Bryan from now on.
* * * * * *
“1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 yup 10 fingers! I must be ok”? thought Bryan,
“ why do I feel like this?”
“Like… well nothing really, damn what just happened”?
Right now was proberly the most confusing moment of his life, not sure what had happened (if anything at all) just now? Nothing made sense, he was lying on the pavement near the park
“hmm maybe I tripped and hit me head or something?” he wondered.
Just then he felt something moving in his pocket. Bryan reached then
“OUCH shit!”
He gasped as he pulled a bleeding finger from his trouser with a small brown mouse hanging for all it was worth by it`s teeth!
“Hey I know you” shouted Bryan “I saw you dead, I killed you”
Now Bryan was really confused, he was sure he saw that same mouse dead under his feet just now but sure enough now it was swinging off of his finger!
Bryan pulled the mouse off then threw it to the floor and watched as it scurried off into a crack in the curb and disappeared.
“Right think I`ll give footy a miss, I`m going home” So off he trotted.
* * * * * *
“Man I`m getting tired real quick” puffed Bryan,
“hey what`s this? Am I dreaming? My feet feel like there being pulled down, hey ….”?
Bryan looked down and saw what appeared to be the concrete beneath him beginning to soften and swirl around his feet like two mini whirlpools of asphalt sucking him in untill he felt him self flung across the pavement landing in the front lawn of , yes it was home!
“Mum mum, where are you mum?” cried Bryan
picking himself off the floor , really scared by now.
Everything was real quiet and the front door of his house was open “mum” he called again slowly pushing the door open scanning the hall way for signs of his mother but nothing, it was quiet, too quiet.
He felt a tap on his shoulder, he span round , nothing!
He span back again
“hey mum there you are!”
“Damn why is that door open” she seemed to say and walked towards Bryan.
“mum it was open when I go…t here…. Uh hey mum”
Bryan watched as his mother seemed to totally ignore him and walk straight by, shut the door then walk back up the hall and shut herself in the lounge.
He just asumed he must be in her bad books still after bringing the mouse home so decided to appologise properly and entered the lounge to see his mother in floods of tears.
“hey mum what`s wrong?” No answer,
“mum your scaring me, tell me whats up , I`m sorry about the mouse and all but it could`nt of upset you this much surely”?
Still no answer. She got up and walked out on him yet again muttering how cold she now was and went upstairs.
Bryan lived alone with his mum seen as his dad vanished when he was younger, written off for dead after two weeks! Just upped and disappeared after a row with his wife Jill. Bryan was around 5 when this happened so only vaguely remembers his father, just that he was a strong man but also looked after him, proberly so much he forgot about his wife and they drifted apart. Bryan always kept an open mind about his father despite what his mother might tell him Sometimes but he loved her dearly and usually did as he was told.
Bryan took a seat and began to weep uncontrollably when he noticed what appeared to be his mouse pop his nose around the corner, yes it was . The mouse scurried upto Brian and climbed up onto his worn trainer and sat staring
Into Bryans eyes, piercing deep into him, it seemed to want something? The mouse hopped off and scurried around the corner to the foot of the stairs and appeared to beckon Bryan to climb, so Bryan being the curious type did just that.
At the top he could hear his mother crying still so decided to move closer to her room. He peered closely through a crack in the door and saw his mother sat on the bed holding one hand to her head and in the other , a picture frame and what looked like a load of glass around her feet! Bryan instantly recognised the picture, it was one of his dad and himself and a football presentation evening together.
Bryan had won the title in the under fives at his old first school ,Beach Head Primary. He still had the trophy, he treasured it, because it was weeks before his dad disappeared without a trace.
Bryan felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see what would turn him whiter than white! The figure, human in shape standing at least 7ft in the air dressed in torn black rags with big leather gloves and huge black leather boots with all kinds of buckles and chains trailing from them stood over him with a small mouse in its pocket, Bryans mouse.
The figure spoke with a deep crackly voice addressing himself as Sorrow and declared that Bryan had something to do! Now Bryan had collapsed to the floor in sock and was absolutely terrorfied! He could`nt move an inch, he couldn’t even see a face on this guy let alone take in what he was telling him. The ghostly character stomped off down the stairs , dragging his chains dropping some thing on the floor. Bryan went over to investigate.
A piece of paper, an address and a photo, what could this be? Bryan dusted off the photo and saw a picture of .. He gasped , it was the one his mother was just holding! He spun round and peered back at his mums room, she was gone , the glass gone, the picture frame gone, it all gone!
The address read 232 Bromshole drive,Debbinton Hill,Karraghsborough. Bryan knew Debbington Hill only slightly, he had played there before, he was sure of it,a long bus journey but could be worse. He gathered himself and decided to pick himself up and walked out house in search of something he had no idea about!
“A picture of me and my dad, an address, my mum ignoring me, The character from the house, the mouse ,what exactly is going on?”
Boarding the bus proved even stranger than normal, he was barged out the way getting on and the driver did`nt even wince so he just stepped on ,he had a months pass any how if he asked.
The whole journey took at least twenty minutes although Bryan hardly noticed as he was took confused and scared to notice or care about time.
Stepping off he noticed Bromshole Drive was the next road off the left so took a deep breath and strolled on ever closer to ,well he was`nt quite sure but was determined to find out , after the “man” from back home said he had something to do, was this it?
232 Bromshole Drive, this was it, the door was open and a cat sat in the drive staring as Bryan entered the garden.
“Hello ,any one home?” yelled Bryan
No reply ,he tried calling again , still no reply.
Bryan decided to sit on the wall and wait for someone.
An hour passed and no one, why the door open then ?
Too many questions for Bryan for one day so he decided to wait a little longer.
Soon after a car pulled into the drive, a tall slim pretty blond girl got out and scratched her head as she wondered herself why her door was open? The women walked inside and all of a sudden Bryan felt a strong gust of wind followed by a loud scream!
Bryan stood straight up and several people from down the street stepped out the house to see what the noise was?
Two minutes later a police vehicle pulled up followed by an ambulance. The crew rushed inside and about 2 minutes later came out with a stretcher. Bryan gasped, another gust of wind and the sheet covering the body flicked away from covering the face.
“Dad” Bryan questioned himself , it was. “Daaaaaaaaaad”.