Kakorrhaphiophobia

Deepa always wanted a big farm to grow some animals and grow her own vegetables. All her life, she has been looking for a farm plus house to live happily. She has been looking into horticulture as well. Deepa’s parents were farmers and she grew up on a farm as well so her heart always longed for one. She had to convince her husband and kids that it would be the best decision and move that they could ever make in their lives.

After twelve long years of coaxing, her family of four- her husband Simon, her teenage daughter Elena, her ten year old son Felix and her youngest son Geoffrey who is four years old finally agreed to move onto the property she had dreamed for. The kids were excited because they could have their own pets on the farm, plenty of ground to play and roam around. The main reason Simon agreed to the move was to see his better half happy and content as she looked lifeless doing the 9 to 5 corporate job being a Human Resource Consultant.

They moved into the farmhouse in July being summer in the UK during the early hours.The farm house stood tall and spread out so the kids went in to explore while Deepa and Simon moved all their things in with help of very good friends they had.Elena fell in love with the greenery all around where she could sit under the trees and read books;for Felix,the landscape was inspiring so that he could paint out in the open whereas Geoffrey felt a bit uneasy as he could get lost easily and he always thought that all the bad things come seeking for him.

Geoffrey was nick named by the whole family as “sweet plum” due to his sweet nature but he did have a secret that none of the others are aware of.Sweet plum always had this niggly feeling or fear all the time but he did a good job of not showing it at all.Everything went quite by the afternoon as Deepa and Simon were exhausted from unpacking and sorting the rooms out while Elena was in the porch reading a book,Felix painting away the scenery in front of him and there was no sign of Geoffrey……

Deepa made some nice lemonade and called for the kids to come and join her in the backyard.Elena and Felix joined their parents reluctantly but there was no sign of their sweet plum.Deepa and Simon were too tired to be anxious about their little sweet plum and Elena brushed it off saying that sweet plum must be busy playing or exploring- even before Elena could finish her words- they were all stunned by the horrific screams they heard.All four of them were immobilised and it took a minute to work out whose those screams were and which direction they were coming from.

Deepa was the first one to run from the backyard looking for Geoffrey and the others followed pursuit.They started shouting ,”Geoffrey,where are you?Give us a shout if you can hear us.”On the other hand,sweet plum was terrified of the strange surroundings he was in as he couldn’t recognise where he was, especially after being woken up by a squirrel sitting on his chest with googly eyes muttering away,Geoffrey felt paralysed with fear that he wet himself.He did not dare to move so he kept his eyes closed tightly.

Felix found Geoffrey but he couldn’t stop laughing at the scene in front of him with sweet plum lying in a puddle and the squirrel still dancing on his chest trying to hide all his nuts in Geoffrey’s shirt.Everyone else caught up with Felix,Elena shooed away the squirrel and helped Geoffrey stand up.Sweet plum was embarrassed to the core so he didn’t look anyone in the eye except for his mum whom he hugged and cried to his heart’s content explaining all that had happened before Deepa and Simon arrived.Sweet plum was taken home where he showered himself,enjoyed his mum’s lemonade in the backyard along with his family as his embarrassment ebbed away gradually.

As a family,they started planning for the next day

1.Exploring the length and breadth of the farm

2.Pets for kids- *Elena wants gold fish,aquarium and feed

*Felix wants a parrot,cage and feed

*Geoffrey wants a puppy, kennel, and food

3.Buying some farming equipment

4.Buying cows, sheep, a cock ,f ew hens, their coop, feed

5.Buy a vehicle for farm purposes

All of them had pot noodles that night and went to bed. Next morning, everyone was up early with excitement brimming as they were all going to get what they wanted. After breakfast, they set out to explore the length and breadth of the property. There were plenty of trees so the barn was completely hidden with the green foliage about 100 yards from the farmhouse. Everyone exclaimed at the sight of the barn except for Simon and Geoffrey. Geoffrey wouldn’t budge forward as the mere sight of the barn gave him nightmares to the extent he felt like the barn looked at him and smiled. He told everybody that it doesn’t feel right and begged everybody not to go in but no one paid any heed to his words. Sweet plum felt dejected. Geoffrey walked all around the barn trying to find out its legs with which the barn would runaway as soon as his family entered in or it could be claws jutting out to cut them into pieces or sharp jaws to shred them into pieces.

Even after walking around the barn in broad daylight and not being able to find any signs of life, Geoffrey was not convinced that the barn was safe to enter whereas the rest of his family were already in and planning who gets which bit of the barn and responsibility for their own bit like cleaning, feeding and looking after. Sweetplum was bent upon finding that something is wrong here as his heart has not settled since he has seen the barn.

Once the division of barn floor was done, they all started cleaning their floor bits and it only took an hour to finish. In the meantime, Geoffrey made some notes of his observations in his little book because he wanted to become a detective when he grew older. Their next trip was to the pet store where all the kids got their pets except for Geoffrey who wanted a chocolate Labrador puppy so they looked online, found one and got it the same day. Deepa’s hens, cock, sheep, and cows were to be delivered next day by the local farmer and their neighbour Kay.

Sweetplum named his puppy "Mickey” after the Disney character Mickey Mouse. He played with the puppy all day long. Mickey went to bed beside Geoffrey that night. Geoffrey woke up at midnight looking for Mickey but couldn’t find him so he went looking for him. Mickey couldn’t be found in the house so Geoffrey decided to check outside and guess where he found Mickey- sitting quietly, looking at the barn like he was mesmerised. Mickey wouldn’t budge or respond when Geoffrey kept calling him but as soon as his hand touched Mickey- it was like he was jolted out of his trance.He wagged his tail at Geoffrey but as soon as he turned towards the barn he barked ferociously.

Geoffrey quickly picked up Mickey and ran for his life not stopping at all till he reached his room, closed the door and bolted it. He told Mickey to hush and he is on the same page as Mickey because he also thinks that something is not right with the barn. They dropped off to sleep a bit later. couldn’t wait to narrate this incident to his family at the breakfast table. They all had a hearty laugh but only his mum asked Geoffrey to join them in the barn.He reluctantly went in with Mickey as he was pretty sure Mickey would recognise anything absurd then and there.

Sweet plum was shocked to see Mickey dash in as soon as the barn doors opened. Mickey went to each and every animal in the barn licking them and getting licks from them as well. He settled in very quickly but this broke Geoffrey’s heart as he felt left down. So, he immediately walked out and away from the barn, looking back to see if Mickey was following him but instead he saw the old barn mischievously grinning at him like it has ripped him off all of his relationships……like the barn is saying to him….you can try from time to time to reveal the truth but no one will believe you because only you can see what I am capable of……take a good look at all the people you love and your puppy one last time …….you are not gonna see them anymore……..