They Come from Below
A Short Story
“Shhh, you can’t say anything, or the monsters will get you,” his sister Emily whispered in the pitch-black room. Joseph nodded, scared if he moved his head too much, it would hear his hair rustling, but he would be quiet. He always was.
They had left their farm the day before her fourteenth birthday; Joseph remembered because that meant it was six months to his sixth birthday, and he thought it was rather mean of his parents to leave without celebrating. Emily had been so excited, but their father spent their last moments on their farm trimming his beard instead of celebrating.
He missed his bed, and the farm. There had been an old castle downriver from their farm. Emily would lead him down so they could look at it when they weren’t supposed to. Joseph loved it. Seeing the red brick castle brought his toys to life, and Joseph imagined he was one of his little wooden knights running along those walls and fighting a dragon. Emily said there were lots of dragons around now.
Joseph didn’t quite understand what was going on. Always going from place to place was tiring, and sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable. Emily always told him not to make a sound, so Joseph would just fall asleep when they went from place to place. He didn’t understand why his parents and Emily couldn’t just sleep. It was easy! Instead, they always seemed like they were going to get in trouble.
Even if the dragons were around, there were still plenty of knights. Just that day, Joseph had seen them through the little window, which was the only way they got any light in. Dad wasn’t too happy about that when he saw him. He thought they were spectacular, though, Marching in lines with their big silver horses and black suits of armor. How could there be monsters with so many knights around?
There was a knock from below the floorboards that were his bed.
Joseph closed his eyes. He’d be quiet. He always was. He was a good boy. Next to him, Emily held her hand over her mouth. Their parents were in the small room across the attic. He hoped they were asleep. Being quiet was easy when you were asleep.
Then he heard the voices.
“Wo sind die Juden? Schnell!”
“Kein Juden! Nein!” The man below said in his broken, heavy accent. Joseph liked him.
More shouting followed.
There came a crack of thunder followed by what sounded like a bookcase falling. Joseph opened his eyes. These must be the monsters, or worse, maybe that thunder was a dragon. He prayed with all his might that the knights would come.
A scream pierced the attic.
At first, Joseph thought it was Emily. But no – he saw her lying there dead still with her hand over her mouth.
It must have been Mommy then. Dad really wouldn’t like that.
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A/N:
This was a tough piece to write-sorry for the preweekend downer everyone. Still, these types of stories, those that peer into the lived life of people often reduced to statistics I find to be the most important. If you're looking for something more uplifting, you may want to look elsewhere, but this one below is a bit more uplifting:
Challenge info below:
If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. All my best works can be found below:
About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
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More stories from Matthew J. Fromm and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Throne of the Beast
“Lock and load.” Knight One’s command echoed through his helmet, drowning out the helo’s thumping engines. Knight Two sat across from him, his mechanical gloves thumbing the safety on his oversized auto shotgun clad in etched black metal. Knight Four scoffed silently, his face obscured by the jet-black helmet. An uncivilized weapon for an uncivilized man. There are already enough of those in this godless world. Two always seemed unsettling, like a big frothing dog in a constant internal struggle of, “Should I bite or hump my master?” It was no wonder Callsign General loved Two, even if Callsign Archbishop barely tolerated him. One was the Archbishop's girl.
By Matthew J. FrommExclusive • 2 years ago
Comments (37)
Powerful and what a challenging piece you chose to write about. I just rewatched Schindler’s list ( saw it in the theatres when it came out and could never bring myself up to watch it again) I applaud your choice of an innocent MC, that added depth. Congratulations on Top Story
Clever take on the prompt for sure. And quite inspired to take the perspective of the young child and use that lens of naivete to slow the reveal as the audience gains far more awareness than the narrator as the story progresses. Also a withering examination of what it would be like to go through this when you were young enough that your definition of normal is still quite malleable.
I missed this one , excellent work
Good Choice
Interesting.
The article "They Come from Below" is a fascinating dive into the unknown history of subterranean civilizations. The key takeaway about the impact of these hidden societies on our surface world is both intriguing and thought-provoking. The narrative skillfully blends historical facts with speculative fiction, making it a captivating read. Truly, this piece is a reminder of how much we have yet to uncover about our own planet. Great job highlighting such a unique and engaging topic!
Very good
Congratulations on your top story.
Like it
Wow! Best! Congratulations on TS!
https://todaysurvey.life/history/history-of-virudhunagar%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E support me
Congrats on Top Story!🥳🥳🥳
Scary stories are fun! Good job. I think you would like my stories.
Oh man, Matthew. Seeing it through Joseph's eyes, the eyes of innocent whose only monsters are dragons and seeing soldiers as knights. This made me tight in my gut on reading it.
💓Congrats on top story! Love your story! 💓
Loved this one.
I like how your story encapsulates sibling bravery in the face of uncertainty. Keep sharing your tales—they resonate with courage and hope.
Matthew, you out did yourself on this piece. I was on edge wondering what was goi g on, and oh boy did this have a lot. So much in a short story. That ending was a cliff hanger. Congratulations
What a terrifying innocent view point of a horrendous injustice of crime against humanity. My heart aches for Joseph and his family. Very well written. Thank you
Damn impressive!
The worst monsters are the ones that live next to us, look like us, that are us, and that hate us just for being us. Then again, we've probably been monsters tl for hating them just for being them. Nobody can control the state of their birth and who they're born unto, it is what we do with being born that makes us good or bad. This gave me flashbacks to "Night" by Elie Wiesel, Schindler's List, and a story who's name I can't quite recall (the granddaughter ends up traveling back through time and meeting her grandmother, and her grandmother is against tattoos because of the number she had drilled into her arm, if I recall correctly the grandmother's name is Eva). I feel for how innocent Joseph is. Especially to lose his sibling like that, right in front of him. Some people, especially children, take a while to process death. For me, when a loved one of mine passed away it didn't hit me until a fee months later. Poor Joseph, I hope that they remain hidden and eventually reach freedom. May Emily be at rest and eternally at peace. It's sad that Joseph must learn about the fact that fairytale and make believe monsters don't exist and some will never be as terrible as we are. Think about it, the flames of a dragon, the toxic sting of a wyvern, the instanteous death from a basilisk's gaze, the gnashing fangs or a werewolf don't seem as bad as the torture that we put each other through when we dehumanizing one another. In a sense, those creatures have a lot more grace than we ever will, and that we will ever bestow unto our enemies.
That wasa great entry. Congrats on the TS.
Terrific work! Keep it going—congratulations!
Ohhh god how truly torturous and confusing for a child to be in such a situation!! Very well written and thoughtful piece
https://todaysurvey.life/history/ridiculous-wars-in-history%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E Have a lookk!!