This is the eighteenth part of a fiction serial, in 800 words.
In the space of six weeks, I managed to accumulate a great many insects and spiders from numerous sources. The neglected greenhouse in my garden was full of spiders of various types, as was the wooden shed, which hadn’t been used for years. Some digging in the borders provided an assortment of beetles and grubs, and I was able to find some caterpillars on the bushes and trees at the back of the property.
Nothing exotic though, naturally. For that, I ventured over fifty miles away, to a specialist pet shop I saw online. Pretending to be keen to start a collection, and paying full price in cash, I rapidly accumulated a considerable number of creatures, mostly quite repulsive things. I also needed the tanks, heaters, and lights to keep them alive as well as various disgusting foods for them. The shopkeeper thought he had an easy target for his suggestions, and kept promising me more and more exotica. After spending a substantial sum of money, and also buying books about how to manage all the different invertebrates, I had enough to have opened my own attraction, I was sure. The best thing was that the owner of the shop didn’t have to know my address or real name, as I always went there in person.
Hundreds of locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers, as well as a selection of exceedingly large tarantulas. There were massive centipedes and millipedes, and an assortment of cockroaches, including an enormous hissing cockroach; also stick insects and praying mantises of different sizes. At the prompting of the shopkeeper, I had also bought some large black scorpions, though because they were potentially poisonous, they would mainly be for show.
My next problem was how to arrange to get Danielle to my house. She rarely had anything to drink except tap water, and that usually from a glass that she filled herself, and drank immediately. She had never shown any interest in me romantically, so suggesting a date was out of the question. But when she offered me the chance to stay behind one evening to join her in Chinese food as a thank you for my hard work, I pretended to be busy that evening, immediately suggesting that we do it on the following Monday instead. I also told her that I would go and collect the food, and she could pay me later. She agreed happily, which gave me the chance to prepare.
That day, I arrived with a hefty dose of sedatives already diluted into a syringe. We worked as normal, and later on she showed me a menu, and where the restuarant was. She chose a very spicy dish, chili king prawns, accompanied by fragrant rice. I drove off in my van to get the food, waiting for it to be cooked fresh, and paying in cash of course. On the way back, I stopped in a quiet lane, and injected the sedative solution into the sauce surrounding her prawns. Back at the house, I served it onto plates, strirring well as I did so. My own bland meal was completely different, so no danger of any confusion.
Danielle wolfed the food as if she hadn’t eaten for a week, washing it down with some apple juice drunk straight from the container. I watched her as she ate, her sweatshirt and leggings completely covered in animal hair of various shades and lengths, her legs pushing away the collection of cats gathering at her feet under the table. No doubt she had a habit of sharing morsels with them, when I wasn’t there. When we had finished eating, I gathered up the containers into a plastic bin bag, saying it was to stop the cats from still trying to get to them. I took the bag outside to the bin, but put it into the back of my van instead. Then I offered to wash up the plates and cutlery, and she was happy to let me do that.
As it was getting dark by then, I said I had better go home. She insisted on giving me the money for the food from her purse, telling me she felt unusually tired, and might go to bed early. I walked to my van, saying I would see her the next morning. But I didn’t go home. Instead, I drove to the nearby supermarket, and parked at the edge of the car park. I sat there for over an hour, just to make sure, returning to Danielle’s house just before nine. I knew the side gate was never locked, and reached over to flip the latch. She was where I expected to find her, slumped over the kitchen table, with the back door still unlocked.
I had guessed that the sedative would work quickly, and it had.
Thank you Pete! Avery good sequel for learning all the names of the insects too. But they are all horrible in real. Since some years i only like spiders, because they are effectively killing most of the flies in the basement. 😉 Michael
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My wife is so scared of spiders, they all get killed here!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Definitely a planner..most meticulous…I am wondering if Mr. Plod will pick up on these or whether he will just carry on and never get caught but surely he has to make a mistake? I will definitely never ever tell anyone now what my fears are…..
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My tip is to pretend to be scared of something you actually like. I would tell him I am terrified of doughnuts. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Haha… that’s a good idea!
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Oh God…Oh God…Oh God…Oh God…😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
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Too late to appeal to a deity now! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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(1) “I also needed the tanks, heaters, and lights to keep them alive as well as various disgusting foods for them.” The way to guarantee a bug’s life is to keep it animated.
(2) Danielle should never have watched films like “Aliens” and “Starship Troopers.”
(3) Hissing cockroaches are evolving. One day, we’ll hear them sing “La donna è mobile.”
(4) “I had also bought some large black scorpions, though because they were potentially poisonous, they would mainly be for show.” How very considerate of Paul, considering the ultimate fate of his test subjects!
(5) Does the Chinese restaurant serve appetizers like bee larvae, cicadas, crickets, giant water beetles, stinkbugs, silk worms, cockroaches, and fly maggots? (Those are actual foods in China!)
(6) “She chose a very spicy dish, chili king prawns…” Prawns? Are you sure those aren’t giant lawn shrimp?
(7) “Danielle wolfed the food as if she hadn’t eaten for a week…” She is merely imitating the eating habits of the gray wolf in her sanctuary.
(8) Danielle will soon wake up with creepy-crawly exotica munching on the prawn morsels Paul has dumped on her naked body. Her first words will be: “Aren’t those lovely black scorpions supposed to be mainly for show?”
(9) I bet you thought I was going to include a Bugsy pun! Sorry, it just wasn’t in the cards…
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You fooled me with the ‘Bug’s Life’ reference. I had expected Bugs Bunny, actually. Something about Bugs, and the Bunnies in the sanctuary! 🙂 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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My choice of reference also left my friend Elmer befuddled.
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Well it’s now definitely horror ible! 😳
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Well it is meant to be, so that’s good. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I hope that man suffers at some stage, sooner rather than later
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Always a chance he might get away with it, Sue. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Knowing the writer, there’s a good chance of that
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I’m scared. I don’t watch horro movies. My heart can’t handle gory and morbid themes. But I must read this to the end. Hopefully, Paul will suffer immensely for his evil deeds.
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I don’t often write horror, Ngozi. I promised this to someone who asked me to write a horror serial. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ok, I look forward to your next serial.
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Backreading your first few entries here.
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This is a ‘horror’ story, Arlene. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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