Vines and Punishment

My stomach twisted in a knot as I stared across the field from the verandah. With its two murky windows for eyes, the old barn stared back at me. Its huge door morphed into a gaping mouth before me, completing its eerie face. Even though it was several hundred yards away, it seemed to pulse and loom closer the longer I watched it.

I shook my head slightly, pushing the image from my mind, gulped down the rest of my morning coffee, and went inside.

"Being stupid," I muttered.

The dog had been sleeping, but jumped at the sound of my voice in the silence.

"There, there, boy," I said, giving him a quick pat.

I couldn't quite explain my sudden aversion to the old barn. The building had been on the property when my family took over the vineyard twenty years ago. I'd never really thought about it, it was just there. We'd never used it – the previous owners had built a new storage shed and simply left the old barn to decay.

It was falling apart slowly, deteriorating year by year in the weather, with grass and roots disrupting its structure from below. The paint was almost completely gone, but you could tell it was once red if you looked closely. But I wasn't game to get that close anymore.

For a few days now, it made me shiver to even think of going near the barn. Every time it entered my field of vision, a heavy feeling of dread washed over me. I couldn't explain it.

I was sure I had been having nightmares about it too. I would wake with my heart racing, frightening images flashing in front of my eyes. But every time I strained to remember any details, I couldn't quite grasp them.

Luckily, my work didn't require me to go anywhere near the barn, so I put it out of my mind as best I could.

It was harvest time, and the pickers would be arriving soon. We did most of the farm work ourselves throughout the year, but the picking was too much for just my mother, my brother, and me. It had to be done over the space of a day or two, and we just couldn't work that fast without help.

Was it today or tomorrow they were arriving? I was so hopeless with these kinds of things.

I wished my mother was home, she usually dealt with the seasonal staff. She and my brother were supposed to be back from their trip days ago. I was starting to wonder why I hadn't heard anything, but they were together. They’d let me know if they needed anything.

My task for the morning would be to check on the vines in preparation for the picking. I’d test the grapes for sugar content, to be sure they were ready to be picked. I'd already checked last week, and that had shown that they were almost ripe enough, but it didn't hurt to be sure.

I walked down an inner row of the sauvignon blanc, admiring the juicy bunches of grapes. They were the culmination of a year’s work. The day was already beginning to heat up, and my eyes squinted against the sun. I wished I had remembered my sunglasses.

It was getting brighter, and hotter, and I began to sweat. I was feeling terrible, but it wasn’t that hot. What was wrong with me? Each step was an effort, but I continued on. I bent down and clipped the stalk of one of the bunches with my pruning shears. When I stood up, dizziness overcame me, and my vision began fading from the edges.

I tried to steady myself, but my vision quickly went completely black and I felt myself falling, falling…

The dog was barking.

What time was it? I looked out the window, the sun had recently set. I looked around. I was lying in my bed with my shoes on. How did I get back here? Well, it didn’t matter.

I stood up, intending to get some food for the dog. The dizziness returned and I vomited on the floorboards beside my bed.

Maybe I’d better get a bit more rest.

I fell into a feverish sleep. Nightmares of the old barn returned. My mother was there, my brother. An image of them lying on the barn floor covered in blood flashed into my consciousness, then was gone.

The dog was barking.

I was clearly worried about my mother and brother not having returned, that’s why I was dreaming about them.

I followed the sound of the dog barking, it sounded like he was somewhere behind the barn. Probably found a snake. I was still feeling ill, and didn’t want to go near the barn if I could help it, but I didn’t want him to get bitten.

I walked over behind to the barn, but still couldn’t see the dog. I heard another bark. Had he got inside somehow?

Tentatively, I opened the barn door.

The dog’s body was lying on the floor, covered in blood, covered in flies. He couldn’t have been barking.

I vomited again, and then fainted.

Next time I woke, it was to the sound of the front door being broken in. Red and blue flashes of light bounced around my bedroom. I couldn’t move.

The police chief entered the room.

"We found the bodies," he said.

"B… Bod—" I didn't understand.

But then I did.