Children of the Popcorn

Young couple drive to a country town only to find it deserted except for it's children who have formed a bizaar cult based around worshiping popcorn.

Braidville, a small town in NSW (New South Wales) was dead quiet on Saturday morning.  Kyle and Natalia were driving through its main street marvelling at how quiet it was.

 

"Maybe they're all in church?'

 

Natalia said in her thick Italian accent.  Kyle laughed until she turned away from watching the road to glare at him.  He stopped when Kyle noticed ‘that look.’  Kyle loved Natalia and thought she was the hottest thing ever but she looked terrifying when she was angry.  Her black hair, pale skin, dark eyebrows and yet very un-Italian, crystal grey eyes were exotic but made very good for glaring.  Kyle grasped his Star of David.

 

"Well..."

 

Kyle broke the awkward silence with his New York accent.

 

"At least you won't have problems parking."

 

They pulled into one of many vacant parking spots on main street in front of a playground.  There were children on the swings.  They were joyfully swinging as high as they could until they noticed the car they didn’t recognise with ACT (Australian Capital Territory) license plates.  The children stared with a horrified look on their face, as if they got caught wagging school and the fun times was over with severe punishment to follow.  Natalia struggled with the parking brake then looked up and saw the children.

 

"Where are their parents!?"

 

Kyle stared back noticing the children’s overreaction to their presence and shrugged his shoulders in response to his girlfriend’s concern.  Natalia opened the door but that's when the children jumped off the swings and ran away.  Kyle saw this and thought it was odd, he took off his grey walking cap and scratched his short, spikey black hair.

 

"God I hate kids."

 

Natalia glared, she loved children and loved being a child.  She always appreciated her childhood experience and wanted to be a mother herself one day with eight children.  Kyle would always ruin the nostalgic dream when he’d say “that’s going to ruin your vagina.”

 

"What!?"

 

"I said...Gosh.I hate.... grids!  You know? Cattle grids, because they're so bumpy."

 

He wasn't convincing and Kyle tipped his hat over his brow and nervously sunk down into the passenger seat.

 

"Well....I’m sure I can see a church down the road, let's go there anyway to check it out.  There’ll be people."

 

Kyle was about to object but she got back into the car and started driving down the street.

 

"Why bother!?  It's just down the road, we can walk there in...five seconds!"

 

Natalia exclaimed.

 

"NO!"

 

They hit a pedestrian.  It was so sudden.  She pulled the parking brake, both got out to see a boy, aged twelve lying face up on the road dressed in a simple black and white suite, resembling an Amish man except for no facial hair.  Natalia’s love of children made her freak out until she breathed.  Then her nursing skills kicked in.  Natalia was about to commence CPR until the boy quickly revived and shuffled to his feet.  Kyle thought this was suspicious but Natalia was relieved and apologetic.

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you ok?"

 

The child brushed himself off.

 

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you!"

 

Kyle strongly felt the kid deliberately jumped in front of the car.  For compensation claim, suicide or out of boredom, Kyle didn't care.  The child’s actions affected them and not in a good way.

 

"Damn, he's ok."

 

He grumbled.  Natalia heard and elbowed Kyle in the stomach.  The boy smiled, picked up his black, wide brimmed hat and said.

 

"My name is Daniel."

 

He put on his hat and tipped it with his right hand in greeting, revealing thick, curly dark brown hair sticking out underneath the inner rim.

 

"I'm Natalia and this is my fiancé, Kyle."

 

Kyle stood feet shoulder width apart, hands in pockets revealing his black wrist bands, he gave a polite nod.  He was quite the contrast compared to Natalia for he had a black soul patch and a silver eyebrow ring that secretly turned Natalia on.  Loose fit, dark blue carpenter jeans with a black NIN (Nine Inch Nails) t-shirt.

 

"Welcome to Braidville!”

 

Daniel pointed an arm indicating down the street towards the church.

 

“What brings you to my town?"

 

Natalia was over whelmed but the young boy’s charms and reached out her right hand.  Compared to Kyle Natalia looked a lot more traditional in her blue floral summer dress and blue cardigan.  Straight black hair done up in a spikey bun that always turned Kyle on but he was too stubborn to admit it.  Natalia enjoyed teasing Kyle because it was so easy.  He was so different from the clean-cut Christian boys from her home town in Italy.  Natalia dressed conservatively and looked like her profession….if nurse uniforms had floral patterns.

 

"We are here for work.  I'm a nurse and Karl is a gardener.  We both got jobs here now, I’m working at your local primary school and Kyle’s a gardener with Landcare."

 

Daniel looked confused.  That’s when Kyle thought he’d make an effort to be sociable.

 

"Basically I work at your local Landcare office and you'll see me around town doing gardening, planting trees, weeding, establishing flower..."

 

Natalia interrupted.

 

"Where is everyone?"

 

"They're sleeping in....I mean, they're at the Church.  Come with me, they should be out soon.  It's just down the road on the left.  You can't miss it."

 

He pointed and let the young couple walk ahead of him.  They were arguing as Kyle was convinced something was wrong but Natalia dismissed him as being paranoid.  It was then they noticed Daniel whispering on a mobile.  They entered the threshold of the church but it was empty.

 

"Huh?  All Church and steeple but no people."

 

Kyle said as he turned to see a boy and girl jumped out of the doorway with straws.  Like a poison peashooter they shot a dart into Kyle and Natalia.  They passed out hitting the floor.

 

Natalia and Kyle woke up in a corn field with bits of popcorn everywhere. Further in front of them was an altar of straw bales, to its left was a popcorn machine like from a cinema.

 

"What the.....children of the popcorn?"

 

Mumbled Karl.  The couple were tightly wrapped in glad wrap around a wooden post.

 

"Hey, Nat. Remember when I said 'I don't want kids?' "

 

Natalia quietly snapped at him.

 

"Shut up Kyle!"

 

The children were gathered in congregation, facing the straw altar and sitting eyes closed, cross legged and reciting a mantra as if praying to the popcorn machine.  They were distracted in meditation.  Natalia started to wriggle.

 

"If we start moving we can wriggle free.  They didn't....wrap us well."

 

They started to move free, amazingly the children didn't notice.  As soon as they stretched the glad wrap and it fell loose, Natalia and Kyle bolted off in the other direction the children were facing.  Running down the slope of the corn field they found a road leading to town.

 

"Follow this road."

 

Natalia exclaimed as she grabbed Kyle’s arm but he hesitated.

 

"No wait!  It's too obvious, they'll see us.  We'll move to the other side of the road behind the tree line and follow the road."

 

They did that, found the town, tired and sweaty from running for their lives they quickly staggered down Main Street.  Soon as they saw their car, they had a last burst of energy and bolted towards it, got in, started the car and did a u-turn driving out of town through the way they came in just as they saw an army of children running down a distant hill to their right.  There was no way the children could catch them as Natalia and Kyle sped off to their home city.

 

"Seriously though you still want kids?"

 

Asked Karl.

 

"F**k no!  After that I'm having my tubes tied."

 

That was the first time he heard her swear.

 

"Hell yeah, me too!"