THE SHARK CHRONICLES: POSTCARD #15 - IOWA

       Darren didn't pick up the stack of postcards again for over a week. For some reason, he was reluctant to see what the Iowa postcard had to say.  The postcard gave off an vibe, almost like an odor of ammonia mixed with stale urine. But he remembered the shark. He didn't want to turn around one day (or night) and see the shark in front of his face. So at home in bed, he picked up the postcard which simply showed a large field of grass and the words "Come Visit IOWA" in cursive across the picture. He noticed that his fingertips itched, and there was a bitter tang upon his tongue as he turned the card

VITROLIC

When Charity came home and told her mother

she saw a dead misshapen baby  that smelled of alcohol in a trash can on the way home from school

her mother called her a liar and a waste of space

Then she slapped Charity and warned her not to be a pest any more

Charity ran to her room to cry but first she stopped into the bathroom to spit on her mother’s toothbrush.

That night Charity had a nightmare, and when she awoke, she ran into her mother’s room

to seek her mother’s arms, only to find that they were full; one held a man in front, and the other held a man in back

And the room stank of alcohol and sweat

Her mother called Charity a tumor and an unwanted accident and got out of bed to kick Charity down the stairs.

Before Charity limped back upstairs she stole a knife from the kitchen, one bigger than her whole hand.

The next day when Charity walked gingerly into the kitchen, and hugged her mother and told her mother she loved her, her mother scooped her up into her arms

and smiled into her daughter’s eyes

then bit into Charity’s face, and tore off her flesh

as Charity screamed and kicked, her mother continued to eat her,

until there was nothing left of Charity except the splashes of blood on the floor, the table, chairs, counter, and her mother’s clothes

And a single tooth of Charity’s.

Her mother swallowed the tooth, then said “Good riddance.”

Suddenly she grew ill, and ran into the bathroom.

A couple weeks later, Charity’s mother realized she was pregnant, and she did not know who the father was

Nine months later, she gave birth to a misshapen baby that smelled of alcohol

 She named it Nothing and wrapped it tight in tin foil and threw it out with the trash

The next day a girl named Hope walked by the trash can on her way home from school and noticed a

tiny twisted hand sticking out of a wad of tin foil

When she realized there was a dead baby inside, she went home to tell her mother.