The Nothing Room by Cherie Mitchell

Author:Cherie Mitchell [Mitchell, Cherie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

I know I already told you that Megan is a bossy little thing. If she did go to pre-school, she’d be the kid who tells all the others what to do and when to do it. She’s sure of herself, confident. I think she was born that way.

I remember when she was born. I was maybe six, nearly seven at the time. Yeah, I know. Seven was a big year for me. Mom had a home birth ‘cos things had started to get tricky with the townspeople of Warren’s End by then. I doubt any midwife or doctor in town would’ve delivered her, even if Mom and Dad paid them a million dollars apiece.

Anyway, Grandma was good with stuff like that. She’d helped to deliver her sister’s kids and she worked as a nurse once, a long time ago. Far as I know, Megan was born without any problems while I slept and when I woke up in the morning, Dad carried me from my bed on his shoulders and into his and Mom’s bedroom to introduce me to my new baby sister.

She was very red, I remember that much. And loud. Wailing and keening as if the bed was on fire. Hasn’t changed. Born bossy, see? There isn’t any way around it.

Anyway, I reach the kitchen first, after Mom and me hear Megan’s scream. She’s standing on a chair in front of the table, looking down at the pack of chocolate cake mix and screaming her little head off. I snatch the box out of her hand and hunch down so that my eyes are on her level. “What? Why are you screaming?” I’m about to add something I heard from somewhere, It’s enough to wake the dead, but I decide it’s probably not appropriate right now. Lots of those old sayings aren’t really appropriate when you stop to think about them.

“Yucky worms,” she cries, pointing at the cake mix box. “I got it out of the pantry to help make the cake. Angel, it’s got lots of yucky worms in it!”

I’m almost afraid to look. I think I know what she means by yucky worms and I’ll probably puke if I see them myself, but I lift the flap anyway. I gag as I see what must be at least fifty maggots wriggling their fat, white bodies through the powdery chocolate mix. “Ugh!” I drop the box, unable to keep it in my hands for another second, and I run to the sink to spit into the drain. I hate flies but I probably hate maggots more.

“What is it? What is it?” Mom keeps saying the same thing over and over but I’m feeling too sick to answer her.

“Worms,” Megan says flatly. “White worms with fat tummies are eating our chocolate cake power.”

“Powder,” Mom says automatically. “Powder.” I hear her shake the box and it rattles nastily. I feel sick all over again, imagining those bloated little bodies slamming against the cardboard sides. “These are maggots. The mix is riddled with them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.