Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

enter tainment pr ogr amme played the same music, only the per for mer s w er e taking
their job mor e ser iously. He looked dow n to see thin and shiny sheets of w r apping
paper acr oss the floor. His father knelt, w r apping pr esents for his mother , telling
him ever ything w ould be okay, that this w ould make it r ight, that this w ould show
her that he car ed. He felt the heat of the gas fir e sear ing into his side and looked up
into his dad?s eyes and saw they w er e br imming w ith tear s. He r eached up and
str oked the side of his father ?s head, his unkempt hair hanging over his ear s. He
looked again, this time into tinted glasses, as his father car r ied on singing about
how lonely he w ould be this Chr istmas, mor phing fur ther into Les Gr ay. He
str ained, tr ying to r etune the image, tr ying desper ately to r emember w hat his
father looked like, w hen he hear d the r asping voice once again, now complete w ith
the pulsing beat that her alded the star t of festivities. His hear t skipped a beat and
he fitfully opened one eye to look at the television set, but he alr eady knew w hat
was about to happen, just as it happened year s ago. The spr ite was upon him, not
fixed behind the thick glass of the television set but standing ther e in fr ont of him,
manifest in flesh, platfor m boots and silver spandex. It looked at him w ith its
buck-toothed gr in set below a high fr inge befor e stomping, dancing, haunting him
as it had done w hen he was a child. The other patr ons car r ied on star ing at their
beer , imper vious to the pr esence that had come amongst them as the entity moved
fr om the stage, making its way inexor ably towar ds him, befor e tur ning and
stamping its platfor m soled boot in time w ith the beat of the music.
Taking advantage of the moment w hen the spir it looked away he gr abbed his bags
and backed out of the building, dar ing not to r un in case the imp noticed him and
follow ed. In the now cold dar kness of the str eet, he star ted to half r un and half
walk his way to the main shopping str eet and safety. As he looked back, the lights in
the pub blinked out; it too was now cold and empty. Taking a deep br eath, he
steadied himself and star ted to move slow ly thr ough the ear ly evening r eveller s.
50