That Scary Old Barn

"Jordan."

"JORDAN!" Calvin said with this booming voice resonating through the house.

Startled by his father's call the second time, Jordan jumped out of bed and responded, "Yes, Sir.".

When Jordan and his sister played outside in the forest, they could hear their father yelling for them clear on the other side of the farm.

"Taylor, come downstairs with me, please." Jordan, pleading with this sister who was snuggled up on her bed reading. He didn't understand why she was always reading. Reading was a waste of time, he thought. Jordan only wanted to be running through the field.

"No." She replied with a snort. Taylor was only two years older than Jordan, but she acted like his mother.

"Please, I don't like going to that old barn by myself. It's scary." Continuing to beg his sister.

"I'm reading, so I can't go with you right now." Repeating herself, becoming visibly frustrated with her brother.

Jordan hated going to the old barn to feed animals. His father kept some animals in there before butchering them for the market. Down an unkempt path covered by large overhanging trees bathed the trail in a perpetual shadow. The clearing around the barn was also protected by a shield of tall trees that kept it shaded.

This is why Jordan thought the barn was scary, like a witch's house from a children's story. The kind of story where the witch would hide and kidnap small children like him to eat.

Continuing to beg his sister. "You know he wants me to go to the barn again. I don't want to go by myself. Please!"

His father's bellowing voice came a third time, "Jordan, I want you to take the baskets of apples and pears to the barn and throw them down the feed chute."

"But daddy, I don't like going out there. It's scary." Attempting to plead with this father since he was receiving no sympathy from his sister.

"If you don't come down here and take care of this chore like I told you, going to the barn will be the least of your worries. Now get down here and take those baskets to the barn." His father quickly replied.

Jordan could sense his father's frustration growing. Looking over at this sister again. Pleading with his eyes again and tears swelling up, waiting to pour out like water dammed behind a wall.

"Alright. I'll come, but you owe me… big time." She finally capitulated.

They both walked down the stairs past the living room, where their father read his paper.

Looking up and noticing both, he snorted and shook his head. "Remember to take the key for the chute. It is hanging over there by the mantel."

The mantel was where their father kept his trophies from the different competitions. People nicknamed him Haus because of his size and booming voice. He was the biggest and most muscular male in the village. Probably larger than any male anywhere, Jordan often wondered.

"You two just remember to take the fruits and just pour the fruits down the feed chute and come back." Making his statement more like a command.

Taylor grabbed the key to the feed chute, and then both she and Jordan walked into the kitchen and grabbed the baskets. There were two small baskets on the kitchen table. One full of apples and the other with pears.

Jordan hated pears. He thought they tasted terrible. However, his father had a small patch of pear trees near a pond that he often used for feeding livestock on the farm.

They left the house through the back door of the kitchen. From there, they walked down the path to the big barn. That barn was where their father kept most of the farm equipment and some animals. From there, they turned down a smaller trail heading towards the old barn.

This is the trail that Jordan hated most. It was forever dark. It scared him because little light from the sun could get through the thick trees.

As they continued their walk, you could see the old barn at the end of the trail. It was completely shaded by the surrounding trees, which made the barn a colder and eerie place.

Arriving at the barn, for a moment, they just stare at it. Their minds racing as to what was in there.

"Come on, let's hurry up." Taylor directed her brother.

They both carried the baskets of fruits up the small flight of stairs to the platform next to the feed chute. They put the baskets down, and then they stared at each other in silence.

"Well, are you going to put the fruit down the chute?" Taylor asked her brother.

"No. I can't pick the baskets up high enough to pour in. Usually, I just take out a few and through the fruit in." Jordan responded.

"Well, you are the one that Father told to feed the monster." Taylor responded, waving her arms in the air over her head, trying to mimic a scaring monster while snorting.

"Stop it!" Jordan said. "Stop trying to scare me."

In a very condescending voice, she responds. "Ok, well, if you aren't going to feed it, then I will."

She took the key and unlocked the feed chute. She picked up an apple, opened the tube, and rolled it down. She peered over, trying to look inside. She saw the apple roll down like a ball and land in a bed of hay. She waited for a few minutes but didn't see or hear anything.

"See, there's no monster in there." She curtly snapped at her brother. "Daddy was probably just trying to scare us. It's probably just one of those small annoying little creatures that live in the forest that everyone talks about."

Taylor turned back to the basket of fruit and picked up a pear. She opened the chute again and watched as the pear wobbled down and landed near the apple. Peering in again, waiting to see what would happen. After a moment, she saw something reach over and grab the pear. It startled her, and she jumped back with a gasp.

"Ahh! I saw something." All the bravado of her earlier mannerism is now gone. It was replaced with the fear of something she didn't understand.

"Na, no, you didn't. don't try to scare me." Jordan said with any confidence in his voice gone. He didn't realize when he made his statement, but he was standing there shaking.

"No, I did. I did see something. It grabbed the pear." Taylor said wide-eyed.

They both stood there staring at the chute. Finally, Taylor cautiously reached down and grabbed another pear.

"What are you doing?" Jordan asked.

"I'm throwing another pear in there so you can see." She informed her brother.

Taking the pear in one hand, she grabbed her brother by the arm with her other hand. Jordan walked over to the chute and stood next to her as she reached for the handle.

She slowly opened the feed chute. They both peeked down and saw the apple still lying on the bed of hay. She gently took the pear and rolled it down the chute. It wobbled back and forth as it descended and plopped near the apple.

They both wait intently. Then slowly, something reached for the pear. Neither had seen anything like it before. It was devoid of hair. The hands were boney, and the skin sunken as if it had not eaten in a long time. The nails were long and dirty, and the skin was pale or the color of a peach. It was difficult to tell with so little sunlight.

Just staring at each other, then back at the chute. Finally, they peered back down into the chute and could only see the apple now. Then suddenly, they saw the hand that had reached for the pear attempting to reach up for them.

Falling back, they both let out a scream. Scurrying along the platform using their hands and feet until they hit the railing behind them.

Taylor jumped up and grabbed her brother. They ran down the stairs and back towards the main barn. As they ran, she kept looking back at the old barn. She could see the chute door opening. She turned away and ran even faster towards the big barn.

Taylor slowed her brother just before reaching the kitchen door when they got to the house.

Jordan said, "What are you doing? Let's get in the house."

"No, we can't let daddy know we saw what was inside. We have to act like nothing is wrong." She explained to her brother.

They walked through the kitchen and the living room towards the stairs to their room.

"Did you two do what I told you to do?" Their father asked.

"What? Oh, yes, sir. We did." Taylor responded for them both.

Their father looked at them and asked, "Did you lock the chute back?"

Taylor and Jordan looked at each other. They stared for a moment and then back at their father.

"Well, did you?" He asked again, frustration growing in his voice.

Finally, Taylor responded. "No, no, sir. We forgot."

With an intense stare of anger, he glared at both. But there was also something more, a look of fear. He jumped up from his chair.

Taylor and Jordan ran upstairs to their room. Once in the room, Taylor shut the door behind them, and they jumped into her bed. Huddled together, with her arm around Jordan, they waited.

They heard their father walk into the kitchen and close the back screen door. Peeking out of their window, they saw their father walking towards the old barn with his shotgun. Moments later, they heard a scream and a shot from the gun. Waiting for their father to return. Seconds turned to minutes; minutes turned to hours.

Night came slowly. The sun began to dip below the horizon. First, Jordan fell asleep, lying next to Taylor. Taylor just stared at the path leading to the barn. Hoping and waiting to see her father. Soon Taylor slipped into a deep sleep.

They both lay sleeping in her bed as the nightfall engulfed the room.