John sits on a bus, listening to children on board sing, “Jesus Loves The Little Children.” He doesn’t know why, but he feels withdrawn, and doesn’t want anyone close, as if he feels guilty. But of what? He’s done nothing wrong that he can recall. He takes care of his parish and does his job every day, at which he’s good. There's no reason for guilt, yet this feeling remains...
Suddenly, a girl in the seat in front of him has turned around and is staring at him. She isn’t like the other children on the bus, the ones singing. She is pale and dirty; her white Sunday dress ripped at the shoulder; her sandy hair tangled and matted despite her headband. She doesn’t smile, simply stares.
John smiles at her, but gets none in return. “Hello. What’s your name?”
He has an awful feeling he knows what she is going to say, and feels his stomach sink when she asks, “Do you believe in God?”
He doesn’t want to answer, but he finds himself unable to lie to this child. Uneasily, he says, “I don’t know anymore.”
As if this answer has sealed her fate, the girl’s eyes widen with horror before they disappear into empty sockets. Her face turns gray, then seems to shimmer and run together, as if about to drip from her chin. Her hideous toothless mouth opens, but instead of words, out comes a hideous blackness that engulfs everything around her, including John himself. He falls, screaming, into the darkness.
John suddenly awakens, panting. It was all a dream. He sits up on the side of the bed and looks around. The walls are white, and the door has a small window. He stands to look, when the door opens... and in walks the little girl; torn dress, pale face, hair tangled.
He screams, “Stay away!”
The girl asks, “Do you believe in God?”
John squeezes his eyes shut and begins to cry.
Outside, two men in blue scrubs watch him through the window. One, Paul, asks, “What’s wrong with him?”
The other, Jack, replies, “That’s the former Father Belmont. He’s riding the bus during a storm, bus hits a child. Kills her instantly. It wasn’t his fault, but he was on the bus, so I guess that’s all he needed. He blames himself, questions his faith, quit the priesthood. But then he starts having these dreams, delusions. He sees that little girl. She punishes him, but it’s really him, punishing himself. It could be guilt over her her death, or for losing his religion. Therapy suggests both.”
Paul shakes his head.
With a blank expression, Jack asks, “Do you believe in God?”
Paul looks at the former priest, then, feeling it safer to do so, lies: “Yes.”
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The Green Man, by Roy Hudson
During the annual Harvest Fair, a pendant caught Keith's eye. The leafy face it depicted was labeled, "The Green Man." He read the attached card. "The Green Man represents growth in the spring as rebirth, and as such has become a symbol of life after death." Being a writer, he felt that would make a great story; unfortunately, he would not live to write it.
Keith died in a car accident just days later, leaving behind a sister, Candace.
During Keith's wake, a strange woman approached Candace. She had a dark beauty, but her foreign dress struck Candace as odd, especially for a wake. Trying to avoid eye contact, the stranger introduced herself as Esmeralda. “I sold a pendant to your brother a few days ago. There is no easy way to say this, but... can you tell me if the chain I see around his neck is attached to the Green Man?"
"Yes, why?"
"I would like to have it back. I'd be happy to return the money he paid."
"If it's all the same to you, ma'am, my brother was a writer. He loved his muses. He never had a chance to write that Green Man story, and I feel it's only right to bury him with it."
Esmeralda seized Candace's wrist. "No, you can’t do that. If he's buried with it... come springtime, he’ll be unable to rest."
Candace jerked out of Esmeralda's grip. "I don't appreciate you grabbing me. You have no right to ask for it back. Get out of here before I call the police."
Esmeralda seemed to shrink as she backed out of the parlor, never prying her eyes from Keith's body.
After an uneventful funeral, months went by as Candace tried to adjust to her brother's death.
March 20th marked Keith's first birthday underground. Candace brought flowers to the cemetery, only to see that Keith already had a visitor. Huge mounds of dirt sat on either side of the grave. When Candace peeked into the open hole, she saw Esmeralda straddling the open casket. Keith looked as he had the day he died. Candace paid little mind to this as she reached for the gun in her purse. Esmeralda reached under Keith's shirt and pulled the pendant from its chain, which only infuriated Candace further. With no warning shot, Candace fired into the grave, hitting Esmeralda in the chest. With seconds to live, Esmeralda slipped the pendant into her mouth, swallowed, and died.
Candace screamed as she watched Keith's face decompose before her eyes. If the pendant had kept Keith fresh for months after his death, what would it do inside Esmeralda? Candace now believed in the Green Man's ability to restore life after death, which only meant that a grisly fate awaited her. Crying, Candace put the gun to her own head and fired.
Before long, a hand emerged from the open grave, holding a freshly plucked bullet.
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April Food, by Roy Hudson
I watched the truck park outside. Two men got out. I knew the driver; with him was a stranger.
The driver sniffed. "Ah! Smells like someone's grilling."
The stranger took advantage of April Fool's Day. "How do you know what someone grilling smells like?"
The driver replied, "’Cause I prepare the meat," and buried a cleaver in the man's face.
I bet he didn't find the punch-line amusing. He didn't taste funny, either.