Return to Belle Lake by Doug Hawley

“How do you feel about coming back to our house, Shere.” 

“Duke, all I know is that the Federals say it is completely safe. They checked the burned ruins of mad doctor Simon’s place and didn’t find anything alive. Of course there are rumors about remains of his weird animal creations, but nothing provable. The National Guard and FEMA have thoroughly checked out Belle Lake for miles around.” 

“I talked to a loose-lipped guardsman in town. He says that there was another monster like the one that you killed. Sure glad you are an expert markswoman and grabbed the 45 auto before leaving the house. Probably government mad doctors are experimenting with the monster that is a lookalike for the one you shot. You know I have dreams or nightmares about twenty foot long super reptiles?” 

“You and me both, Duke. But I’m pretty sure that everything will go back to normal, and the horror will fade.” 

Upon returning from what used to be Duke’s usual Saturday walk to the lake, he told Shere “I’m not screaming like the first time I saw one of Simon’s creations, but it was pretty upsetting. The nightmare isn’t over. I saw something like an anaconda with legs cross the path in front of me on the way home. I don’t think that it saw me. I’ll start to pack. Why don’t you call the Belle Lake neighborhood line to let everyone know that we need to evacuate again.” 

Shere came back from the phone looking stricken. “Before I could call the neighborhood line, I got a call from the line. I was told not to worry about the monsters.” 

“But that’s good news isn’t it?” 

“No need to worry about the monsters because both China and Russia have launched a nuclear attack on the USA.” 

“What can we do?” 

“We can hope that we are killed immediately or wait for death by radioactivity. I chose to use my gun, stick my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye. Want to join me?”

The little old man who wrote the story is a retired actuary who lives with editor Sharon and cat Kitzhaber.  When not sleeping, eating, volunteering, or hiking he might be writing.  

More here https://sites.google.com/site/aberrantword/ and here https://doug.car.blog.