Gift from the Red Man

What do naughty children get for Christmas? Tricks, coal, and a visit from the Red Man...

Pitter pattering of boots crunches in the thick white blanket, pants and gasps muffled beneath the dense snowfall. A quick glance behind, then a paranoid double-take. Little Sophie sprinted down the vacant street as fast as her feet could take her. Her blue winter dress had made her warm during her run, too warm, and she was beginning to sweat. Her cinnamon twintails fluttered behind her, and her bottle green eyes darted from the path before her to the space behind her. Her body ached and she yearned to stop, to take a break, to be able to turn around and go home, but she could not stop.

Her mother told her, but she did not listen. Her mother warned her that, even with Christmas only a day away, children that choose to be naughty will be punished. Sophie only wanted to go outside to play, to gaze upon the first flurries of the snowfall, but her mother forbade it. Nothing will happen to me, Sophie thought, disobeying her mother and sneaking outside to the front yard quietly. Not ten minutes later, Sophie spotted a red figure in the distance. She stared at it for a moment, then she froze as if the cold had gotten to her very core. The man in red began to approach her, slowly at first, but then at a quicker pace.

Sophie hesitated, maybe the man wasn’t so bad after all? He looked like a nice man, in a red suit, just like Santa Claus. “Santa?” She called out after a moment. The man slowed to a stop, then smiled. “Santa!” Sophie made a beeline for the man, but slipped onto her back as she came to a halt. The man’s kind smile turned wicked, and a rusty blade now rested within his grasp. Sophie scrambled up and took a quick glance at her home. No, if mother caught her outside, she’d be grounded for a month for violating the rules. And Sophie was a quick little thing anyways, she could escape the man no problem. She took off in the opposite direction, planning to circle the neighborhood then slip back inside before her mother realized she was missing.

It had been an hour now. An hour of endless running, and Sophie had completely lost her way trying to avoid the man. He made sure she was always just within his sight so she could not escape. Her legs trembled, pulsed, burned, throbbed, nearly about to give out, to send Sophie tumbling to the ground. Tears dripped from her eyes as she pulled herself beneath a flickering street light. A house was in the distance, with lights visible through the windows. It didn’t matter now, but Sophie wished that somebody, anybody, would save her from this nightmare.

***

“Momma, who is the Red Man?” Sophie asked, pointing to a picture book with two men dressed in red suits. One was fat and jolly, the other was average and sinister.

“Well, if Santa gives good little boys and girls presents, the Red Man punishes the naughty children.” Her mother spoke confidently of this little fairy tale that parents told their children to warn them not to misbehave.

“What does the Red Man do to bad kids?” Sophie asked in a small voice, frightened.

Her mother chuckled, “Why, he puts coal in their stockings and tricks in their presents.” She patted her daughter on the head, “As long as you’re a good child, the Red Man won’t come to visit.”

“Okay momma! I’ll be good so I can get presents from Santa!”

***

Sophie reached out her little gloved hand, but it was too late. Her legs refused to move any further and she collapsed into the snow. She sobbed loudly, hoping someone nearby could hear her. The Red Man approached her slowly, raising the knife to his face. “Momma!! Momma!” Sophie dug her hands into the snow and attempted to crawl away, shouting for the comfort of her mother’s arms. However, her calls erupted into screams as the knife met her body, then the dark street fell silent. Only the soft hush of the wind twisting about the snowflakes could be heard beneath the chuckles of the Red Man.

***

♪~Who’s been a naughty child?

Who’s made the naughty list?

He has! She has!

Better hurry, better run

The Red Man will come

To bathe in your blood

He’ll hunt you down, he’ll never stop

Hide in the cabinets

Hide under the covers

It doesn’t matter!

The Red Man is always watching

The Red Man will find you~♪

***

An excited little boy, with unkempt black hair and teal eyes, rushed down the stairs of his cozy home. His mother followed behind, camera in hand, preparing to capture her precious boy’s excited little face as he tears open his presents. He leapt for the pile of gifts beneath the shining tree, picking one out with a blue wrapping paper with glittering snowflakes. “What did Santa bring you, Billy?” His mother asked, kneeling beside him. He removed a strange, stringy, brown ribbon from the box and tore off the paper. It was an opaque plastic container. His eyes widened as he ripped off the lid, met with the colors of Christmas. As the smell of meat from the kitchen’s oven wafted by his nose, he stared down into a box filled to the brim with blood, two little green eyes staring back up at him.

*Gasp*

Author's Note

Written for the "Annual Short Story Competition" hosted by John Basscox ^_^

I really wanted to submit something for this, but I've been having a writer's block on my shoulder for a while now. I didn't have any inspiration until I found some creepy song on Youtube and decided to write a horror story that's Christmas themed. It's a bit short, so I hope I got the point of the story across.

Reviews

[Levi Levin]

You did a great job. It will make the finals for the judges to vote on. Great job! 100/100

[Nyssa Nyx]

Thank you very much ^_^