the moment Lloyd steps out of his work at the funeral parlour, he feels uneasy. the air is damp and the wind blows softly but there is a sort of eeriness to it. he rides his trike and at first he pedals easily, looking around him. the streets are empty and there only a lamp post at the end of the street is lit. hmmm....
something smells fishy, but he knows it isn't his tuna sandwich that he ate for supper. in fact he only had a few bites out of it before it fell on the cadaver that he has been working on. eww, who wants to eat that?!?
as he nears the corner, the light on the lamp post flickers. Lloyd feels more nervous. past the lamp post, the old cemetery stretches for two blocks from
@k1w1 lane to the end of
@cathrinemitch street. he always dreads passing by that cemetery and he would find himself pedaling as fast as his bony legs could allow. but tonight, it seems the two blocks are more like two miles, a never ending two blocks.
the wind blows stronger now, and the branches of the trees sway and to Lloyd they seem to howl. wait a minute, howl? does he hear a dog howling? he swears to himself that the nearest building is the funeral parlour and there are no houses around here. suddenly out of nowhere he hears a loud crackling, a lightning suddenly strikes and at the brief instance that it lits everything around him, he sees him, and he hears his laugh, sinister and devilish. oh, Lloyd hates him and he remembers it is the eve of hallow and his dead twin brother Gordie has returned as he has sworn ten years ago that he shall come back for him.
Lloyd pedals harder this time. just get past the darn cemetery and he'll be scott free. don't look back, he tells himself, so he doesn't. but Gordie is fast in Lloyd's ass. Lloyd starts to pray but he forgets the words so he starts to sing "Penny Lane" (really, Lloyd? Penny Lane?). well, Penny is his bride's name and Penny and Gordie used to date but she has moved on and she and Lloyd fell in love and got married, but only after Gordie has died, ya knows!
at the thought of Penny's lovely face and the stew that she has promised him for tonight when he gets home, Lloyd regains new strength and pedals away until he reaches the town square. a crowd is gathered and he sees Penny dancing among the crowd. and Lloyd mutters to himself, "Oh, shit, zombies!"
-o0o-
happy hallowe'en, everyone!
(well, maybe we'll meet penny lane next time, eh?)
@jsw0109 - thank you, jeff.
@salza - hehehe! thank you, sally.
@claireuk - hmmmm...thank you, my friend claire.
@678tabby - thank you, june.
@dh - the picture came first. thank you, d.
@sturnus - thank you, carol.
@cathrinemitch - hahaha! i thought about you and christine when i was making up the distance that the poor lloyd would have to ride so i thought why not incorporate it in the story. thank you, cathy.