Happy Last Day - A Short Story

Written in 2020 | Rewritten in 2024 | 4,103 words

TRIGGER WARNING: This story has death and murder of a child.

The story you are about to read is a “vomit draft.” This means that it is in its rawest form of writing and has no professional editing done whatsoever. But I welcome any corrections, grammatical or otherwise, you may find.

Mrs. Johnson lived in a modest home complete with a backyard, dog and twin boys. Just inside the worn picket fence she was busy in the backyard, hanging the decorations in preparation for her sons birthday the following afternoon. While she balanced precariously on a teetering chair, she could hear them laughing and playing inside. Their dog, Russ, rested on the back porch, his eyes slowly closing as he soaked up what little sun was left to the day.

Through the back door, past the kitchen, and in the living room sat Bobby and Jimmy playing another round of rock-paper-scissors. Whoever won the best three out of five would determine which one had to hide while the other tried to find him. So far they were even, having each won two rounds. Bobby thought he knew his twin brother’s every move, so he was stunned when he left his balled fist in play; rock, and his brother opened his fist to cover his; paper. Bobby always hated hiding. He was never any good at it and his brother always found him in record time. Even if Jimmy counted to one hundred and Bobby managed to get as far away from their house as possible, he knew his brother would find him! He figured it had to do with their “twin connection” that their mother told them they were born with. No matter where they were or what they were going through, they would never have to be alone. No matter where Bobby hid, his brother would always know where he was. But there wan’t anything Bobby could do about that fact. Rules were rules. And so, Jimmy covered his face with his hands and began to count out loud. Bobby got to his feet and ran from the living room. His mind raced with possibilities of where to hide. He skidded to a stop in the kitchen and looked out the window to see their mother nearly done with the decorations. He smiled with excitement at all their friends who would be coming over. More of them meant his odds of having to hide decreased. Then he heard it, a familiar sound that made him spin in place.

It was over two years ago when they had a walk-in freezer installed on the side of their kitchen. Mrs. Johnson was always buying things that she claimed would save them money in the long-run. This freezer was her latest and most prized purchase. And anytime she had company over she would tell them of the miracles this freezer had created for her. All the money she saved by stocking up on meat and how when the “big one” hit, they would all be fed for months if not an entire year. She also cautioned both of her sons to never go near the freezer when she wasn’t around. But Bobby was desperate to find a hiding place where his brother would never find him and straining his ears towards the living room he heard Jimmy getting dangerously close to twenty-Mississippi and uncovering his eyes to start his search.

Bobby grabbed the long silver handle and yanked it. The door didn’t budge. He knew it was heavy but he didn’t think it would be this heavy. He put both hands on it and pulled harder. The door opened and he instantly saw the cold mist escape. He looked over his shoulder out the kitchen window, happy to see his mother still had her back to the kitchen. All she had to do was turn around to see the freezer door was open. Bobby slipped inside and let the door slowly slam shut with a click behind him. He shuddered from the cold and wished he had thought to bring a sweater with him before entering the freezer. He slid down against the door so that just in case if his brother should try to peek through the small window of the freezer he couldn’t see him.

Finally, Jimmy finished counting and jumped to his feet. He  then proclaimed to the entire house in a loud voice, “READY OR NOT, HERE I COME.” He quickly ran upstairs to begin his search. As the house was relatively small, there were few places for Bobby to hide and therefore it was easy for Jimmy to search them all in record time. He burst through the bedroom they shared, the door swinging open so violently it nearly shook the house. Jimmy stood in the middle of their messy bedroom and listened for the sound of his brother giggling. Bobby could never contain his giggles whenever he was close to being caught. Sure that he couldn’t hear a thing he checked under the beds and the closets just to be safe. When they were cleared he made his way down the hall to their mother’s room. Risky to hide in there as she hated when they entered her room without her permission, but he knew how much his brother wanted to remain hidden, at least until their mother called them for dinner, which was going to be soon.

Jimmy opened the door slowly even though he knew his mother wasn’t inside and poked his head through a crack in the door. Her room was dark with just a hint of light coming through her thick black curtains. She only had two pieces of furniture in her room; a mattress in the corner and a vanity where she would sit to apply her make-up. Their mother only ever spent money on them or things around the house that saved them money. Nothing in her bedroom could ever be a money saver in her mind. A mattress was all she ever needed. This left her closet. Both Jimmy and Bobby had been in her closet before and a chill ran up his spine at the thought of going anywhere near it. While most mother’s would just have a closet full of clothes, their mother’s closet was only half full of clothes. The other half was a shrine to their dearly departed father, her husband, and a voodoo god she claimed would bring their father back to them someday. The last time Jimmy could remember sneaking into her closet to hide during a game of hide-and-seek with his brother, the smell of blood made him give up his hiding place before he could be found as he ran from the closet screaming. Luckily, their mother was out doing the shopping, buying as much meat as she could to store in her newly purchased freezer. It was then that Jimmy prayed to her mother’s voodoo god that he’d win every rock paper scissors game so he’d never have to hide again. He believed in voodoo after that because ever since then he’d never had to hide again.

Jimmy shook his head. He knew Bobby was desperate to win but he also hoped he wouldn’t be that stupid. After all, he took his brother to the closet to show him what scared him in the closet. His mother had sacrificed a chicken and the blood he smelled was from the chicken’s slit throat, lying in a bowl, a flame lit on a black candle nearly gone out. They never told their mother what they saw. They were just babies when their father left and never returned. She told them he died serving his country and whenever she talked about him it sent her into a crying fit. It was enough to make them agree this would be their little secret.

“Bobby, you better not be in here,” Jimmy whispered loudly before closing her bedroom door behind him. He ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. When he reached the bottom he put his hands on his hips, resolved to find Bobby. This was the longest he’d gone without finding him. He then remembered this “twin connection” he had with Bobby. Even he couldn’t deny it was true. It was how he always managed to find his brother so fast. He could smell and feel whatever Bobby smelled and felt wherever he was. Why hadn’t he thought to use this special power they had between them before? 

The sun had set completely and he could hear his mother walking through the backdoor into the kitchen, starting to prepare their dinner. He ran out the front door to check the bushes; no luck. Then he sprinted around the house to the backyard. He didn’t have time to use his powers. He needed to find Bobby now. It was possible that Bobby decided to risk being seen by their mother and Russ in the hopes that they wouldn’t give his hiding place away, and was hiding somewhere back here. Jimmy bent down and gave Russ a scratch behind the ear. He surveyed the yard, watching closely as the wind blew the tablecloth on the two rows of folding tables their mother had already set up. He couldn’t detect a person hiding underneath them.

Jimmy started to panic. His brother never hid this well before. He got to his feet and did something he’d never done before, he called out his brother’s name.

“Hey, Bobby, come on now, I give up.” He craned his neck in the hopes he’d hear his brother running towards him from wherever he was hiding but all he could hear was the sound of plates being placed on the dinner table in the kitchen.

“Jimmy. Bobby. Dinner time, boy’s. Time to cut out the play-time.”

Jimmy’s eyes went wide as he looked towards the backdoor and he gulped as he thought of what to say to her. He walked through the door and sat at the table, careful to avoid eye contact, then he heard the sound of the freezer and a glimmer of hope shone on his face. But it was quickly dashed when he remembered their mother’s rule that they were to go nowhere near the freezer. Ever. Bobby would never break that rule.

“Where’s your brother?” she asked. “Where’s Bobby?”

Jimmy looked up, his eyes wide with fear as his bottom lip trembled. “I don’t know, ma. We was playin’ hide-n-seek like we always do an...an...I can’t find him,” he answered, bursting into tears. They were fake but he hoped his mother would feel sympathy enough for her not to blame him if Bobby did go running off somewhere.

She slammed her fist into the table. Her son might be in danger! “What?” she blurted. “How long has he been missing? Are you sure you checked the whole house?”

“I don’t know, ma. I counted twenty Mississippi’s like I always do when we play. I looked all over. Wherever he is, he ain’t in the house.”

“Come on,” she said, grabbing Jimmy by the ear and pulling him to his feet. He yelped as she dragged him from the kitchen out the front door and to their car parked just out front. “You better hope he’s okay, boy. Now, get in.” Without another word she started the car and it screeched as it pulled out of the driveway in search of Bobby.

It was over four hours later when Jimmy and his mother returned home. The make-up on her face was smeared from crying her eyes out to the police. Her son was missing and she needed their help to find him. They promised they would do all they could and suggested she return home in case he should show up. She couldn’t bear to look at Jimmy. After all, he was the splitting image of Bobby. Instead, she went right to bed and stayed there until the doorbell rang the next morning.

She rose with a start. The party! She glanced at her clock, it was already well after noon. She had overslept and Jimmy didn’t bother to wake her. She stormed out of her room and banged on the door of her twin boy’s but there was no answer. Her heart sank as she thought the worst. Jimmy ran away because he blamed himself. But then she heard his voice downstairs greeting those who had just rung their doorbell. She ran her hands across her face to try and wake herself up and noticed streaks of black on her fingers. She had fallen asleep in her make-up from the night before. She didn’t want to alarm the guests who were invited for a birthday party, so she ran into the bathroom to freshen up as best she could.

When she got downstairs she found everyone that was invited had arrived. The adults were talking to each other, their children playing with each other. She caught the eye of Jimmy and he promptly excused himself, running towards his mother who stood in the door frame of the backdoor.

“Don’t worry, mom, I didn’t tell them. I just said he’s not feeling well and you don’t want him to get anyone else sick so he’s going to stay in bed today. They bought it,” he said, whispering the last part. She managed a slight nod that she understood what he had just said. “Everyone was asking about the cake. They remember the one you baked last time, and—”

“The cake!” she said, striking her forehead with the palm of her hand. She had forgotten it in the freezer! With everything that had happened she neglected to take it last night so it would be ready for today. She rushed to the freezer and yanked the door open. She put her hand over her mouth to cover her scream as her son, Bobby, fell back and hit the ground with a thud. Jimmy saw him too and knew instantly he was frozen to death. 

“Go out there and don’t let anyone in the house,” his mother said, trying to snap Jimmy out of it as he stared at his dead twin brother. “Jimmy!” she shouted. “Go out there and do what I told ya.” He managed to nod, his eyes unable to move from his brother lying on the ground, frozen, his eyes closed. He almost looked like he was asleep. Maybe he was asleep! Jimmy closed his eyes to focus his thoughts and walked to the backdoor. He looked through the window of the door at the guests. Everyone laughing and playing and enjoying the sunny day. None of them had a clue what was going on in the house at all. 

But Jimmy did as he was told, as he always did for his mother’s sake. Bobby and Jimmy learned early on that it was always best to just do whatever she asked in order to avoid an outburst. He put half a smile on his face and walked out the backdoor. He needed to make up some excuse now why everyone had to leave without having seen his brother Bobby or their mother. He hoped they would buy whatever story he told and just leave before the reality of his dead brother hit him.

The guests left soon after they arrived, disheartened that the cake was not properly thawed for consumption and wishing Bobby a speedy recovery. Jimmy could hardly say a word to them as he closed the front door on their exit. Once they were all gone he watched in silence as his mother proceeded to carry his twin brother’s body out of the freezer and into the backyard. She sat him in one of the lawn chairs and started digging a grave in their backyard. Jimmy didn’t say a word when she placed a blanket into the hole she dug several feet deep and then laid Bobby’s body down. As she started to shovel the dirt back in the hole, covering his brother’s body, he could stand no more and went to bed. He would eat no dinner that night.

The next morning Jimmy woke to the sound of his mother humming a song. The last time he heard his mother humming was the day their freezer was scheduled to be installed. She said it was the second happiest day of her life. The first being the birth of her twin boys. His mind raced with why she would be so happy as he made his way downstairs in his pajamas. He shared a closet and dresser with his brother and the last thing he wanted to do right now was be faced with his clothes. 

“Bout time you joined us, Jimmy. Your brother’s already had two helpings of eggs,” his mother shouted up to him when she heard his footsteps coming down the stairs. He stopped when he reached the bottom and gripped the railing in disbelief at what he heard her say. 

“If he’s not coming to breakfast, can I have his eggs, mom?”

“Of course you can, son.”

Jimmy listened to the sound of his mother scraping eggs from the frying pan onto a plate. He gulped. Was that his brother’s voice? It had to be. But how? He wanted to burst into the kitchen but was afraid. All he could see was the way his brother looked when he was laying on the kitchen floor. His eyes frozen shut, asleep, but not asleep. His lips purple. 

“Where is that brother of yours? Jimmy, are you coming to breakfast? The cake is thawed now. I’m letting you and your brother each have a piece.” Jimmy shook his head, unable to speak. The last thing he wanted was cake! He heard her footsteps walk across the kitchen floor and his heartbeat raced. “There you are,” she said, her hands on her hips. “Why can’t you be more like your brother? Up early this morning with an appetite. I swear, sometimes I think he got the good genes between the two of ya.” Without a word, Jimmy ran out the front door and spent the rest of the day as far away as he could from the house.

Once the sun set, Jimmy knew he had to go back home. He just hoped his mother would still be in the kind of good spirits she was in before he ran away. He couldn’t quite understand it. He saw his brother. Bobby was dead. She buried him. He watched her dig his grave. He couldn’t have dreamt it. But who was that he heard this morning? It sounded like him. Jimmy tried to use his ‘twin connection’ to get a sense for his brother but could feel nothing. He wondered if maybe it had to do with proximity. When he left home that morning he traveled all the way to his school which was several miles away. It was the only place he knew how to get to by heart other than the grocery store but that was too far to get to on foot. He knew the school would be deserted. School was out for the Summer and it happened to be the weekend.

Jimmy stood outside the front door of his house and closed his eyes, trying to feel his brother. He tried harder than he’d ever tried before. Even harder than whenever they played hide and seek. His eyes bulged and he immediately started to cough and gag for air. He stopped thinking about his brother and his coughing fit stopped instantly. He knew what it meant and regretted what he might find when he walked back into the house. It was completely dark which gave him a sense of relief. He reasoned with himself that his mother was clearly in denial of what happened to Bobby and whoever she was talking to in the kitchen wasn’t really there. He hoped she would make more sense in the morning. He opened the front door and started to climb the stairs.

“Jimmy, would you come in here, please.” His mother’s voice stopped him on the first step. She was sitting in the dark in the living room, waiting for him. He lowered his head and did as he was told, afraid to even look at her. She turned on the lamp beside the chair where she sat, illuminating her face, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. “You worried your brother and I half to death. Where have you been? Just because it’s the summer doesn’t mean you can just run off without telling me where you’re going. And you left your brother behind.”

“Mom—”

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking, Jimmy. You’re grounded. You will stay in your room till I tell you you can come out. Is that understood?” Jimmy nodded. “Now go to bed.”

Jimmy turned to leave but stopped. There was a question he had to ask but was terrified of what her answer would be. He straightened himself up and with his back to his mother he asked, “Ma, is Bobby in bed?”

She didn’t answer right away and it scared him. “Yes, but he’s in my bed. We didn’t know if you’d be home and he was tired. Didn’t want to sleep in your room by himself. I told him he could sleep with me tonight. I see no reason to wake him now that you’re back.”

Jimmy ran upstairs to their bedroom. Whatever was wrong with his mother would have to wait, he was just happy to be home. He also wanted to confirm for himself that his mother really was in denial. Their bedroom window overlooked the backyard. He slammed their bedroom door closed and slowly pulled back their curtain. What he saw made his stomach twist in knots. The hole where he watched his mother bury their brother was completely dug up. The room began to swim and he thought he was going to throw up. Was it possible that he wasn’t really dead? But how? Why? 

His mind stopped racing when he heard his mother’s footsteps outside his door. He rushed to it and turned the lock on the door slowly, hoping she didn’t hear it lock as she walked by to her bedroom. He listened to her walk into her room and heard her door close. He was more than confused, he was scared. What would it mean if his brother wasn’t really dead? He saw him with his own eyes. The fear soon turned into an exhaustion he could no longer fight and he laid down on his bed, leaving his clothes on.

The next morning Jimmy’s eyes opened wide, but he couldn’t move his body. He looked around and realized he wasn’t lying on his bed anymore. The ceiling was silver with a bright light shining in his eyes. He tried to breathe but struggled to take a breath. He wanted to sit up or even move his limbs but he couldn’t. His eyes moved to the left and focused on a large piece of roast before he lost consciousness.

Mrs. Johnson brushed dirt from her clothing and leaned the shovel against the house as she walked through the backdoor. Two months had passed since her twin boys’ eighth birthday and she felt like things were finally getting back to normal. She listened to them in the living room laughing as they watched a cartoon on their brand new television.

The doorbell rang as she began to wash the dirt from her hands in the kitchen sink.

“Coming,” she shouted from the kitchen, wiping her wet hands on an apron hanging from a hook in the kitchen. When she passed the living room she said, “Now, you boys keep it down in there. I can hardly hear the front door with all that laughter.”

“Yes, mom,” she heard them say in unison before she opened the front door to find a policeman standing on her doorstep.

“Yes, officer?”

“Good afternoon, ma’am. Sorry to disturb you, but there’s been a complaint from one of your neighbor’s and I’m afraid I’m going to have to check it out. Would you mind if I come inside?”

Mrs. Johnson’s eyes twinkled and she smiled sweetly to the officer. “Not at all, but mind you, don’t you go bothering my boys. They’re in the living room watchin’ some god-awful children’s program.” The officer entered the house and was immediately met with the odor. He tried not to let it show on his face as he walked towards the living room. He couldn’t hear the TV because as he soon discovered, there was none in the living room. Just a coffee table, and a couch. A couch on which sat the corpses of twin boys. Their bodies beyond the point of decay.

“Now, boys, what do we say to the nice policeman?”

BEHIND-THE-STORY

This story was heavily influenced by a true story I heard. I can’t remember where it came from but I remember it involved a freezer much in the same manner that mine was written.

I wanted to incorporate the idea of voodoo and a crazed mother who clearly was overprotective of her boys because of the loss of her husband. I intentionally don’t reveal their age until the end because I don’t want that to influence how you interpret what is happening around Jimmy. I want you to be able to put yourself in his shoes, and if you knew he was just a child it might’ve made that more difficult. I realize it’s obvious that they are young because I mention school and the game they are playing together, but other than that I wanted the emphasis on how Jimmy is experiencing what is happening around him to be at the forefront of the story.

Which brings me to the ending. I had a couple ideas in mind. At first, I was going to make it that the boys were “back” in that Bobby is turned into a zombie and so is Jimmy, after his mother kills him, so that he can “be more like his brother.” But I felt like zombies would be too unreal and whatever else you might imagine, I wanted this to be rooted in as much reality as possible. I also liked the idea that the mother has completely lost her mind. Otherwise, how could she justify taking the life of her only living son?

What do you think of the story? It’s by far my favorite of all the ones I’m rewriting and editing.