The Taxidermist and the Coyote

An eccentric, one-eyed taxidermist hummed a song while pulling the innards out of the forty-five pound carcass. He cleaned the skin with a salt solution and tanned the hide with oil. The old man molded the form with straw, string and clay as he had done a hundred times before.

The brown coyote was killed with a bow and arrow a few days before far from its usual habitat in the mountains north of town. Newlyweds found it in the shed the day they moved into the old Rathbone house on the hill outside of town. A house long on folklore and short on facts. The young Scottish master’s name was Stewart meaning “animal steward.” He expressed to the old taxidermist that finding the coyote was believed to be an omen. It would be a guard inside his new home on the hill to ward off evil doers. The townsfolk thought the house to be haunted.

The taxidermist’s wife interrupted his work with a call for dinner. His patient was iced, and the trimmings were jarred in formaldehyde. The following day he finished the final stuffing and stitches. Another work of art. So real to the human eye it might bite the one who gazed too long.

The young homeowners on the hill were astonished how alive the coyote appeared. They gave it a place of honor between the master’s cozy chair and the hearth. On Halloween night, the lady tired of scary stories and retreated to the chambers. Master fell asleep in his chair as usual but woke up to a loud, slow beating sound nearby.

He sent word to the taxidermist that the sound seemed to come from the mounted animal. It was driving him mad!

The taxidermist ran downstairs to his workshop and dumped the jar of organs. One by one he counted and named them. Exhaustion collapsed his legs as he fell to his bench. He forgot to remove the coyote’s heart! His sweaty brow arched and a devilish grin formed on his lips as he turned out the light. He would tell the customer that the beating sound could not possibly be from the mount because it was dead…or maybe not!

© 2019 princess2ears

My childhood friend is an amazing taxidermist and was my advisor for this story. I fictionalized the rest.

Weirdtober 9 ~ TENS

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My chiropractic appointment was on Halloween at the end of the day. The sky was cloudy and dark with wind waving the tree limbs. The office was full of spiders and webs. A jack-o’-lantern with pulp vomiting out of the mouth sat on a table. Doctor Glinda was stirring her cauldron of candy corn and smiled with fanged teeth. Surely that was fake blood I saw at the corner of her mouth.

Doctor Rathkamp appeared at the door in grim reaper attire. Instead of greeting me, he silently waved his scythe toward the patient room. All month I had teased him and called it the torture chamber, but now it seemed real. He attached the pads and wires to my lower back and put a hot pad over them. The doctor turned the dial and the TENS sensors increased in intensity. The room was darkened and eerie music began to play. 

When the reaper returned and let me out of the office, I was three inches taller and had curly hair. He never spoke to me that night, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke when I bid them goodbye. 

I woke up the next morning and thought it all a dream. I was still short and my hair straight, but I looked in the mirror and saw two pierced marks on my neck with dried blood. Hmm…

© 2021 All Rights Reserved

Weirdtober 8 ~ Flooded

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Becky Sue came to visit recently, and we were reminiscing about our childhood in the small town of Karloff. We once built forts and rafts to compete with the boys at school. That was in the north woods that ran along the White Spirit River. 

Many years ago, the town was changed forever when the storm surge from a hurricane flooded the houses, rivers and lakes. Becky Sue and I remember meeting some friends and walking the riverbank from our old fort remains after the waters began to recede. 

The ground was saturated and caskets from the Lazarus Cemetery were floating by as we stood in shock watching them hit each other like carnival bumper cars. We knew they were from Lazarus because all of their caskets were deep purple with a gold cross on top. 

It was an eerie sight for a bunch of kids, and we never forgot that October day.

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Weirdtober 7 ~ Eerie Night

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I have always liked to boast
Not fear goblins or ghosts
Taunted and asked if I could
Go walking through dark woods

So off I went on my jaunt
To see if ghosts do haunt
Darkness and fog followed me
Toward an ancient cemetery

I knew by then I was lost
And failed to count the cost
Of walking in spooky woods alone
And stumbling I lost my phone

At a grave I saw a bench
Alone sat a stone-faced wench
I paused and stared her down
No response from her frown

Lost and dizzy I wept aloud
I trembled in the misty shroud
And then collapsed on the bench
Beside the lifelike stone wench

Exhausted I leaned on her shoulder
Which was cold as a hard boulder
But she slowly turned her head
So maybe she wasn’t dead!

© 2021 All Rights Reserved

Weirdtober 6 ~ Head noise

Since I had an appointment this morning, I decided to walk at dawn. There was a fog advisory, but I didn’t notice it until I walked a few blocks to the parkway. The streets were void of cars, and the sidewalks were bare. I sensed in the October gloominess I was alone. 

I set the cochlear app on my ear devices and decided to tune in to a playlist on my iPhone. It was the one I made of songs reminding me of my parents. I named it Pop Memories. I listened to “Pennies from Heaven” and set my walking stride. It was nice to be able to hear music in both ears after so many years of silence. 

I kept thinking of the songs I loved long ago and how I kept them alive in my memory during deafness. My musician son explained stereo sound to me once when I was hearing Ray Charles in one ear and the Rayettes in the other one. We had a good laugh about that. 

The next song on my walk was “Tennessee Waltz”, and I could picture my parents dancing in the kitchen. 

Something weird happened with my playlist because I could only hear the song in one ear. It paused and a different song started playing in my other ear. Was this head noise or musical memories? The song was “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” which Daddy used to sing to Mama. 

This wasn’t stereo in one song. This was a different song in each ear, and they were taking turns. I thought I saw him dressed like Fred Astaire and her in a flowing Ginger Rogers gown swaying in the fog a few feet away. It made me wonder if they were dancing in heaven and wanted me to know their love was everlasting.

[Photo: My parents dating 1934]
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Weirdtober 5 ~ Haunted stroll

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We agreed to meet for a haunted stroll offered by a famous old cemetery near our high school. Six cheerleaders, now in our seventies, still looking for excitement. We paired off and held hands as a precaution on the foot path. An actor who reminded us of Vincent Price narrated the event as we held up our candles to illuminate his face. 

After a few history talks about people unfamiliar to us, we slowed our pace to drift to the back of the tour group. I wanted to walk through the Confederate soldier section, and my friends agreed to tag along. The crunch of leaves and twigs underfoot was the only sound at first. 

We froze when we heard what seemed to be a faded bugle sound. It sounded like Taps to me, but I didn’t say anything to disturb the reverie. One of my friends thought she saw a soldier hanging from a tree, but we teased her that it must be a dummy for Halloween. 

I tripped over a shovel which pivoted upright and struck another cheerleader. The domino effect caused her to fall backward and knock two more down. One fell beside a crypt that was opened slightly as if someone tried to get out. 

Needless to say, we forgot that our doctors had told us not to run anymore. Lucky for us, we found our tour group as they headed out the front gate.

© 2021 All Rights Reserved

Weirdtober 4 ~ Swing with me

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Becca loved to swing and pleaded with me to take her after dinner the night before Halloween. She said her friends would be there at 6 PM. It was not at a park but rather a large swing set next to the town cemetery. I helped her tie her sneakers and zip her jacket. Becca pulled the hoodie over her head and ran to the car. 

We arrived on time, and she skipped ahead of me along the path to the swings. I pushed her a few times, and she giggled as she went higher and higher. I sat on the bench beside the children’s water fountain and watched for others to appear. No one came, and it was almost 6:30 PM. 

When I told Becca the others weren’t coming to swing with her this late, she looked at the swing on each side of her and began to cry. The swings started swaying, gradually picking up speed. I didn’t feel a breeze at all, and don’t understand what made them move. Two lanterns lit up a minute later on the path from the swing set to the cemetery gate. 

I shivered when I stood up and almost lost my balance. Becca dragged her feet to stop the swing when I said it was time to go home. As we walked past the fountain on our way back to the car, it rumbled and water spurted upwards. Becca held my hand and turned to wave behind her. 

“There’s no one there, sweetie,” I assured her while noticing the swings still moving. 

She hugged me as I helped her into her seat. “I was saying good bye to my friends. You just didn’t see them.”

© 2021 All Rights Reserved

Weirdtober 3 ~ Beyond the grave

Mary Martha, affectionately known as M & M, is from South Carolina. She is a successful finance manager, but she’s quite shaken due to two robberies at her office. To frazzle her nerves more, her husband was murdered a few years ago. She has a son with disabilities at home. He does not speak but uses sign language to communicate his needs.

She prepared her son’s favorite Halloween meal for dinner as he watched a horror movie with closed captioning. She glanced at the television and read “Happy 13th anniversary.” How weird to see that on a movie tonight of all nights. Maybe she imagined it. Her subconscious calendar reminded her this day would have been her 13th wedding anniversary with Jason. Goosebumps crawled up her spine and down her arms. She shook and twisted trying to rid her body of the eerie feeling.

After dining on tacos with a hidden candy pumpkin in each shell and a soda filled with spider ice cubes, Mary Martha and her son retreated to the living room to finish the movie. He shared his candy corn with her, and they hugged pretending to be frightened of the ghouls on the screen.

Tucking her son in bed later, she bid him good night and walked toward the doorway. She turned to smile and throw him a kiss when he suddenly spoke, “I wish I could have been here for our wedding anniversary.” Her eyes widened and her ears recognized her husband’s voice. Her son rolled over and went to sleep as if nothing happened. Mary Martha knew her mind was playing tricks on her because her son has never spoken a word before. 

What a weird way to end Halloween!

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Weirdtober 2 ~ Uncanny

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Madison couldn’t help but stare at a toddler in the waiting room. The mother noticed and shifted in her chair. The little girl with curly brown hair played with a handmade doll on the floor. She kept covering her doll’s face with a blanket then picking it up and hugging it. She repeated this several times. The mother paid no attention but occasionally peered over her magazine at the staring woman. 

She sensed a strange familiarity with the little girl. The eyes and expressions reminded her of the child she lost. She even pulled her left earlobe like Georgia did. She decided to speak to the mother, “Your daughter is a cutie. What’s her name?” The mother replied, “Daisy.” With eyebrows raised and a feigned smile, Madison spoke, “She’s beautiful.” That was her daughter’s middle name, but she didn’t mention it. 

The toddler brushed the hair back off her face, and a startled Madison stood up. The child had a heart-shaped strawberry birthmark on her forehead exactly like Georgia had. She was so shaken up at all the similarities, she had to get out of there. She fumbled for the key fob and pressed the horn button to find her car. Thinking, “It can’t be my baby. We buried her two years ago.” 

She drove to the cemetery and knelt to place a single daisy on the grave. As she stood up, she noticed fresh dirt around the marble marker but was too emotional to inquire about it. She just thought of how the toddler had an uncanny resemblance to Georgia.

© 2021 All Rights Reserved

Weirdtober 1 ~ 13th floor

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I worked on the 13th floor for twenty-five years. Our employees always joked it was an unlucky number. I commented that many buildings didn’t have a thirteenth floor.

After lunch on Friday the 13th, I rode the elevator up to our floor. When the door opened, I couldn’t remember which way to go. I checked the stairwell to be sure I was on the right floor, and the sign indicated I was on the correct level. I walked around the floor past the restrooms and water fountains but couldn’t remember where my office was. There was no one in sight. 

I felt slightly disoriented and got back on the elevator to go downstairs. I bought a cup of coffee and took a big gulp. This time I got in the other elevator with two attorneys and said hello. They spoke a greeting to me, so I knew I wasn’t dreaming. My coffee was hot and tasted good which I’ve never noticed in a dream before either.

I got off again at the 13th floor, turned left, walked past the break room to my office and opened the door. A mystery prankster had covered my monitor with fake spider webs and plastic fanged teeth were sitting in my chair. 

None of my coworkers admitted the prank, and I never told anyone about the elevator ride to the strange 13th floor. Guess it only existed in my imagination.

© 2021 All Rights Reserved
Based on true events