Bogleech.com's 2014 Horror Write-off:
" The Boxes: Somewhere Over the Rainbow "
Submitted by
Samuel Miller
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Way up high...
There's a land that I heard of...
Once, in a lullaby...
The rusty metal and rotten wood construct drones out a song in a faint and raspy voice. I look at it in confusion, wondering where I am and how I got here. Surrounding me are innumerable crates and boxes, going off in every direction. I sit down on the cold concrete floor and attempt to figure out how I got here as the strange statue continues:
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Skies are blue...
And the dreams that you dare to dream...
Really do come true...
I cannot for the life of me remember how I got here! I get up and walk down one of the great aisles of boxes both to find out how I got here and to get away from that strange structure. I walk and I walk for a couple of minutes, or maybe it was a few hours? A day? Or wait, was it really just a few seconds? I... I... just can't tell how long it's been! Why can't I tell! Why... Well, however long it was, I got tired after a while and decided to stop to examine one of the crates. In the distance, I hear:
Someday...
I'll wish upon a star...
And wake up...
Where the clouds are far below me...
Where trouble melts like lemon drops...
High above...
The chimney tops...
That's where you'll find me...
I sit down next to one of the very large boxes and examine its exterior. Carved all over its dark wooden exterior are colorful images of people and smiling faces. Crude drawings of extremely color saturated houses sit behind the people, and swirly, rainbow colored pillars of smoke come up from the chimneys. Something is written on one of the beams on the top of the crate, but it is covered by one of the very crude doodles, that now seem to be made from still wet paint. I can see fingerprints in the paint, but they do not have any pattern like a normal finger. They are more like lots of concentric circles. I hear a faint noise, and putting my ear up against the side of the box allows me to hear very empty sounding cheering and laughing, just slightly louder than a very whispery wind-like noise. Suddenly, I hear the jolly sounds stop, and some voice say, in a very angry tone, "Is someone there? Why don't you come in and play?" I jump away from the box and begin to scramble away as I hear the angry voice say, "WHY DON"T YOU COME IN? WE HAVE TREATS AND GAMES AND FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY!" In the distance, the statue plays on:
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Bluebirds fly...
Birds fly...
Over the rainbow...
Oh why...
Oh why can't I...
As I run away from the very angry box, I hear tweeting and birdsong in the rafters above me. I didn't even notice any rafters when I first got here. When did these show up? I look up, and there, in the rafters, sits a very, very fat blue skinned toad. Whenever it opens its mouth, utterly beautiful birdsong comes from the wide and slimy maw. I stand for a time, and then the amphibious creature notices me. It reaches into its mouth, and turns itself inside out, revealing a skinless and bloody bird, coughing up feathers and emitting very loud bullfrog croaking. It flops off of the banister and flies, very awkwardly and slowly, over to one of the crates. The disgusting bird emits one last croak, and then it opens the crate with a single flop of its wings and hops into it. I run over to the box, but it closes before I can look inside. Even now, I can still hear the musical structure:
If...
Happy little bluebirds fly...
Beyond the rainbow...
Why...
Oh, why can't I...
I hear a click as the sculpture finishes the song, and I examine the box that the frog-bird fell into more closely. The cardboard sides are soaked with a black liquid and smell of salt and charcoal. Nothing is drawn on the box, except for a singular red arrow, pointing towards the ground, and with something written in some strange language on it. I put my ear to it to see if I can hear anything, and all I hear are the sounds of some mechanism, like some sort of train or engine. I also hear inaudible shouts and mutterings. I also hear the frog-bird make the extremely loud croak again, and then hear the sound of a child laughing. I hear the rusting construct begin again:
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Way up high...
There's a land that I heard of...
Once, in a lullaby...
I wander for a time, becoming very, very lost, yet always hearing that blasted contraption! I have not needed to eat or drink for the entire time I've been here, however long that's been. I sometimes encounter things, like the frog-bird I found 25 years ago. Wait, was it really just a week? Oh, I don't want to do this again! Well, to get back on topic after that tangent, I've met lots of stuff. After finding the frog-bird, I met a very flabby grey woman. She had eyes filled with cataracts, but with several black holes seemingly drilled through them. Her hands were like smooth metal hooks embedded in her grey and rubbery flesh, and her face was like a cross between a caricature of a person and a cubist painting. She said her face was like this because of some sort of... "problem", but she also said that it could be fixed with the "True Sodas" (she carries around bottles of colorful crap with her all the time. I've smelled them, and they are horrible) and by doing something for some "Wee-Urm". She's still with me, but she said she'll be going back to her "Grey City" soon. I wish I could figure out where I need to go. I've met a skinny and toothy creature wearing a bowler hat and with hands like a cross between a fishes fins and a tiger's paws. I've met a cube of silver putty that asked for directions and then left. I've met something like a cross between a raccoon and a chimpanzee. All of them met me and then left, and the Grey Lady is gonna leave too! I need to stop her! I hear, very faintly, the machine, still whirring out that blasted song:
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Skies are blue...
And the dreams that you dare to dream...
Really do come true...
I couldn't have stopped her. The Grey Lady left today. She left, and I tried to hold her back, to stop her from leaving, but I couldn't. She forced her way out of my hands, and waddled over to a very tall and fat grey box with very tall and thin pictures of buildings drawn on the side. She opened the lid. She opened the lid and looked back at me, with her strange face twisted into something that could be called a smile, and she waved her metal claw, and then jumped in. She... left... SHE LEFT...
Someday...
I'll wish upon a star...
And wake up...
Where the clouds are far below me...
Where trouble melts like lemon drops...
High above...
The chimney tops...
That's where you'll find me...
I scrambled about, looking for anything that I could do. I ripped apart our encampment looking for anything that I could do! Right now I am sitting in a little shadowed corner of our camp, crying. My tears fall down my face and then hit the ground with an exaggerrated splash. I don't know what to do! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! While sobbing heavily, I again notice the ever-cheery song of that horrid machination in the distance. It is mocking me. THAT MACHINE IS MOCKING ME WITH ITS HAPPY MUSIC! I know what to do. I have to go to the rusted and rotten contraption. I have to figure this place out. I have to leave.
Somewhere...
Over the rainbow...
Bluebirds fly...
Birds fly...
Over the rainbow...
Oh why...
Oh why can't I...
I arrive back at the awful machine, still humming out that horribly happy song, and I scream at the top of my lungs, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS! WHY DO YOU MOCK ME! WHY AM I HERE!" The machine says nothing. It just continues singing that horrible, horrible song. "WHY DO YOU DO THIS! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS!" The machine continues to say nothing. It still sits there, emitting that happy, happy song, mocking me with its inactivity. I kick it, punch it, attempt to damage it in any way possible. It does not respond, and my attempts at hurting it are completely and utterly futile. Nothing happens to the construct, and it continues to sing that stupidly happy song. "WHY! WHY DO... YOU... MOCk... me..." I collapse to the ground as the statue still sings on and on. While doing this, I hear a scraping sound as the top to one of the boxes opens up behind me. I turn around to see, and I notice that the frog-bird is sitting on the edge of one of the boxes. I get up quickly and happily, and rush over to the box. Without a single thought, I jump into the bright opening, and see the frog-bird look down on me as I fall. Wait a moment, why is the frog-bird flying away? Wh- Oof! I get up. There's nothing here! There's nothing here! Wait, there's a door. I walk over to the door, and open it, walking through the thresho-
If...
Happy little bluebirds fly...
Beyond the rainbow...
Why...
Oh, why can't I...