| River Fiend |
| by Gayle Arrowood |
Stranded. I could barely think the word. I should have left with the neighbors. Tasha and Rob,
Henry and Cary almost dragged me to their cars.
“Don’t worry,” I called. “Harry and Mel will come back for me. I trust what they told me.”
“They may not be able to get back,” Tasha insisted. The others agreed.
“They’ll get through. Harry loves me.”
“You’ve been unreasonable ever since you had that miscarriage.” Henry raced toward the
door and almost caught me.
But I ran into the house and locked the door right after he leaped over the four stairs of the
porch. He returned to the car, shoulders slumped. Their faces were drawn, and they were
shaking their heads. Rob took a deep breath before he opened his door and got into his car.
All four sat in their autos for a while before starting the engines and leaving. I returned to the
porch when they left.
I was that positive Harry and my cousin would come back for me.
Even Bertha (we hate each other) stopped to offer me a ride when she saw me on my porch.
Bertha insisted, “Traffic can only go one way, and that‘s out of the city. No one’s been able to
return since five o’clock this morning. It’s all over the radio.”
“They’ll find a way to get here. Love will show Harry the way.”
“Have you lost your mind,” Bertha shouted. “Now come on. Let our fights be over until we get
to a safe place. Please. You’ll be killed out here. I need an enemy, you bitch.”
“They left for more food and water. I wanted one last chance to say good-bye to the house. I
just love it. Lived here since Harry and I got married fifteen years ago.”
“You’re a fool! I hope the helicopters can get into the sky because if you don’t go with me, that’
s the only way you’ll get out alive. The River Fiend will be up too high. He’ll drown you. Watch
my words.”
“A fool! Go screw yourself, Bertha. I know what I’m doing. Besides, there are no fiends, except
in ghost stories at Girl Scouts’ camp.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment, then she breathed deeply, turned around and got back into
her car. She rolled down the window and yelled, “This is your last chance.”
I never answered. Just looked up at the dark clouds low in the sky. I didn’t want to leave with
anyone except Harry and Mel. But I should have left when I had the chance. The water came
the next day and just kept getting higher and higher.
How many days had it been? I shuddered and pushed murder out of my mind. The thought
was too hideous. Harry loves me. I kept saying over and over. They’ve gone without me. I
burst into tears. Moments later, I wiped away the tears and blew my nose on my blouse. All the
tissues in the house were wet or used.
As bodies floated face-down past my home, I remembered the movie about zombies. I’d seen it
the last night Harry and Melanie were here and had felt great after it was over, knowing that
such things did not exist. Neither did the River Fiend. Bertha was just trying to scare me. I’ve
been here for days, I think, and no fiend in sight. Just the damn river getting higher and higher.
When the stench became too malicious, I ran upstairs, three steps at a time. Standing at the
second-floor window, I glared at what used to be our front yard, but was now a sea of bodies
and carcasses. Sometimes fish, lots of snakes and an occasional alligator floated along with
the current.
When I examined my arms and legs, I found countless mosquito bites. I’d been on the front
porch since everyone left…waiting… I itched like crazy, and some had already become sores
from my scratching them too much.
Because of the stench, I was racing to the toilet and vomiting. This time I had to lean against a
wall, dehydrated and faint. It was a good thing that I had enough sense to run water into all our
tubs. When it came time to flush, I grabbed a bucket, scooped up water, and put it in the toilet.
Presto! It flushed, even with the pipes broken, at least I figured they were.
How many days had I been here? Had Halloween passed yet? I hadn’t kept track of the days.
I couldn’t stand to breathe that foul air any more. I couldn’t eat or drink because of it. I rationed
myself. Plenty of food was left. I just choked on it.
When I returned to the window, a half-decayed baby perched on the edge of the porch roof.
It reminded me of the miscarriage I’d had a month ago. I’ve never been the same since. I
remember it well, too well.
I’d tripped over some things Melanie had thrown at the top of the stairs for me to wash. I
screamed for help. Harry ran to the top of the steps. “What are you bitching about now?”
“I fell down the stairs.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re a clutz. Did you break anything,” he yelled from the top of the stairs.
“My stomach hurts bad.” I hunched over and held it tighter than before. “I’m bleeding. I’ve lost
the baby, it feels like it.” Tears rolled down and fell into my screaming mouth.
“Mel, we have to take Annie to the hospital. She’s losing that baby.”
First, from the linen closet, Mel grabbed some towels for her car, so I wouldn’t get blood on the
seats. My husband carried me. Our car was being repaired. As it turned out, I did lose the
baby. The rest of me was bruised, but I recovered fast.
After I got home from the hospital, Post Partum depression and anxiety reared up, especially
with Harry yelling, “Just calm yourself down and get on with life. Forget it. I really didn’t want
the brat anyway.” He’d also blown up when the doctor said I couldn’t have another baby and
prescribed tranquillizers for me. Harry insisted, “Those things are addicting. You’re upset over
nothing. Are you some weakling? Just stop the nonsense.”
I quit daydreaming because the baby’s cries brought me back to life. This decomposed thing
on the roof held its arms high in the air and squealed to the heavens, not with a begging or
praying tone, but shrill. It pierced my ears. Half of its head was gone. Maggots squirmed all
over its back and hair. I ran to the toilet again and vomited. I returned to the window because
something insisted I watch this baby.
The water was just even with the porch. How could this thing have gotten on the roof?
Still, it turned around and gazed at me, as if it heard my thoughts. Quick as a flash, this thing
was at the window, pounding with all its might. Only one gleeful eye remained. The thing
jumped up and down as it banged the window and shrilled, “Trick, no Treat.” The glass shook
with every blow. I froze. Oh my god, let me out of here.
The thing laughed so hard that its half-body jiggled and danced in the air. Still it pounded, as if
it were determined to break the window to get at me.
When I could move again, I ran to the attic stairs, which were still down from the last night
Harry’d been here. We’d gone up for costumes. Halloween was in the air. Shit, did I miss that
party? I should have marked off the days.
Once in the attic, I pulled the steps up and closed the hole in the ceiling. Surely, I’ll be safe
here. I gagged, but only bile came. It’s quiet, no pounding, no shrieking, is it gone? Please, be
gone.
The only sound was the swishing of water as it rushed along its path to more death and
destruction. A few moments later, I heard what sounded like metal being pulled and bent. I
stared at the fan built into the attic window. The thing yanked on the fan guard. Without
thinking, I raced toward the window, twisted the button to high. The electric was off, but the
blades raced around. I wasn’t surprised.
Roaring blades didn’t stop the thing. It kept yanking at the guard, and before long, it jumped
into the fan and was cut into tiny pieces, a toenail here, an eye there, and maggots stuck to the
blades. Now every piece moved on its own. They worked at the second fan guard.
I quivered out of control and stared at the uncountable parts working, all doing the same thing.
Terror glued my feet to the floor. This time the holes didn’t have to be big because all the parts
were little. I glared, mesmerized by the things. The River Fiend really exists. This is one of its
numerous forms.
A nose put its point into a hole and pushed. I was shocked that the metal gave way under so
little weight. The mouth went into action, opened the hole even bigger, and the fiends got
through.
Even the flapping of a helicopter overhead, searching for stranded people, barely registered
with me. In a moment, the things were through this second guard. The river fiends lunged at
my throat and womb. I fell to the floor, barely struggling and staying down.
Melanie and Harry wanted me dead. They hated me. I finally understood right before a
netherworld yanked me into its jaws.
My eyes finally popped open and I sat up. I could smell the putrid air only through the nose
thing. I smiled at the sweetness.
Through the eye thing, I glared at the mighty river and panicked. A mile down was a father
clutching his son to his chest. The toddler had lost his diaper. The dying man wound a rope
around the other arm, and two policemen pulled them to shore. I heard his sighs, his relief.
We screeched. Rage shook us all. But calmed when the eye gloated over an alligator
chomping on a black snake. Through the hand things, I swept back the juices rushing to
devour the snake. Its mouth part kept biting the alligator, hoping to wiggle out of his stomach. I
quickly held the throat closed. The bile gushed in to saturate the snake. The alligator sunk
from the poison. I leered with the lip things.
Propelling past my house were bodies and carcasses eaten to the bone in places. Once in a
while, I swooned over a bit of stray fur or skin. Ah, the river ravished life on its path, its scheme
of death and destruction. We glared at the beautiful sight.
I chuckled at a black cat running past us. The gorging rains and thunder surged in behind. As
the river rose, we fluttered up into the bitter air. I ripped out the fan. The little ones needed my
strength.
Again, the river fiends reunited with the titillating water, the exciting storm, and the thrilling
thunder. Off to Melanie and Harry, then on, to the rest of the undead.
Henry and Cary almost dragged me to their cars.
“Don’t worry,” I called. “Harry and Mel will come back for me. I trust what they told me.”
“They may not be able to get back,” Tasha insisted. The others agreed.
“They’ll get through. Harry loves me.”
“You’ve been unreasonable ever since you had that miscarriage.” Henry raced toward the
door and almost caught me.
But I ran into the house and locked the door right after he leaped over the four stairs of the
porch. He returned to the car, shoulders slumped. Their faces were drawn, and they were
shaking their heads. Rob took a deep breath before he opened his door and got into his car.
All four sat in their autos for a while before starting the engines and leaving. I returned to the
porch when they left.
I was that positive Harry and my cousin would come back for me.
Even Bertha (we hate each other) stopped to offer me a ride when she saw me on my porch.
Bertha insisted, “Traffic can only go one way, and that‘s out of the city. No one’s been able to
return since five o’clock this morning. It’s all over the radio.”
“They’ll find a way to get here. Love will show Harry the way.”
“Have you lost your mind,” Bertha shouted. “Now come on. Let our fights be over until we get
to a safe place. Please. You’ll be killed out here. I need an enemy, you bitch.”
“They left for more food and water. I wanted one last chance to say good-bye to the house. I
just love it. Lived here since Harry and I got married fifteen years ago.”
“You’re a fool! I hope the helicopters can get into the sky because if you don’t go with me, that’
s the only way you’ll get out alive. The River Fiend will be up too high. He’ll drown you. Watch
my words.”
“A fool! Go screw yourself, Bertha. I know what I’m doing. Besides, there are no fiends, except
in ghost stories at Girl Scouts’ camp.”
Her eyes went wide for a moment, then she breathed deeply, turned around and got back into
her car. She rolled down the window and yelled, “This is your last chance.”
I never answered. Just looked up at the dark clouds low in the sky. I didn’t want to leave with
anyone except Harry and Mel. But I should have left when I had the chance. The water came
the next day and just kept getting higher and higher.
How many days had it been? I shuddered and pushed murder out of my mind. The thought
was too hideous. Harry loves me. I kept saying over and over. They’ve gone without me. I
burst into tears. Moments later, I wiped away the tears and blew my nose on my blouse. All the
tissues in the house were wet or used.
As bodies floated face-down past my home, I remembered the movie about zombies. I’d seen it
the last night Harry and Melanie were here and had felt great after it was over, knowing that
such things did not exist. Neither did the River Fiend. Bertha was just trying to scare me. I’ve
been here for days, I think, and no fiend in sight. Just the damn river getting higher and higher.
When the stench became too malicious, I ran upstairs, three steps at a time. Standing at the
second-floor window, I glared at what used to be our front yard, but was now a sea of bodies
and carcasses. Sometimes fish, lots of snakes and an occasional alligator floated along with
the current.
When I examined my arms and legs, I found countless mosquito bites. I’d been on the front
porch since everyone left…waiting… I itched like crazy, and some had already become sores
from my scratching them too much.
Because of the stench, I was racing to the toilet and vomiting. This time I had to lean against a
wall, dehydrated and faint. It was a good thing that I had enough sense to run water into all our
tubs. When it came time to flush, I grabbed a bucket, scooped up water, and put it in the toilet.
Presto! It flushed, even with the pipes broken, at least I figured they were.
How many days had I been here? Had Halloween passed yet? I hadn’t kept track of the days.
I couldn’t stand to breathe that foul air any more. I couldn’t eat or drink because of it. I rationed
myself. Plenty of food was left. I just choked on it.
When I returned to the window, a half-decayed baby perched on the edge of the porch roof.
It reminded me of the miscarriage I’d had a month ago. I’ve never been the same since. I
remember it well, too well.
I’d tripped over some things Melanie had thrown at the top of the stairs for me to wash. I
screamed for help. Harry ran to the top of the steps. “What are you bitching about now?”
“I fell down the stairs.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re a clutz. Did you break anything,” he yelled from the top of the stairs.
“My stomach hurts bad.” I hunched over and held it tighter than before. “I’m bleeding. I’ve lost
the baby, it feels like it.” Tears rolled down and fell into my screaming mouth.
“Mel, we have to take Annie to the hospital. She’s losing that baby.”
First, from the linen closet, Mel grabbed some towels for her car, so I wouldn’t get blood on the
seats. My husband carried me. Our car was being repaired. As it turned out, I did lose the
baby. The rest of me was bruised, but I recovered fast.
After I got home from the hospital, Post Partum depression and anxiety reared up, especially
with Harry yelling, “Just calm yourself down and get on with life. Forget it. I really didn’t want
the brat anyway.” He’d also blown up when the doctor said I couldn’t have another baby and
prescribed tranquillizers for me. Harry insisted, “Those things are addicting. You’re upset over
nothing. Are you some weakling? Just stop the nonsense.”
I quit daydreaming because the baby’s cries brought me back to life. This decomposed thing
on the roof held its arms high in the air and squealed to the heavens, not with a begging or
praying tone, but shrill. It pierced my ears. Half of its head was gone. Maggots squirmed all
over its back and hair. I ran to the toilet again and vomited. I returned to the window because
something insisted I watch this baby.
The water was just even with the porch. How could this thing have gotten on the roof?
Still, it turned around and gazed at me, as if it heard my thoughts. Quick as a flash, this thing
was at the window, pounding with all its might. Only one gleeful eye remained. The thing
jumped up and down as it banged the window and shrilled, “Trick, no Treat.” The glass shook
with every blow. I froze. Oh my god, let me out of here.
The thing laughed so hard that its half-body jiggled and danced in the air. Still it pounded, as if
it were determined to break the window to get at me.
When I could move again, I ran to the attic stairs, which were still down from the last night
Harry’d been here. We’d gone up for costumes. Halloween was in the air. Shit, did I miss that
party? I should have marked off the days.
Once in the attic, I pulled the steps up and closed the hole in the ceiling. Surely, I’ll be safe
here. I gagged, but only bile came. It’s quiet, no pounding, no shrieking, is it gone? Please, be
gone.
The only sound was the swishing of water as it rushed along its path to more death and
destruction. A few moments later, I heard what sounded like metal being pulled and bent. I
stared at the fan built into the attic window. The thing yanked on the fan guard. Without
thinking, I raced toward the window, twisted the button to high. The electric was off, but the
blades raced around. I wasn’t surprised.
Roaring blades didn’t stop the thing. It kept yanking at the guard, and before long, it jumped
into the fan and was cut into tiny pieces, a toenail here, an eye there, and maggots stuck to the
blades. Now every piece moved on its own. They worked at the second fan guard.
I quivered out of control and stared at the uncountable parts working, all doing the same thing.
Terror glued my feet to the floor. This time the holes didn’t have to be big because all the parts
were little. I glared, mesmerized by the things. The River Fiend really exists. This is one of its
numerous forms.
A nose put its point into a hole and pushed. I was shocked that the metal gave way under so
little weight. The mouth went into action, opened the hole even bigger, and the fiends got
through.
Even the flapping of a helicopter overhead, searching for stranded people, barely registered
with me. In a moment, the things were through this second guard. The river fiends lunged at
my throat and womb. I fell to the floor, barely struggling and staying down.
Melanie and Harry wanted me dead. They hated me. I finally understood right before a
netherworld yanked me into its jaws.
My eyes finally popped open and I sat up. I could smell the putrid air only through the nose
thing. I smiled at the sweetness.
Through the eye thing, I glared at the mighty river and panicked. A mile down was a father
clutching his son to his chest. The toddler had lost his diaper. The dying man wound a rope
around the other arm, and two policemen pulled them to shore. I heard his sighs, his relief.
We screeched. Rage shook us all. But calmed when the eye gloated over an alligator
chomping on a black snake. Through the hand things, I swept back the juices rushing to
devour the snake. Its mouth part kept biting the alligator, hoping to wiggle out of his stomach. I
quickly held the throat closed. The bile gushed in to saturate the snake. The alligator sunk
from the poison. I leered with the lip things.
Propelling past my house were bodies and carcasses eaten to the bone in places. Once in a
while, I swooned over a bit of stray fur or skin. Ah, the river ravished life on its path, its scheme
of death and destruction. We glared at the beautiful sight.
I chuckled at a black cat running past us. The gorging rains and thunder surged in behind. As
the river rose, we fluttered up into the bitter air. I ripped out the fan. The little ones needed my
strength.
Again, the river fiends reunited with the titillating water, the exciting storm, and the thrilling
thunder. Off to Melanie and Harry, then on, to the rest of the undead.
