Things Withered (34 page)
Authors: Susie Moloney
MR. PETERSON
Hey kid --
He is cut off in mid-sentence when he sees the dog.
Stewart stands still and expressionless at the fence as if waiting for Peterson to come out, to come close.
MR. PETERSON (CONT’D)
(softer, unsure)
You better go in, kid. It’s late.
Peterson closes the door, but watches. Stewart doesn’t move.
INT. PETERSON’S KITCHEN -- CONTINUOUS
Peterson stands at his door, uncertain.
ARIA (O.S.)
Stewart, time to come in --
Peterson listens as the Lefler door opens and closes.
He looks at his clock and sees that it is 11:30. Much too late for a kid to be up.
INT. THE LEFLER LIVING ROOM -- LATER
Aria and Stewart are on the sofa in their living room. They are watching their movie, “Witness” about a weird son and his weird mother.
STEWART
Mom, is John Book real?
ARIA
No.
STEWART
I wish he was.
Outside the dog starts barking. The two of them look at each other, then back at the TV.
The dog continues to bark. Stewart snuggles under his mother’s arm. Head to head they watch the TV.
EXT. PETERSON’S BUNGALOW -- MOMENTS LATER
DOG BARKS
The lights come on in the Peterson house.
MR. PETERSON (O.S.)
After midnight for chrissakes --
Peterson leaves his house by the front door, in robe and slippers, storming to Aria’s house.
INT. ARIA LEFLER’S BUNGALOW -- CONTINUOUS
There is a loud banging on the door.
STEWART
Should I pause it?
ARIA
Better.
She rises and opens the door. Peterson is on the stoop, bed head, mad as hell.
MR. PETERSON
For the love of god, it’s after midnight, your dog is barking like the hound from bloody hell –- I can’t take much more of this --
ARIA
Calm down, Todd.
MR. PETERSON
Calm down!? You’re the worst neighbour on the street! Your yard is a disgusting mess, toys everywhere, grass like a goddamn jungle, lose a goddamn Buick, your dog barking at all hours of the goddamn --
ARIA
Hey! Language. I got a kid in here --
MR. PETERSON
And what the hell is that kid doing up!?
(shakes his finger at her)
You do something about that dog right now --
ARIA
All right. Wipe the spit off your chin.
There is a break in the conversation and they note the dog is no longer barking.
ARIA (CONT’D)
There. He stopped.
Peterson appears to want to say more, but is so angry and frustrated he simply shakes his finger at her again. He turns and walks angrily away from the house.
MR. PETERSON
(under his breath)
... Goddamn Buick ...
INT. THE LEFLER LIVING ROOM -- CONTINUOUS
Aria sits down on the couch. The movie is paused. Stewart is looking at her.
STEWART
I’m hungry.
ARIA
(nods with conviction)
Okay.
INT. THE LEFLER KITCHEN -- MOMENTS LATER
Stewart is clearing books and papers from the table in preparation for dinner. He puts a table cloth down -- plastic -- and some napkins, etc.
Aria is washing her hands in the kitchen sink.
STEWART
Do we know any cops?
ARIA
No. Wash your hands, ok?
Aria dries her hands. She is looking out into the yard.
Stewart leaves the kitchen, Aria goes out into the back.
INT. THE LEFLER BATHROOM -- MOMENTS LATER
Stewart is washing his hands.
A LAWNMOWER STARTS
He dries his hands.
STEWART
(singing)
“Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they’re a modern, stone-aged famileee --
EXT. PETERSON’S BACK YARD -- CONTINUOUS
THE SOUND OF A LAWN MOWER RUNNING
The back door to the Peterson’s house flings open, and Mr. Peterson stands there staring out into the dark.
He is beyond angry. He is the neighbour from hell.
He stomps again over to the Leflers’, this time using the gate to go in the back yard.
MR. PETERSON
This is the last straw --
He stomps up to the lawn mower only to find it lonely and abandoned, motor running, in the middle of the Lefler backyard.
MR. PETERSON (CONT’D)
What the hell?
INT. THE LEFLER KITCHEN -- CONTINUOUS
Stewart and Aria watch through the kitchen window.
EXT. THE LEFLER BACK YARD -- CONTINUOUS
Peterson is at the back door. He bangs. Aria calls out, sing-songy.
ARIA
Come in!
Peterson pushes his way through the door and into the kitchen.
MR. PETERSON
You better have an explanation for --
Aria, Stewart and Tansy stand in the kitchen. They greet Peterson.
ARIA
Hello Todd.
Aria and Stewart smile, revealing the teeth of the vampire.
Peterson opens his mouth to scream.
It doesn’t get that far. They are on him.
EXT. PLEASANT AVE. A NICE SUBURBAN STREET – NIGHT
The lights go out in the Lefler bungalow.
The sun rises on suburbia.
Somewhere, a lawnmower starts up.
THE END
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The stories in this collection were written over a number of years. I have been blessed over those years to have many friends and colleagues who have inspired, read, critiqued, grimaced at, and encouraged these stories and others. They have also provided research, desktops, tabletops, bucolic settings, food, drink, laughs, and unwavering support. In no order at all, they are: Vern Thiessen, Armin Wiebe, Josh Rioux, Dawn Cumming, John Hudson, Rick Wagner, Carmit Levite, Donna Carreiro, Sam Mollard, Andris Taskins, Billie Livingston, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Laurence Steven, Anne Collins, Jared Moore, Stephen King, Dan Lazar, Janis Rosen, Steve George, Jeani Rector, Peter Halasz, and my Auntie Joannie. I would also like to thank Sandra Kasturi for her dedication in the editing of these stories.
REVIOUSLY
P
UBLISHED
“The Audit” was originally published in the horror anthology,
A Feast of Frights
, published by The Horror Zine, April 2012, California.
“Sown,” published here as “Reclamation on the Forest Floor,” was originally published in the horror anthology,
Campus Chills
, edited by Mark Leslie. Stark Publishing, October 2009, Hamilton.
“I (heart) Dogs,” was originally published in the Canadian literary periodical, “Prairie Fire,” Volume 30, No. 1, Spring 2009, Manitoba.
BOUT
THE
A
UTHOR
Susie Moloney is the award-winning, bestselling author of
Bastion Falls
,
A Dry Spell
,
The Dwelling
and
The Thirteen
. Her short fiction has appeared in journals, anthologies and magazines. She lives with her husband, playwright Vern Thiessen, and a blind dog named Scrappy.
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