Tales Of The Macabre

 

4

Months went by and without no inexplicable or frightening occurrences happening, the witch stories slowly dissipated. That is, until the strange events began.  All the cats in town began to gather in the cemetery in what was known as Potter’s Field, the area where criminals, unknown drifters, the very poor were all buried.  It was a wide swath of useless land on the very outskirts of the cemetery near to swampland. 

It was a perfect place to dispose of the unworthy, unwanted or unknown before the time of DNA and fingerprints.  In all my years I could not recall ever digging a grave in this wasteland, but I could tell by the lay of the land even with no markers present it was very much full with graves.  Graves dug by who or how many will never be known but there are plenty of them I can assure you.

At first the cats would return home to eat, sleep and go about their normal routine after a night at Potters Field but after a while they stayed there all of the time.  If a heartbroken child or old lady came to coax their pet home it would acrimoniously hiss and run from them.  Soon no cat could be found anywhere but at Potter’s Field.  That is, except the three black cats at the home of Monica, always stationed on her front porch.

I soon noticed there were no birds around, no robins, sparrows, blue jays, only grackles and in ever increasing numbers.  There were flocks of them everywhere, picking at fruit and vegetable on the vine or tree, and soiling cars and fresh wash hanging in the sunshine to dry.  It was hard to find a place that wasn’t contaminated by their presence, their excrement splattered everywhere. And their constant shrill cry that assaulted the ear from sunrise to nightfall.

And without the cats, mice and rats began to increase their populations and boldness.  They lost all fear of humans and sometimes leaped onto dining room tables while people were still eating dinner in their homes.  The situation was becoming unbearable with all the filth from these creatures and not to mention extremely unhealthy.  People were beginning to fall ill, overwhelming the few doctors in town.  Leptospirosis was a far too common diagnosis.

 

5

Once again my status as an expert on these things began to rise and I was often asked if this was a curse by the witch queen in retribution for what the town had done to her all those years ago.  I was asked if someone should go beg Monica to stop the punishment in return for whatever she asked for.  It was said maybe she only wanted an apology for what happened in the past or maybe she wanted money, but whatever she wanted she needed to return things back to the way they were.

But who would make such a request? Who had the courage to face her?  Who knew the true witch she was?  Much to my chagrin, all fingers pointed to me as the one.  I am not heroic, not even brave, and this idea I should confront the witch unnerved me to the core.  I immediately rejected any such suggestion but still the ever growing chorus persisted. Eventually beaten down and shamed into the role I acquiesced with great fear and reluctance.

With tremendous trepidation I approached the old house with the cats, huge tomcats, hissing in conjunction with the horripilation of their back hairs. My knees were knocking together when I rapped on the door and waited with pounding pulse for Monica to answer my faint tapping. When the door swung open my heart leaped into my throat. I think I might have even gasped.

Standing before me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, even though she had a look of contempt on her face and fire in her green eyes. She said to me “What is it?  Can’t I have some privacy without you yokels driving by or looking in my windows?  And now you’re coming to my house?  What’s wrong with you people?  Don’t you have anything else to do?”

Flustered, I didn’t know how to answer so I blurted “Sorry miss. But we, us in town, were wondering if there was something you wanted from us?  Have we angered you and if so how can we make amends?” She looked confused but still angry as she said “What are you talking about?  But yes you make me angry by your constant spying on me and it needs to stop.  That’s how you can make amends.  Now get out of here and don’t ever come back” and slammed the door shut in my face.

I quickly retreated back to the road, relieved that my ordeal was over and I was still alive.  But I knew the people in town will not be satisfied with my report.  And I also knew the woman was the witch I saw in the cemetery and she wasn’t telling the truth about her purpose here or that she didn’t want something.  I went to take a fast glance over my shoulder to be sure she was gone but couldn’t believe my eyes.  In the old hickory tree that dominated Monica’s front yard roosted hundreds of grackles. I leaped upon my bike and sped for home.

I knew that once I return to town I was going to make it very clear I was never going back to that house or facing that woman again.  They needed to find someone else for the job. I’m nobody’s fool, that’s for sure and certain.  The look in her eyes told me more than I ever wanted to know.

6

The town of Hopkins Falls became like a medieval village.  It was overrun by vermin, bats had settled in vast numbers everywhere, rats roamed the streets, even the dogs had all disappeared under this onslaught. Some said it was the grackles that pecked the dogs to death then ate the flesh and finally carried off the fur and bones to build nests. But I didn’t see any of that myself.

I was very busy digging graves for the many residents who were dying.  Most of the townspeople looked as if on deaths door, dark sunken eyes, sallow skin, and thin frames. The town council decided it was past time to call in help so a plea was made to the governor.

Medical personnel, experts in vermin control specializing in rats, bats, birds, even cats were brought in to offer advice and assistance.  But nothing changed. People still died, bats and birds flapped overhead, rats and mice scurried underfoot. The town had developed a malodorous stench of guano and feces throughout. The town reluctantly had to hire a helper for me due to the amount of graves needed as I was quickly becoming exhausted from pickaxe and shovel.

Serious plans were being developed by the CDC to evacuate the town and seal it off until a cause and cure could be found.  But suddenly virtually overnight, it stopped.  The CDC urged everyone to leave in spite of this in case of a resurgence, but the stubborn townspeople refused to leave.  With no obvious disease or virus present, the government really had no basis to forcibly remove the people and eventually left.  I know I had no place of refuge to retreat to, Hopkins Falls was the only place I knew.  Most of us were glad to see them go.

None of us was willing to declare witchcraft as the source of our problems to anyone outside the village for fear of retribution from Monica.  Promptly people regained their health and strength, the cats came home and killed the rats and mice, the bats left and the foul stench faded away.  All that remained were the grackles who now flocked to Potters Field.

The general consensus now was to let Monica alone, try to coexist with her in peace. Maybe that’s all she wanted after all, to live in Hopkins Falls like she did centuries before. I think she showed us only a little of what she was capable of and that was plenty enough for even the most hard headed residents. It sure was for me. We now knew how adept she was and didn’t want any more of it.  And hopefully she realized that none of us were the ones responsible for imprisoning her in that tomb.    As for the grackles, we left them alone as well.

7

After about a year of peace all hell broke out. As I lay in the cemetery one drunken sleepless night I heard a voice coming from the direction of Abigail’s broken tomb. I stumbled over and saw Monica atop it and speaking in the direction of the grackle birds in Potters Field in a strong and resolute voice. For the first time ever the birds stopped their incessant chatter and silence filled the air. She spoke with great rancor and conviction with fists waiving and thrusting in the night air.

“Two hundred and two years ago this very night occurred the slaughter of our coven, us, by this town.  Into this mass of graves you were dumped like so much trash and I was deceived into believing my daughter was dead inside this tomb, this vault I was imprisoned in.  They quickly walled me in when I was rend helpless when I stepped into the enchanted pentagram on the floor.  There I remained until the earth opened and set me free.  And now I will set you all free from the earth you are restrained in.  Your spirits are within the birds, I have summoned and bonded them to these birds these last years and now it is time for you all to rise and reunite with your spirit. I summon you my witches, rise!  Rise!  Rise!”

I could see the soil moving over the graves like a snake slithering through the forest.  Then I saw one hand, then another then many prod through that foul earth soon followed by many heads and shoulders and full bodies skeletal in nature rising in a foul stench of death and decay with birds alighting on each and every one bring flesh to the rotting bones of those disinterred.  Soon there was a sea of unearthly creatures standing in that field with arms and fists raised in victory, their voices all blending into a ghastly chorus of cackles and runic babble.

Victorious, Monica, or was it Abigail, continued.  “Now we must take our revenge, not on these present day dolts in this village but rather we must return to our reign, our Time of the Witches where those who harmed us must pay.  I and my three familiars have found a way to use this broken tomb to return to the past and place of our attempted demise and betrayal and punish those who did this to us.  Follow me now witches, follow me now to revenge!”

And with that she shape-shifted back into the rotting hag I first saw and jumped into the tomb via the same gap she was freed by.  Soon single file, one by one, the others followed behind her until there was none left in the cemetery and for the first time in years it was filled with the silent sound of the dead as it should be. With a rumble the ancient broken tomb of Abigail collapsed upon itself leaving only rubble where it once stood and again the silence returned.

 

I sat there dumbfounded at what I had witnessed and finished off my bottle. Now I don’t have to be a college professor to wonder if those witches massacre our town forefathers does that mean all of us will just disappear since our ancestors will not be around to continue our family trees?  What will the future bring, or do we have no future or even a present? Will we all just evaporate? I shuddered and reached for a fresh bottle and drank myself to oblivion.

 

The next day the townspeople noticed the grackles were gone.  Passers-by noticed the three black cats were no longer on Monica’s porch. Shortly thereafter it was determined the old house to be abandoned, empty, Monica gone. Much welcomed relief went through the community that was soon followed by curiosity as to what happened to Monica and the grackles. But this time I knew to keep my mouth shut.

 

 

Opinion

 

Those who cannot remember the past… 

T.L. Hesse                                                                              June 6, 2021

Are condemned to repeat it

Philosopher George Santayana is credited for the above quote and it never rang more true than today.  What we are seeing directed towards conservatives and most pointedly White people is little different from what Hitler and the Nazi party aimed at the Jews, Gypsies, the disabled, and others that didn’t meet the standard of being Aryan perfection. The Nazis blamed the Jews for all their woes as the left now blames Caucasians for all that is wrong with the world.

Discrimination, what used to be called reverse discrimination, is now the norm. Even the Federal government practices it, for example the stimulus program to help farmers has White farmers last in line although they do 95% of the farming.  Affirmative Action, college admission quotas, racial quotas of all types are always set to leave the White people last because of their “inborn privilege”.

Critical Race Theory is being taught everywhere now and so called “White Privilege” is touted and spewed at every turn.  Reparations should be paid to people who never felt the sting of slavery, forgetting that many White people were also slaves, some under the guise of “indentured servants” but many Whites also were slaves in every sense of the word as well.  

I am no more responsible for slavery than I am for the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs.  But I can say a huge number of White men fought and died in the Civil War to successfully end slavery; however the left feels that means nothing because they are owed everything or so they think.

Now Asians are getting the short end of the stick as well at least in university admissions and racially motivated attacks, which the left tries to blame on Whites even though the facts and surveillance videos prove otherwise. Education is being further dumbed down with standards such as SAT tests and advanced mathematics now being deemed racist.  Asians and Whites do well in these fields therefore everyone else is being mistreated, making it racist to excel because others do poorly.

History is being racially rewritten via entertainment.  For example, the Broadway show “Hamilton” with all Black cast or a film about David Copperfield with a man from India in the title role. Are these hypocritical examples of the recently minted “crime” of cultural appropriation?  I always heard imitation was the sincerest form of flattery but I guess I heard wrong.

Curiously the Left is all for open borders throughout the world but very much against the admirable use of cultural objects or practices found in other places and countries, thus this horrible cultural appropriation is a no-no, especially if done by White people. So no wearing of the green on Saint Patrick’s Day if you’re not Irish from now on.  

Hollywood and the MSM never miss a chance to disrespect the Caucasian race although we are supposedly over 60% of the population of the United States.  I am always reminded of the old movie of Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” when Lenny has had enough and begins to fight back after having his face slapped numerous times.  There used to be a Black comedian named Slappy White whose name I now find ironic these days.  If only his middle initial was “D”.

The Nazis bullied Europe taking what they wanted and disregarding various groups of people as being human.  Earlier in the takeover of Germany Hitler had his Braunhemd, known as the brown shirts, to terrorize the populace and harass the Jews with the Kristallnacht being the most infamous of their mayhem.  He had various buildings along with churches and synagogues destroyed and blamed most of it on the then current government, the Weimar Republic, he was trying to overthrow.  And by these sinister means he did indeed overthrow it eventually.

Once he took full power Hitler tasked his personal physician, Dr. Morell, with keeping him pumped up on drugs to function. He also had filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to glorify the regime and vilify the opposition in film.  He had Joseph Goebbels to spread propaganda in speeches and print and of course Dr. Mengele to run ghastly experiments on humans.  Sound familiar yet?

Hitler had allies, most of which were not Aryan.  I’ve often wondered if these allies realized, especially the Japanese, understood they would be next on the elimination list if Hitler prevailed and actually ruled the world?  We can see traces of this stupidity today in those who hate their White skin and speak out against it with such fervor and venom.  Remember, during the Nazi era Soros betrayed his own Jewish people too. 

Do these self-loathers somehow think they have a free pass if White people are made to be second class citizens?   Perhaps because now at this time they are useful idiots to the left, they believe the two tiered justice system we now seem to have will continue infinitely and they will always prosper like Soros?  But sadly for them it’s not likely to happen this time around. 

To these people I will say read the Constitution of the United States carefully.  Discrimination of any kind is not to be tolerated including religious beliefs and skin color, and that includes any coming from you.  If our system is so unbearable, please leave, go someplace more to your liking. It might be a wakeup call for you. I lived for years in a third world country and believe me, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.  Go to the southern border and ask one of those people why they are so desperate to come to such an evil place as you see the United States.  Let me enlighten you.

The southern border is being flooded with people not entering legally but are welcomed with a cornucopia of benefits while the American population is under house arrest and enduring other unconstitutional mandates. The American population are being paid, overpaid, at the present time, although it’s finally changing in Republican states, to stay home and not work although many jobs, good paying jobs, are going unfilled.  And those with businesses of their own are being forced to close.

What if, desperate for workers or even by design, these plentiful jobs go to these newly arrived replacement workers?  What if once the jobs are filled suddenly the government spigot is completely turned off and those Americans relaxing at home are suddenly penniless?  Would they have been systematically replaced as they lounged on the couch watching sitcoms and eating popcorn? Would they have been herded into an economic boxcar?  Think not?

Are you willing to bet your life that it can’t happen?  How many times have you thought “it can’t happen” and then it did?  This is not the world we grew up in anymore nor is it the country that was founded in blood so all men could be free and equal.  Also, unlike the left, I capitalized “White” when referring to Caucasians, as all races being equal.  I again quote the words of George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

My American Thinker Post #4

 May 8, 2021

The long dark winter and what we should do to make it a spring thaw

By T.L. Hesse

It seems we have quickly fallen into a deep crevasse in just a few months of the Harris/Biden administration as we stumbled along in the blizzard of Joe's long dark 

winter.

It's a bizarro world of opposites.

Now everything's a little upside down, as a matter of fact

The wheels have stopped

What's good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out

When you reach the top

You're on the bottom

—Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind

Wrong is right, no justice is justice, executive orders supersede and bypass Congress, courts mean nothing.  Our elected representatives travel the country encouraging disorder and riots.  Illegals are treated better than citizens.  And on and on.  So much damage has been done; how can we possibly reverse it?

Like all humans, President Trump made mistakes.  He received bad advice from people he thought he could trust, should have been able to trust, actually, and got burned on more than one occasion.  He was a newcomer to Washington, one who wasn't welcomed by any means, and knew no one.

The political lifers still there seized the opportunity to rock the boat trying to navigate the swamp.  That's how he got a useless attorney general — two, in fact — and generals who were fighting the wrong war.

The administration, White House, all down the line of government, had people keeping their jobs who should have been let go.

It's ironic that the man known for the phrase "you're fired" didn't use it in real life often enough.  But now he is wiser and knows the game.

Unfortunately, the people who owed him their careers and livelihoods refused to stand up for him, including his own vice president, Mike Pence, when the election was hijacked (in my opinion), and now he is sidelined.

Down but not out.  He'll be back with a vengeance, I'm sure.

I believe that, much as we change the oil in our cars, we now need to change the oil, add antifreeze, and grease the wheels of government.

When we prevail, and I do believe we will, the following must be done.

1. People out of their positions should also lose their security clearances.  I know that when I left a job, I wasn't allowed to keep my company email address, nor was I still privy to the inner workings of the company.  So why do these people get to keep tabs on secrets when it no longer concerns them?

2. The laws on the books must be followed.  Ex-presidents should not be allowed to run a shadow government and travel around the world back-stabbing the current president.

3. Fire all career "public servants" and ambassadors, appointed officials, et al.  Vet those who take their place.  If this causes the wheels of government to slow down for a while as they learn their positions, so be it.  It will all be worth it in the long run.  This can be done one department or institution at a time, as long as it's done rapidly.  There are countless true patriots out there who would love these jobs and would do them well.  This vetting also includes political organizations.

4. Expect the agenda to be followed.  If there is a speaker of the House or Senate leader who doesn't follow through on what he was elected to do, remove him immediately.  Why we are still suffering old Mitch is beyond me.  Any member of Congress fomenting insurrection or riots is un-American anyway and needs to be expelled immediately.

5. State and local governments need the same vetting as anyone in federal office.  The days of talking out of both sides of their mouths must be over.  Anyone found to be on the take from anyone or place needs to be fully prosecuted, removed from office, and banned from office forever.  This includes relatives of the officeholder.

6. Hire people based on ability and not to fill a quota bucket.  Race, religion, sex, and everything else so "important" at this time shouldn't be a factor in hiring practices.  Get the best person for the job, period.

7. Learn from the bad examples currently in government.  Practically everything they do is wrong; Biden made his reputation on bad choices, and Harris doesn't even deserve mentioning, although I shudder to think what would happen should she take over.  Even with Obama toiling behind the curtain, we know that her world-stage faux pas instances will be cringe-worthy.

8. We need to stand by our allies and treaties.  Changing dance partners every time a new administration come in power does not present a feeling of security to our allies around the world.  Rather, it presents opportunities to our enemies to point out our unreliability.

9. Law enforcement must be allowed to do their job without fear of being unfairly accused of wrongdoing.  Take the politics out of policing, and stop the spying on private citizens — i.e., the Post Office.  Corruption must not be tolerated, and bad cops must be removed from the force.  This includes the FBI and CIA.

10. Most importantly, teachers must be vetted and tenure eliminated.  Teachers' unions need to be dismantled.  Any school receiving federal funds must teach civics and promote American values.  We are the only country in the world teaching our young to hate their own country.

There are other things I haven't covered, but these ten are among the most important to me.  We need to correct our course and get back to the founding principles that forged our country.  What we are now is almost unrecognizable.  We seem to have developed a coating of ice when we fell into that crevasse, one that froze us to inaction.  It's time to warm up, thaw out, and get ready for the fight — not a fight of arms or missiles, but one of action in our political systems to weed out the destruction and those who cause it.  Stand up and be

counted.  Bullies push you until you fight back.

If we don't fix it, who will?

I have recently read some essays in which the writer suggests forming secret organizations to combat the bizarre world we now are in, which will change nothing.  Others state that nothing is going to change no matter what we do.  So should we just surrender?  I think not.

Let's support new politicians to rout the proven poor performers or RINOs.  Term limits will never be passed by those in power, so it's up to us to make term limits happen by our votes.  Question shady voting laws or practices, and support recounts.  Consider a run for office yourself; school boards are a good start.  I believe that a return to the old days of paper ballots and one day of voting is necessary to help cut down on fraud and cheating.

Are these all new ideas?  No.  But what other rope do you have to climb out of the crevasse?  And we need to ponder this question.  If a president is elected by fraud, and it is proven, does everything he and his administration did become invalid?  God bless America.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.