The Golem
November 16th 2007 06:45
Golem – A short story by Heath Ling Nov 07
‘Robbie, dinner is ready’ a voice called up the stairs and through the open door the led into his room.
‘Just one moment mum’ he called back down to her before continuing to mold the small clay figure he was making.
‘Hmm, that looks okay’ he thought to himself as he placed it upon his study desk before going downstairs and into the kitchen for his tea.
‘Maybe I could make another figure to go with it’ Robbie was thinking as he climbed up the stairs and walked into his bedroom, only to stop suddenly as he saw that his clay figure looked different somehow?
He was certain that he had left it with its left arm raised whereas now it was down by its side and he couldn’t see the join where anyone had reattached the arm.
‘Okay sis, great joke and very funny’ he called out, only to be met by silence.
‘I’ll get her back later’ he thought before taking another piece of clay and started to mold another shape, although this was a lot larger than the human shape from before, and before he had realized it, a large creature like humanoid form sat in his hands.
‘Robbie bedtime’ his mother said as she walked past and started to put the washing away in the airing cupboard.
‘Okay mum, in a minute’ he replied as he played with the figures on his desk.
‘It’s a school night honey’ she said walking into the room before saying ‘And aren’t you a bit old at 13 to be playing with clay figures?’
‘Ahh mum’ Robbie protested as she got his school uniform ready and started to tidy his stuff up.
‘You can play with these tomorrow, but now it’s clean you’re teeth and then lights out’ she told him with a smile.
After cleaning his teeth he jumped into bed and fell quickly asleep after his mum turned the light out.
The next morning it was a rush to get ready for school and just before the bus arrived, Robbie quickly rushed up the stairs to get his clay men and put them in his bag.
But as the bus pulled up, he was dismayed to see Vincent and Dwayne, the school bullies pointing at him in a menacing way and he knew from past experience that this would mean trouble.
The only free seat was close to them at the rear of the bus and as he moved closer, one of spat ‘ Hey pipsqueak gimmie the bag’ as he snatched the bag from Robbie’s hands and opened it.
‘Ha, what have we here’? Dwayne said as he pulled the two clay figures out and showed them to the other hangers on in the gang. A mean laughter echoed from the group as Dwayne threw them down onto the floor of the bus, breaking them both before putting his face close to Robbie’s and snarling ‘Next time bring us something better or else’ before giving him a hard punch to the chest.
As the youths then started to torment a girl sitting on the other side of the bus, Robbie picked up his broken figures, anger welling up inside of him as he thought ‘God, how I hate those guys’ as he tried to repair the damage.
The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful and after tea, Robbie decided to make clay figures of Vincent and Dwayne and have his clay creature tear their arms off. ‘Let them bully me now’ he thought to himself chuckling as the creature attacked them.
He didn’t really give it any more thought until the next morning when whilst waiting for the school bus, he was surprised to see three police cars and an ambulance drive past at high speed with their lights and sirens going.
He looked at his watch ‘Hmm the bus is ten minutes late too’ he thought to himself before spotting it turn the corner into his street.
Normally there is lots of noise but today the bus was deathly quiet and as he got on, Robbie noticed that the bullies from yesterday weren’t there.
‘Have you heard?’ Asked the girl sitting in front of him.
‘Heard what?’ He replied puzzled.
‘That there is a bear loose and it got Dwayne and Vincent last night as they were smoking in the church yard’ she told him.
‘Are they okay?’ he asked quietly
‘From what I hear, the bear tore both their arms off before eating part of them both’ the girl replied with a shrug before turning around.
Robbie said nothing for the rest of the journey and just wanted to get the school day over done with as the talk of the school was all about the dreadful thing that happened to those two.
Upon reaching home, Robbie rushed upstairs to his room and shut the door before going to look at his clay figures, stopping in fright when he saw some extra figures on his desk and upon looking closer, he saw that both of the extra figures had their arms pulled off.
Robbie took a step backwards unsure what to do next when suddenly one of the clay figures moved. He stood there silently watching as the figure started to make something using the clay from the other figures. ‘It looks like a tree of some kind?’ Robbie thought to himself before realizing where he had seen it before.
‘The fisherman’s tree?’ he said out loud, surprised to see the small clay figure nod its head once.
Robbie was intrigued now and all the earlier thoughts disappeared as he picked up both of the figures and ran down the stairs.
‘Won’t be long mum’ he called out before running out the front door.
He grabbed his bike and headed off towards the river and the tree was situated. He had played there once or twice and it stood in a small copse of willows along the river bank.
It didn’t take too long and after leaning his bike against a fallen log, he made his way through the undergrowth towards the river, stopping suddenly when the tree loomed into view.
Robbie looked around but couldn’t see anything apart from a mound of freshly dug soil or something. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out his two figures, placing them on the soil, only to be amazed as he watched them slowly disappear into the ground.
‘This is bizarre’ he thought to himself as he moved closer to examine the soil.
Then without warning, the earth started to move under his feet and Robbie jumped back in terror as two large arms made of soil broke the surface, followed by the head of the creature he had made the previous night. At sight of this Robbie’s nerve broke and ran as fast as he could back to his bike.
This was just a short story we had to write for my writers group as we had to include a lump of clay into the piece.
Copyright 2007 Heath Ling
‘Robbie, dinner is ready’ a voice called up the stairs and through the open door the led into his room.
‘Just one moment mum’ he called back down to her before continuing to mold the small clay figure he was making.
‘Hmm, that looks okay’ he thought to himself as he placed it upon his study desk before going downstairs and into the kitchen for his tea.
‘Maybe I could make another figure to go with it’ Robbie was thinking as he climbed up the stairs and walked into his bedroom, only to stop suddenly as he saw that his clay figure looked different somehow?
He was certain that he had left it with its left arm raised whereas now it was down by its side and he couldn’t see the join where anyone had reattached the arm.
‘Okay sis, great joke and very funny’ he called out, only to be met by silence.
‘I’ll get her back later’ he thought before taking another piece of clay and started to mold another shape, although this was a lot larger than the human shape from before, and before he had realized it, a large creature like humanoid form sat in his hands.
‘Robbie bedtime’ his mother said as she walked past and started to put the washing away in the airing cupboard.
‘Okay mum, in a minute’ he replied as he played with the figures on his desk.
‘It’s a school night honey’ she said walking into the room before saying ‘And aren’t you a bit old at 13 to be playing with clay figures?’
‘Ahh mum’ Robbie protested as she got his school uniform ready and started to tidy his stuff up.
‘You can play with these tomorrow, but now it’s clean you’re teeth and then lights out’ she told him with a smile.
The next morning it was a rush to get ready for school and just before the bus arrived, Robbie quickly rushed up the stairs to get his clay men and put them in his bag.
But as the bus pulled up, he was dismayed to see Vincent and Dwayne, the school bullies pointing at him in a menacing way and he knew from past experience that this would mean trouble.
The only free seat was close to them at the rear of the bus and as he moved closer, one of spat ‘ Hey pipsqueak gimmie the bag’ as he snatched the bag from Robbie’s hands and opened it.
‘Ha, what have we here’? Dwayne said as he pulled the two clay figures out and showed them to the other hangers on in the gang. A mean laughter echoed from the group as Dwayne threw them down onto the floor of the bus, breaking them both before putting his face close to Robbie’s and snarling ‘Next time bring us something better or else’ before giving him a hard punch to the chest.
As the youths then started to torment a girl sitting on the other side of the bus, Robbie picked up his broken figures, anger welling up inside of him as he thought ‘God, how I hate those guys’ as he tried to repair the damage.
The rest of the school day was fairly uneventful and after tea, Robbie decided to make clay figures of Vincent and Dwayne and have his clay creature tear their arms off. ‘Let them bully me now’ he thought to himself chuckling as the creature attacked them.
He didn’t really give it any more thought until the next morning when whilst waiting for the school bus, he was surprised to see three police cars and an ambulance drive past at high speed with their lights and sirens going.
He looked at his watch ‘Hmm the bus is ten minutes late too’ he thought to himself before spotting it turn the corner into his street.
Normally there is lots of noise but today the bus was deathly quiet and as he got on, Robbie noticed that the bullies from yesterday weren’t there.
‘Have you heard?’ Asked the girl sitting in front of him.
‘Heard what?’ He replied puzzled.
‘That there is a bear loose and it got Dwayne and Vincent last night as they were smoking in the church yard’ she told him.
‘Are they okay?’ he asked quietly
‘From what I hear, the bear tore both their arms off before eating part of them both’ the girl replied with a shrug before turning around.
Robbie said nothing for the rest of the journey and just wanted to get the school day over done with as the talk of the school was all about the dreadful thing that happened to those two.
Upon reaching home, Robbie rushed upstairs to his room and shut the door before going to look at his clay figures, stopping in fright when he saw some extra figures on his desk and upon looking closer, he saw that both of the extra figures had their arms pulled off.
Robbie took a step backwards unsure what to do next when suddenly one of the clay figures moved. He stood there silently watching as the figure started to make something using the clay from the other figures. ‘It looks like a tree of some kind?’ Robbie thought to himself before realizing where he had seen it before.
‘The fisherman’s tree?’ he said out loud, surprised to see the small clay figure nod its head once.
Robbie was intrigued now and all the earlier thoughts disappeared as he picked up both of the figures and ran down the stairs.
‘Won’t be long mum’ he called out before running out the front door.
He grabbed his bike and headed off towards the river and the tree was situated. He had played there once or twice and it stood in a small copse of willows along the river bank.
It didn’t take too long and after leaning his bike against a fallen log, he made his way through the undergrowth towards the river, stopping suddenly when the tree loomed into view.
Robbie looked around but couldn’t see anything apart from a mound of freshly dug soil or something. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out his two figures, placing them on the soil, only to be amazed as he watched them slowly disappear into the ground.
‘This is bizarre’ he thought to himself as he moved closer to examine the soil.
Then without warning, the earth started to move under his feet and Robbie jumped back in terror as two large arms made of soil broke the surface, followed by the head of the creature he had made the previous night. At sight of this Robbie’s nerve broke and ran as fast as he could back to his bike.
This was just a short story we had to write for my writers group as we had to include a lump of clay into the piece.
Copyright 2007 Heath Ling
| 53 |
| Vote |
Add Comments
