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THE PIE
by Keith Jobes
Henry met the other five in the singles holiday group at Faro airport in the Algarve. He was the last to arrive. A bus was to meet them, and then take the party to their holiday hotel. The rest of the party were all women, which startled him at first. It seemed they knew each other well, striking him as odd, considering they had only met some ten minutes earlier, or so he believed at that time.He thought about the witches in Macbeth, and had the amusing fantasy that they would be telling him about his future! They would be doing just that, as he was to shortly find out. Henry's future would be changed in a way he could not possibly imagine.
"I guess we are all going to the same place," He said, scanning the group from left to right.
"Oh yes, we are going to the same place all right," one of the party replied ominously. The woman who introduced herself was Esmerelda, and the other four women all lowered their eyes as she spoke. Esmeralda wore dark glasses. This seemed to Henry strange since it was night time.
"The same place, the same place," echoed the other four women in unison, clapping hands twice as they did so, and staring hard at Henry. He started to feel uncomfortable. Then, everyone boarded the bus which Henry thought would be taking them to their holiday hotel.
On board the bus, Henry noticed the five women were staring at him oddly. The bus took the main highway to the fishing town of Alvar, but after about half an hour, the driver turned off on to a narrow unlit twisting road. Henry felt nervous.
"Are you sure this is the right way, driver?" inquired Henry. The driver ignored him, and then the five women started chanting. Henry by now was perspiring profusely. The chanting increased in tempo, louder and louder and louder. Henry felt himself trapped in some nightmare void with no hope of escape. Esmeralda - who was sitting opposite him - gripped his head tightly between her palms. His face burned as though in a fever.
One of the women removed Esmeralda's dark glasses and she spoke with authority to Henry.
"Look into my eyes."
Esmeralda's pupils were an intense luminous blue; and now started to oscillate slowly from side to side. Henry started feeling drowsy, and a few minutes later he passed out.
Waking, Henry found he couldn't speak or move. He found himself in a chamber where the walls and floor were matt black. The ceiling emitted a pulsating crystal white glow. He was spread-eagled on to the floor with arms outstretched in a kind of crucifix position. All five women were in the room arranged in a semi-circle around him. They all leant forward, peering down at him, like a surgeon looking at someone who he was about to operate on. Henry found this image chilling for some reason he could not quite work out.
Esmeralda spoke to Henry.
"Esmeralda is not my real name. Why don't you try and guess what it actually is? You can speak now, and you can get up."
He stood up, replying, "How could I possibly know what you are called?"
"I'll give you a clue. My name begins with B, and you have known someone with a name starting with that letter."
Henry thought she could not possibly mean Brenda, the wife he'd poisoned last year in Romford. This woman looked nothing like her~!
"I can read your thoughts Henry, I'm telepathic now I'm a ghost. After you poisoned me, I descended to the spirit world."
She paused and then chuckled to herself.
"Incidentally I made some very interesting friends. A lot of the ghosts I met were just like me, and we all have tremendous fun."
Henry thought, "Crikey, if ghosts are like Brenda, I never want to die!"
"Shut up Henry, I can read your thoughts, remember!"
Brenda paused again, gave Henry a sinister stare, and continued.
"I might lookdifferent Henry, but this body is just a disguise, I am indeed your wife Brenda. I've come back to the physical world to take care of you, permanently."Come on Brenda, we had some good times you and I. You should not keep holding a grudge, just because of that one night stand with Angela. She meant nothing to me."
"Angela is down here with the rest of us now, and we're all doing our best to drive her out of her mind," said Brenda with a wicked smile.
Henry looked startled.
"I didn't know that, Angela and I didn't keep in touch after she started going out with that John Smith. Anyway, what do you mean take care of me ... permanently?"
"I mean that bits of you will be joining us down in the spirit world quite soon."
"What do you mean, bits of me? he said, voice faltering and sounding hysterical.
"Well the girls are feeling a bit hungry, so I'm going to make a savoury meat pie for them with kidneys and liver. What do you think we're going to use for the main ingredient?"
The witches started cackling, and Henry watched Brenda waving a large butcher's knife about.
His son Andrew would be waiting in vain for him at Gatwick on the day he was due to return.
Copyright © 2001, Keith Jobes
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He thought about the witches in Macbeth, and had the amusing fantasy that they would be telling him about his future! They would be doing just that, as he was to shortly find out. Henry's future would be changed in a way he could not possibly imagine.
"I guess we are all going to the same place," He said, scanning the group from left to right.
"Oh yes, we are going to the same place all right," one of the party replied ominously. The woman who introduced herself was Esmerelda, and the other four women all lowered their eyes as she spoke. Esmeralda wore dark glasses. This seemed to Henry strange since it was night time.
"The same place, the same place," echoed the other four women in unison, clapping hands twice as they did so, and staring hard at Henry. He started to feel uncomfortable. Then, everyone boarded the bus which Henry thought would be taking them to their holiday hotel.
On board the bus, Henry noticed the five women were staring at him oddly. The bus took the main highway to the fishing town of Alvar, but after about half an hour, the driver turned off on to a narrow unlit twisting road. Henry felt nervous.
"Are you sure this is the right way, driver?" inquired Henry. The driver ignored him, and then the five women started chanting. Henry by now was perspiring profusely. The chanting increased in tempo, louder and louder and louder. Henry felt himself trapped in some nightmare void with no hope of escape. Esmeralda - who was sitting opposite him - gripped his head tightly between her palms. His face burned as though in a fever.
One of the women removed Esmeralda's dark glasses and she spoke with authority to Henry.
"Look into my eyes."
Esmeralda's pupils were an intense luminous blue; and now started to oscillate slowly from side to side. Henry started feeling drowsy, and a few minutes later he passed out.
Waking, Henry found he couldn't speak or move. He found himself in a chamber where the walls and floor were matt black. The ceiling emitted a pulsating crystal white glow. He was spread-eagled on to the floor with arms outstretched in a kind of crucifix position. All five women were in the room arranged in a semi-circle around him. They all leant forward, peering down at him, like a surgeon looking at someone who he was about to operate on. Henry found this image chilling for some reason he could not quite work out.
Esmeralda spoke to Henry.
"Esmeralda is not my real name. Why don't you try and guess what it actually is? You can speak now, and you can get up."
He stood up, replying, "How could I possibly know what you are called?"
"I'll give you a clue. My name begins with B, and you have known someone with a name starting with that letter."
Henry thought she could not possibly mean Brenda, the wife he'd poisoned last year in Romford. This woman looked nothing like her~!
"I can read your thoughts Henry, I'm telepathic now I'm a ghost. After you poisoned me, I descended to the spirit world."
She paused and then chuckled to herself.
"Incidentally I made some very interesting friends. A lot of the ghosts I met were just like me, and we all have tremendous fun."
Henry thought, "Crikey, if ghosts are like Brenda, I never want to die!"
"Shut up Henry, I can read your thoughts, remember!"
Brenda paused again, gave Henry a sinister stare, and continued.
"I might lookdifferent Henry, but this body is just a disguise, I am indeed your wife Brenda. I've come back to the physical world to take care of you, permanently."Come on Brenda, we had some good times you and I. You should not keep holding a grudge, just because of that one night stand with Angela. She meant nothing to me."
"Angela is down here with the rest of us now, and we're all doing our best to drive her out of her mind," said Brenda with a wicked smile.
Henry looked startled.
"I didn't know that, Angela and I didn't keep in touch after she started going out with that John Smith. Anyway, what do you mean take care of me ... permanently?"
"I mean that bits of you will be joining us down in the spirit world quite soon."
"What do you mean, bits of me? he said, voice faltering and sounding hysterical.
"Well the girls are feeling a bit hungry, so I'm going to make a savoury meat pie for them with kidneys and liver. What do you think we're going to use for the main ingredient?"
The witches started cackling, and Henry watched Brenda waving a large butcher's knife about.
His son Andrew would be waiting in vain for him at Gatwick on the day he was due to return.
Copyright © 2001, Keith Jobes