Lister Kane
A Story by J Scarlett
'Here comes the bogeyman dressed in black, stealing children, a loaded sack on his back.
Upon a tiny mound of bones he likes to sit, picking his teeth removing fleshy bits,
If you are naughty or tell a lie, if you disobey or cry, then you may be next to die.'
The children chanted this, every village I passed through every rhyme I
heard, they were terrified of me, though they did not know this. They
believed the bogeyman to wear a shroud of shadows, his face distorted,
his figure long and ragged and his fingernails sharp and jagged dripping
with the blood of naughty children. That is what I had become a
deterrent for naughty children but I was far from what they believed me
to be, I was normal, I looked normal I did not eat naughty children, I
just ate and I know that is just as bad but children tasted so good.
Their flesh was tender and succulent un-tarnished by drink and by
gluttony or sin; I developed a habit, one that long out-lasted the witch
trials and the 17th century. In fact I pandered to my addiction far
into the 19th century, I travelled the length of England until I had
reached the end, until I had feasted upon a child or three from every
region and then I spread my legs and my legend even further. I sailed
the globe, I ate dark meat and light, young and old. I had one near miss
with a boat of travellers during the late 1800s however no bodies
simply meant no crime that added to an in-solvable mystery meant I had
once again gotten away with it.
What I must mention now is that I am not an ancient old man with a
scruffy white beard and thin brittle bones, I am simply eternally young.
I am not sure when I stopped ageing, I think it was in my 25th or 27th
year, what I am sure of is the cause; my diet. When I figured this out,
as you can understand, I was terrified that if I stopped eating the food
I was that I may begin ageing once again and back then I had grown too
fond of the perks of having a young and handsome appearance.
I
carried on with my 'wild' ways for many centuries, I met and broke the
hearts, some literally, of many beautiful women, I feasted upon exotic
flesh and I watched the world change before my very eyes; I watched
countries go to war with themselves, saw the bloody civil wars unfold
and , I hate to say, I reaped the benefits. I saw horse and cart become
near obsolete, I watched people circle the world in less time than it
took to sprout a seedling, I saw them fly and drive on four wheels, I
spoke to people on the other side of the world in a matter of minutes
and listened to people on the radio. I watched great big, ugly brick
buildings spring up over night to spew toxic smoke into the clean air
and I watched plagues eradicate whole towns, whole civilisations. After
the things I had witnessed growing up and living through centuries
nothing bothered me so much any more, I was in essence a monster myself
and I continued to be, without conscience or regret, until I witnessed
the world begin to turn on itself, to ravage its young men and it’s
green lands, to rip life away and destroy peace. I had never before
witnessed anything on such a scale, I had watched wars unfold because of
material things and religion but never because of greed, because of
revenge or wealth not on such a scale.
© 2013 J Scarlett
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Added on July 21, 2013
Last Updated on July 21, 2013
Tags: Lister Kane, Short
Author
J ScarlettUnited Kingdom
About
I’m a dreamer, writer, psychology graduate. I’ve an addiction for tattoos, classic rock/country, reading, baking, the rain, animals, shoes and movies more..
Writing
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