Danny
Danny sat on the floor of his typical looking six-year-old bedroom which was painted sky blue. Toys were strewn about in corners, boxes were left open, and posters dominated his walls. Most of which consisted of his favourite film Toy Story, and Danny was considered a conventional boy by any standards, he wanted to do all the play but none of the tidying. As he sat there wheeling his new wooden train in a circular motion on the bumpy carpet, his mind wandered back back on earlier that day when he had received it in the form of a Christmas present. Danny, hardly being able to contain his excitement, had ripped apart the blue and white striped wrapping paper with animalistic enthusiasm, making sure that it could never be reused again, as his mother was accustomed to doing so, and then then sat at the breakfast table eagerly slurping his bowl of off brand rice snaps (with a little sprinkle of sugar on top) and counting every piece inside its packaging and being amazed when he discovered there was eighteen pieces in total.
Now sitting in his room, he suddenly winced in pain and jerked his thumb back as he felt something sharp meet his skin, upon closer inspection he saw a screw had been left stuck, jammed in between one of the plastic wheels. The thought of running downstairs to alert his mother of the incident occurred, but just as quickly it abandoned his mind, and his eyes caught a glimpse of a new wooden figure which was part of his set and one he hadn’t noticed when first opening. And so, he picked the screw out its place, reached up and placed it on the desk and returned to his position on the floor with his legs now crossed and began to play with the little plastic man. The little boy brought the figure up close to his face and saw it had painted on it a little grey uniform. He looked at its drawn-on face which smiled back at him and wondered how he had missed it earlier. After a few seconds of consideration, he decided it was not a thought worth chasing and placed it gently at the front of the train in a little gap made especially for it. As he did so he spotted his thumb had now begun to bleed due to its trauma seconds earlier. Danny casually wiped it on the back of his pants and looked around him out of habit to make sure he wasn’t seen. His mother, like any obsessive mother, hated when he got his clothes dirty. He remembered once whilst out with his friends, he had fell out of a tree and had a nasty cut on his arm. By the time he had made it home his off yellow coloured t-shirt with a big mickey mouse print on the front was covered in blood and his mother had almost fainted at the sight of him. Luckily his father had some degree of medical training after he studied to become a doctor but had dropped out after two years when they found out they were expecting. Not quite enough training to be a doctor, but enough to be able to handle simple cuts and scrapes. He concluded that three stitched ought to set it right. But no one saw him now or lectured him, and so he carried on playing and began to stack books on top of each other to make a makeshift train station.
He felt glad to be alone him his room playing with his toys. For Danny, Christmas used to be about getting presents and spending the entire day eating chocolate and playing, but as he grew older, he realised that was not the case. It was about seeing old family members who he wouldn’t otherwise see any other time of the year, and spending time listening to their stories which he had heard all before and trying his best not to nod off. But now, with the family dinner out the way and everyone’s hunger satisfied, especially Danny’s after two helpings of his mum’s famous crispy roast potatoes, he was here now, finally playing and he had a good hour left before it was time for bed. Danny picked up six of his little figures and placed them carefully upright on the station platform which also happened to be an old Peter Rabbit book well beyond its best years. The cover was a picture of a mother bunny tucking in a baby bunny and he could still remember every word.
‘Train to bedside station will be calling in approximately two minutes!’ Danny called out in his best announcement voice, wondering what approximately actually meant. The sound of the radio downstairs playing “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash crept its way up and trickled into Danny’s ears. His mother loved country music and insisted on it always being tuned into the country stations where all they played was country music all day long. The music was accompanied by her soft voice gently singing along whilst she was filling out her crossword puzzle book her husband had given her just earlier that day. He found himself unconsciously humming along too. If the music hadn’t been playing, he would have heard the squelching sound coming from overhead. But he didn’t, and so unknowingly above him, a thick blood like liquid seeped its way slowly out of the light fixture and as if defying gravity, it began crawling its way across the ceiling in all directions like it was alive.
A few drops escaped and fell to the carpet below but went unnoticed by the boy who was engrossed in his imagination. Danny wheeled the train into its station and started to board the passengers. Then noticing a couple of drops land in front of him, he stopped, pressed his index and middle finger down on the carpet where the drops had landed and turned it to his face and saw a deep red colour with a thick sticky texture. More drops started to fall in quicker succession one after another, producing a sound like a stubborn pipe which leaked and echoed through the walls. All at once he became aware that the light in the room had dimmed greatly, and the temperature had dropped making him feel like he was outside at the beginning of a storm. Goosebumps raced up his arms and he slowly raised his head to find his bedroom ceiling covered in the same deep red coloured liquid, only this looked much thicker and darker, like a black hole sucking in all light that surrounded it. Whatever it was had reached the tops of the walls and was slithering its way down. Terror gripped Danny’s insides and he felt his jaw drop. He tried to let out a scream, but only empty air escaped his mouth. He could feel his eyes bulging out of his head and was sure they were going to pop.
Droplets were steadily falling now all over the room and the sound turned to heavy rain. Danny tried to move but something was holding him firmly in place, not letting him escape. His chest was rising faster and faster and he was sure he was having an asthma attack. He had seen his friend Jamie have one once at school and it looked as though he was drowning but only, it was in the air and not in water. But that was different. Jamie had a little blue L-shaped thing that he would hold to his mouth and push which would calm him down almost instantly. Danny wished he had one more than ever now. The thing completely covered the walls now and was edging its way closer to him covering everything it touched. He could no longer see his bed or his drawers, and his new eighteen-piece trainset was disappearing into the black hole, one piece at a time. The only thing visible now was the light which shone through the open doorway leading out of his room, and that was looking further and further away with each passing second.
The sound of rain drummed heavily into his ears now and blocked out all other sounds, making Danny’s stomach turn inside out. He could taste copper at the back of his throat and suddenly thought the extra helping of roast potatoes wasn’t a good idea since it might come back up. Darkness enclosed around him and as the unknown substance gripped his feet, he felt a deep agonizing burning feeling. This time his body let a scream escape his lips, but he couldn’t hear it, he could only feel his vocal cords wobble and tear. Danny tried with all his strength to move again and felt his body give way slightly. He forced himself harder and struggled to his knees and in a desperate attempt to flee he darted for the door only to slip and fall onto his stomach. His head bounced off the floor and feeling disorientated, he felt himself slip over onto his back. He felt helpless and paralysed. It gripped his head and quickly spread its way around and seeped into his eyes and the last thing the little boy ever saw was the little light in the hallway which looked like nothing more than a tiny spec of light in a blackened night sky. Excruciating pain pounded in his mouth now as he realised he was biting down on his gums. It was too late, whatever it was had found its way to the edges, and like hands with twenty small fingers on each, forced his mouth open, and flooded in. The burning feeling had now left his body and was felt on the inside as it poured itself into his stomach, melting away his insides. He screamed out but it turned into choking instead and with each cough and splutter, blood jumped in the air and landed back on his face. His chest jerked up and down involuntarily and slowly the coughs faded away, becoming less and less frequent, until they finally stopped altogether, and Danny lay still and motionless on his bedroom floor.
