Serpentine Ordure: A Short Story By Tyler Evans

I looked away but for a moment, and in that moment, everything changed. It’s hard to remember how it started or how it got to that point, but I know, in the end, this was my fault.

Broken. That’s the only word that could describe it. Broken. I could feel everything slipping from my grasp. Lost in a sea of the unknown, I had finally hit the rock at the bottom that I had been trying desperately to avoid. Caught by the undertow, I couldn’t claw my way out.

And there I found myself, no power, no control, no sense of who I was. I was defeated. Anything I may have been was gone and any strength I may have had, well, it was lost. How everything can change in a moment.

The time before it happened had been filled with joy, with laughter. I remember the smell in the air, a sweet cinnamon cast by the candle on the mantle. It had been a perfect evening full of love and family.

I sat with my love in front of the fireplace while the dogs fought over one of many bones strewn about. It was a lovely evening. After enjoying a steak dinner and a brief session of love-making, we sat, at peace. And then, it all changed.

I turned to get up and fetch a drink, as I was parched. Before I could stand, I spotted the demon, it’s hard eyes fixed on me with ill intent. It had come for me. I’d never seen evil so close and I never would have thought it could have manifested in a lab named Eddie.

I could tell from the look in his eyes that rules did not apply to him today. He was cold, calculated in his delivery. A shiver ran down my spine. Before I could move, he assumed the position, all the while maintaining intense eye contact. He wanted me to know this was my fault.

As his labored shit hit the floor, I could only think of every mistake I’d ever made and how it had all been funneled into that single serpentine turd. I deserved this. He knew it and I knew it. It had all come crashing down and I’m not sure it can ever be rebuilt.