POD: Grandpa's Present (repost)

[KAYVEN]

Grandpa's Present
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My 16th birthday party was held at night in the mountains, far away from the
prying eyes of others. That was the way Grandpa wanted it and Grandpa usually
got what he wanted. I admit that at first was was scared at spending any time
with him. Grandpa was a different sort of fella who tended to stay cooped up
in his little shed at the end of our farm. I'd sometimes hear him chantin
weird things when I passed the shed doin my mornin chores. And old Mr Parker
who had a farm just up the road used to cross himself whenever he'd have to
come over to see my pa about fixin the fence to keep our cows seperate. Mr
Parker was real keen on keepin our cows out of his herd. Strange thing is that
Mr Parker was no Catholic, so I'm not so sure he shoulda been crossin himself
like that anyhow.

But Grandpa was a queer one and he had always promised me a special present on
my 16th birthday. I was figurin on somethin stupid like a watch or maybe one
of those funny books Grandpa had that had strange writtin in em. "I got no
likin for books, Grandpa." I'd told him every so often in the months before I
turned 16. But Grandpa would just chuckle and tell me that he knew what young
men liked and that I'd be glad for what I was gettin. On the night of my
birthday, Grandpa took me up into the mountains holding me tight alls the way
up. Made my hand all sore and red.

"Just what's up here, Grandpa?" I asked em. But he just smiled and told me
to keep walkin. Up in the sky, the moon was full and right over our heads.
That, Grandpa told me, was a good sign.

"Ok, boy, here we are." Grandpa said as he finally let me have my hand back.
Perhaps he was thinkin maybe I'd run or somethin. But I was curious to what was
goin to happen so I don't think runnin was what I'd have done. Grandpa started
lightin torches and took various metal things out of the bushes. I thought
that he'd put them there before we came up, but he later told me that these
things were always up here, even before he was born and would be here long
after he was dead and in the ground. He told me to sit on the ground which I
promptly did. Like I said, Grandpa usually got what he wanted. After I had
sat down, he'd started drawin symbols on the ground with white powder. I tried
to see what he was writin but they seemed to not be really words at all. At
least not any words I've ever seen. I suppose theys coulda come from one of
Grandpa's books, but I'm not one for crackin open books, so I'm not so sure.
After he was done with the drawin and writin, he began yelling and screamin in
words I never heard before. Got me real scared. It was like those people down
at the Full Gospel Baptist Church when theys startin to talk in tongues, but
this time it was somethin dark and not quite right. Grandpa sounded like he
was a snake who could talk but kept gettin the words wrong cause of his
fork-tongue. But it was when Grandpa stopped talkin all sudden-like that got
me real scared. I felt the air get real heavy and I felt the need to look
right up to the moon. And it was then that I saw the shape commin. I thought
it was a bird at first cause of its large black wings, but as it grew closer, I
could see it lookin more like a man with wings! But it was only when I could
start to hear the flappin of its leather-like wings that I saw its tail. A
mighty awful lookin thing that resembled one of those scorpions like I'd seen
in the James Bond movie on Channel 14 a couple of weeks before. But what made
me begin to sob was its lack of a face, it was a blank darker than the night
itself . It was nothin human and it was landing here with Grandpa and me.

"Grandpa, run!" I cried as I started to stand up. But Grandpa would have none
of that. He ran over to where I was and threw me on the ground.

"Shut up, boy. Just keep your stupid ass quiet and do what I tell you!" he
hissed at me with a raised fist. I held back a few tears and let Grandpa do
what he wanted. He talked to the bird-man with his hands and with clickin
sounds comin from his mouth like a cricket or somethin. Then the bird-man flew
off and Grandpa looked back at me with some anger in his eyes.

"Fool boy, don't you know what a nightgant will do if you run from it? It'll
take you back to its nest and feed you to its young ones. Theys eat people,
boy!"

"But what was it, Grandpa? Was it a demon?" I asked.

"Demon?" Grandpa started laughing. "Who filled yer head with such nonsense.
Demon? Ay, I suppose dem church goin folks might see it as such. But its no
demon, boy. Its just a different type of man, that's all. Sort of like the
colored folks, or dem people from China. Only he's come from even farther away
than any of dem. And he's goin to go git yer present."

I was goin to ask what the present was goin to be when I started hearin the
screams. They was like a girl's and when I looked to the sky, I saw the
bird-man carrin some girl in its arms.

"Grandpa! That's Tammy Johnson!" I said outloud. Tammy was one of the best
lookin girls at my school and I'd spent many a night thinkin about her. As the
bird-man landed, he dropped Tammy to the ground, made some sign to Grandpa and
flew off again. I could hear Grandpa chuckle loudly. "There she is, boy. That
thar is yer present. She's all yers. But don't take too long with her. She's
not ours. She's the nightgant's girl. We jus git to have a little fun 'fore
he comes back fer her."

Tammy was layin on the ground all curled up and she started screamin when
Grandpa and I started to touch her. Grandpa told her that we had saved her
from the flyin monster, and we deserved a little reward for our troubles. She
didn't like the terms but she stopped screamin and that was enough. It was
satisfyin in its way. She might have even enjoyed it toward the end, but she
sure put up a real fight when the bird-man came back. I sometimes wonder what
happened to Tammy after the bird-man had taken her back to its nest. Did it
feed her to its young or did it enjoy Tammy like Grandpa and me had? I guess
I'll never know the answer. Grandpa says that if I'd look in his books, I might
find out, but I'm not much one for readin.


----- Steven Marc Harris

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