This is my entry for the pumpkin pie contest given by @marxrab. I hope that you enjoy it.
Jordan held the thin scratchy fabric with both his trembling hands. The dull brown scarf was wound tightly around his face. Even so, the heat from the sun's rays was like a madness beating into his brain. His legs couldn't seem to carry him fast enough to get home so he began to sprint.
Tripping over a half tied shoe he fell onto the concrete sidewalk with a thud and a long scraping sound. He quickly got up, frantically checking to see if his jacket was zipped up fully. Pulling both woolen gloves on tightly, he then checked his shoes and socks to make sure that no skin was exposed anywhere.
The final check was to make sure his face and ears were covered by his knit cap and that his sunglasses were place neatly over the front of the scarf. In this way he was completely protected.
He reached a hand out to rest it against the nearby telephone pole. A single rusty nail held a piece of paper swaying in the wind.
A pumpkin pie eating contest.
Foolishness.
What a ridiculous world we live in.
Still.......a pumpkin pie didn't sound so bad right now. His stomach actually rumbled at the thought of eating one. One? He felt as though he could eat over a hundred.
Jordan didn't even like pie. He'd never been a fan of sweets after all.
Ripping the flyer from the pole he shoved it in his jacket pocket and began limping down the sidewalk towards his mom's red brick house. Not much farther now.
His stomach was aching again. It had been itching and rumbling like crazy ever since that terrible dream four nights ago.
Stumbling into his room he nearly tripped over a stack of loose DVDs that he'd haphazardly thrown on the floor. Cursing, he tossed himself lazily into bed. He hoped with all his heart not have that same nightmare again tonight. It didn't take him long to drift into dreamland.
He was a snake slithering on the ground, his venomous teeth glistened in the darkness. He was a big ugly snake and he was hungry. Suddenly laying there in front of him in all it's glory was a giant pumpkin pie.
Jordan felt very self conscious sitting in his little rickety wooden chair alongside the other contenders. He was dressed for a blizzard even though it was a hot sunny day. Most of the spectators in the crowd looked at him like he was some kind of lunatic.
Sitting directly next to him was a rather bulbous young man with spiky blonde hair and an uncomfortable looking acne covered chin. The boy gave a sheepish look in Jordan's direction, and then returned to rocking back and forth nervously.
There were only five contestants in total. Himself, the rotund boy sitting next to him whose name tag said "Olaf", the ridiculously beautiful brunette who was completely out of place here, and two slender red haired gentleman whose long hanging beards could only be viewed as a detriment in a contest like this one.
They were seated in a semicircle around a large round yellow table. The white tablecloth was stretched to it's limits but it couldn't quite cover the entire surface. Sitting on the far end of the table was a long wooden bench, almost like a church pew.
It's contents were two judges of wildly different proportions..........An obese woman in a nearly see through black sundress, the type that was clearly meant for someone else, and a male American Indian dressed in a conservative white suit.
Behind the wooden bench a large flag held in place by a metal pole flapped in every direction. On it was the tasteless picture of a pumpkin pie superimposed over the American flag.
Jordan grumbled at the inherent insult that no one else seem to detect.
Suddenly the Indian judge reached for a nearby microphone and began speaking very quickly. His unusually high pitched voice boomed from several overhead speakers that had appeared unnoticed earlier.
"Ladies and gentlemen get ready for this year's pie eating contest. We've gone with pumpkin this time and soon Mary will be walking over with the initial ten pies. How many pies will the winner eat this year? Last year Marty was able to finish off nine whole pies by himself."
"Those of you who know Marty should be sure to stop by Cedar Cyanide as he is still recovering from his unfortunate motorcycle accident last month."
"And now I see Mary coming so without further ado let's get ready to eat some pies!"
Jordan fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He felt something like bile in his throat....... his stomach was going crazy and even his ears were itching now. Using his left hand he tapped his sunglasses. Once, two, three, four..........now he was rocking just like the boy next to him.
His vision seem to be wavering but he could see the pies being placed one after another at the edge of the table. A random hand placed a pie in front of him and stuck a large fork in it. He could tell from the corner of his eye that each contestant was having something similar done to them.
He wondered briefly if he should get up and go find a restroom. Was he just constipated? What was going on with his stomach? It felt knotted like never before.
Looking to his left in a fever dream Jordan could see Olaf going to town on his first pie. To his right the brunette girl was daintily eating her first bite. She had no chance.
He lowered his scarf and grabbed the fork in the only way he could with his gloved hand. He jammed the silver fork into the pie and shoved a giant glob into his mouth. He swallowed it easily without chewing.
In this fashion he devoured the first pie in less than a minute while the others were still struggling. He heard a gasp from the audience but it didn't deter the pie handler as another pie was quickly pushed in front of him complete with new fork.
Pie after pie came to Jordan and pie after pie he ate. On his tenth pie he suddenly balked and doubled over.
For a moment he thought he might throw up.
Then it was as if a part of him that had been dreaming suddenly woke up.
Why am I dressed like this? Why am I completely covered up on this hot summer day?
He threw off the sunglasses, scarf, and woolen cap. They were each covered in flaky white skin that peeled from his pale face like dandruff. He threw off his mittens and unzipped his jacket, a dull moan of pain escaping his lips.
The other contestants stopped eating to look over at him in disgust. One of the bearded fellas got up and brushed bits of pie from his flannel shirt.
Jordan wanted to cry and soon enough tears did flow from his eyes but they felt hot and unnatural.
Pulling his red swollen hand down from his eyes after to wiping away his tears, he couldn't help notice bright red streaks all over it his sleeve. He quickly wiped his nose with the other hand and he could tell it was bleeding badly.
He felt the sudden impulse to run away as fast as he could and he was about to when all the sudden somebody or something punched him in the stomach as hard as they could.
He wanted to lie down on the concrete floor but instead he climbed up onto the table and laid down right next to a large pie, for reasons he could not understand.
Again and again he endured fist after fist in the gut, or so it seemed. Then he threw up.
It was blood and bile and something that looked like a tooth but not any tooth he'd ever seen.
Jordan was scared. His thoughts went to his mother. He'd been in some kind of daze. He didn't even know when he'd last seen her or where she was.
Suddenly Jordan's eyes glazed over and he began to convulse. The creature was ready.
It started in his stomach and crawled up through his esophagus causing the poor kid to choke uncontrollably. In a flash it burst through his left nostril. The nose was never meant for this aggressive action, and so it ripped the left side of his face right open.
The snake slithered down his bloody cheek and onto the dingy tablecloth.
While this was taking place it had seemed that time had stopped but suddenly a single scream started it up again and the audience was up and running away. Anywhere, anywhere at all, just not here.
The giant snake creature crawled over to the nearest pie and continued eating it as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Looking right over at the American Indian judge he said with a bloody grin.
"I sure do love me some pumpkin pie!"
Follow me @jeezzle