Marble Cages
Part One
Neil Brennan walked down Coal Mine Avenue, twirling his umbrella and thinking to himself about presents. Tomorrow was his 4-year-old-grandson’s birthday. Little Parker loved to do things with his hands and was willing to play with whatever you gave him. Neil had lost several automobile pieces as Parker had followed him into the garage and mischievously hidden the smaller pieces of broken-down autos in the bottom of the rubbish bin. It was a dreary day, near the end of September and there was a heavy cloud set coming in with a slight drizzle. As he opened the door of William’s General Store, the little bell above it tinkled, a light bouncy sound.
“Hello there Neil, and what’ll you have to day?”
Neil looked over at the large store manager with a wide smile on his face.
“Oh just looking for something for my grandson.” replied Neil.
The store was a bright and organised place all of the isles fully stocked with everything from buttons to plastic boomerangs. After a little bit of searching, he found the isle labeled “toys” As he strolled through the aisle he was looking at different things, marker, puzzles, bouncing balls; marbles! Marbles were perfect! They were one of Parker's favourite toys, as he constructed elaborate mazes and endless obstacles for the marbles to roll through. He walked up to the counter and placed the bag of fifty marbles on the counter.
“That would be 50¢ sir “ said the cashier, a nice chap named Benny. ““That’s all?“ he inquired.
“Yes, thank you Benny, have a grand day.”
Neil soon found himself back at the family home, the porch light providing a soft warm glow, a beacon of warmth through the dreary, dark weather. He stepped inside and the barrage of noise from a family of six young ones assaulted his ears.
“Grandpa Brennan! Grandpa Brennan!” shouted Katie, one of his granddaughters. She was dressed in pink and had ribbons with flowers on them tied around her ankles.
“Look what Grandma made for me” said Katie, pointing down at her feet.
“Their beautiful”
"Uh hum, yes they are “ she said, skipping away.
After he had received greetings, kisses and hugs from all of his grandchildren, he quietly stole up to his room. He removed Parker’s present from the pocket of his jacket, placed it in his dresser, and promptly fell asleep.
Part Two
Everyone was excited upon morning time, for it was 4 year old Parker’s birthday and that meant the giving of presents and eating of cake. When Neil awoke, he heard a great hodgepodge of noises; delighted squeals, clinking of plates, thumping of running feet and the chatter of other adults downstairs. He quickly changed, slipped his grandson’s present into a fancy box and proceeded downstairs.
Neil sat down at the table and looked over at his grandson and said “Happy Birthday Parker” who, at the moment, had not found a phone book to sit on and could barely see above the edge of the table. Parker smiled back and gave an excited wave back.
The cake was quite good and served by Mrs. Brennan (Parker’s mother) who had stuck four brightly coloured blue candles into the warm fudge.
After everyone had finished a fairly large amount of birthday cake, they all headed downstairs because it was time for everyone to give Parker their present. One by one, the sizeable amount of gifts disappeared, leaving Parker with super hero masks, toy cars, rubber balls, action figures, legos, and other trinkets strewn about the floor. Neil approached the ecstatic looking boy with his small box and handed it to Parker. The boy slowly unwrapped the ribbons from the box and removed the lid. He gently lifted out the blue bag that contained the gift. On the side of the bag “Marbles” was written in thin font. When he saw the word, he quickened his pace and undid the drawstring with renewed vigor.
“Golly!” he exclaimed and gently poured the marbles out onto the floor. What you could not tell from the outside of the bag was that these marbles were not just any ordinary marbles. Each one was about an inch in size and jet black with hints of glimmering, tiny lights inside of each ball. I can not hardly describe them, as each individual sphere demanded the attention of your eye, and the once it had you captivated, it sucked you in until you could no longer see any other thing in the room. You saw but did not see, as you merely accepted every other thing as inferior and unimportant to these few magnificent objects. They glistened like freshly washed rocks, and each glimmer of reflected, no, more like expelled light caught your eye and absorbed all other light around them. A collective mutter of ”Where did you get those,” and “ Wow,” rose from the room. Parker then proceeded to hand around a few of the marbles. As the group all tried to reach for the magnificent new gifts, one of them rolled under the couch. Katie and Parker, being the smallest of the group laid on their stomachs and peered under the couch.
“I think I see it” exclaimed Parker, extending his hand under the sofa, trying to catch a glimpse of the marble. He retrieved the marble, and gasped. There was now a large gash in the exterior of the marble. And in that scratch was an eye. And not any normal eye. It had two irises, each black, in the same eye.
Part Three
The “marble” dropped to the floor with a dull thud. The sphere sat there, quivered while producing an ominous humming sound emanated from the shape and split directly down the middle. There was a loud ”WOOSH” from the shape and a black clad silhouette appeared. With two double-eyed irises. The creature shrieked a blood curdling cry and, faster than the eye could see, touched each of the surrounding relatives. Then followed a dull thudding sound as each of the twenty-three people around him were transformed into the small black objects. As each of them drooped to the floor and broke, they too released spirits, but not in the same likelihood as they were before the transformation. They had all become in looks and agility like the black clad figure that stood before him now. Even little Katie was wrapped in a black shroud, with three fingers on each hand and peculiar eyes. “Do not touch him,” said the first demon, in a deep echoing voice speaking of Parker. It sounded like two people speaking together, one tone slightly higher than the other. “for he has set me from my marble cage and I am in his debt.”
“We have no master, and we do not obey any mortal, demon or god.” And then a blur, a dull thud, a whoosh. And twenty-five demons now stood in the Brennan family common room.
Mrs. Wimberly was the elderly next-door neighbor and was coming over to congratulate Parker on his birthday. When she reached the window of the common room, the lights were on, so she looked in. And there she saw twenty-five black silhouettes, all groveled over against the wall. The smaller of the most of the creatures screeched and jumped through the window. Mrs. Wimberly cowered on the ground as it sailed over her head, spraying ribbons of glass into the street. When it landed it hissed, “I am no longer Parker in neither his body nor soul! I AM FREE!” and ran into the blackness of streets.
Part Four
Mr. Gumbel was to have a meeting with the very important people at his work. As he left to make coffee for everyone, he returned to find ten of so black stones on the floor and a small demon with flowered ribbons wrapped around her ankles. The two irises eyes were “pitch black and contained no hope,” he reported to those who had inquired about the incident. He was made a shadow spirit two days later in his office.
Over the next few weeks, reports of family gatherings, parties, and playgrounds turning into massacres were filed for the newspaper. Those who had said they had seen things in the night were the first to transform, but the damage was done. So if you ever sight a curious black stone or shadows that hiss and move, or even an unaccounted noise, run as fast as you can, and do not utter a word, for the seekers and their eyes see all.