Key-no - TTS2022 - Just For Fun

"Tis the season to be a pain-in-my-butt..." Josh mumbled under his breath. "Come on, people! I got places to be!"

No one seemed to notice his frustration, or if they did, no one seemed to care. Traffic didn't move. People were walking down the sidewalk, easily outpacing him even though their arms were full of bags and boxes.

"Season of giving. Hmph! Season of getting in everyone's way, that's what it is."

The car ahead of him inched forward and Josh eased off on the brake to fill the gap. As he brought the car to a stop, he dropped his head a bit and closed his eyes. This was insane! All he wanted to do was get home, and instead he was stuck in traffic, all because someone long ago figured out a way to get everyone to try to buy stuff no one wanted all at the same time every year.

But closing his eyes didn't help. When he reopened them, the traffic was still there. The snow was still there. The flashing lights adorning the storefronts were still there, mocking him. Josh let out a long sigh and sat back in the seat.

"Someone please call off Christmas!"

That's when he saw the old man. He was shuffling by slowly, each step seeming premeditated, purposeful, and yet woefully inadequate. His tattered coat was thin and old, with patches and holes that showed thin, dingy clothing underneath. The cane slipped forward with each step, desperately grabbing onto what little friction the icy sidewalks would allow, in a frantic attempt to keep the passer-bys from knocking his frail figure to the ground. His face was looking toward the ground, as if to ensure his feet were where he thought they were, and a semi-tangled mop of dark black hair spilled from underneath a tattered cap, obscuring most of his face.

Josh didn't know why, but the sight of the old man tugged at a heartstring he had moments before not knew existed. As the old man unsteadily made his way beside Josh's car, he tapped the button beside him. The window rolled down, letting a blast of cold air inside.

"Hey, mister!"

The man slowly looked up and over to him without saying a word. Josh could see two eyes peering at him from behind the mass of black hair.

"Hey, look, it's cold out there. Would you like to rest in here for a while? I'll take you home."

Somewhere in the back of Josh's mind, he was screaming at himself. "You idiot! You don't know this guy! What are you trying to do? Mind your own business!" This just wasn't something he did. But his mouth said the words anyway, and his finger pressed another button to unlock the door.

The man just looked at him silently.

Josh checked the traffic in front of him; the Honda hadn't moved an inch. He leaned over and managed to pull the door handle, slightly pushing the door open. "It's OK. I won't hurt you."

The old man ambled carefully toward Josh's car and took hold of the door with one unsteady hand. He stopped, again looking at Josh with those hidden but intense eyes. Josh just nodded, and the old man opened the door completely and sat down beside him.

Josh rolled the window up and adjusted the heat setting. "Where're you heading?" The old man, now sitting with his head down again, just pointed forward.

"Well, what a coincidence! I'm going there myself," joked Josh with a chuckle. The old man said nothing. About then, the Honda in front started moving and Josh paced it. "Hey, I think you're my good luck charm. I've been sitting here for 20 minutes without moving."

Still no response.

Traffic was now moving at a respectable pace through the white-lined streeets. Joe turned his attention forward, but the old man's silence was worrying him. He knew better than to let a stranger in his car! Everyone knew that people had gotten killed that way, and the silence was causing him to have a lot of suspicion.

"My name is Josh. What's yours?"

There was no immediate answer. Josh turned his head slightly to see those piercing eyes again staring at him. Finally, the old man spoke.

"Josh?" The voice was low and deep, but barely a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm Josh. Who are you?"

"Key-no."

Key-no? That was a weird name. Josh glanced at him again. This time he could see more of his passenger's face. It looked hard and tough, as though someone had carved it from a piece of rock. The leathery skin was dark, as though well-tanned. Wrinkles adorned the man's forehead, covering two eyes that were so bright they seemed to glow. His mouth was drawn tight, with a slight downturn. The hair that had previously obscured his face was long and unkempt, falling down his shoulders in a tangle of mats and curls.

"Key-no? That's an unusual name."

The man nodded. "Key-no." He returned to facing forward with his head lowered.

"Well, Key-no, at least you got out of that cold for a few minutes. It's been a rough December so far."

By now, Josh wasn't even surprised he got no answer.

"You know, it would be nice to know where you are going." When the man didn't speak, Josh looked over. He was again pointing forward with his head still bowed.

"Yeah, full speed ahead. I got that. Why don't you just tell me when we get there, OK?"

The pair drove for about an hour, the only break in the silence coming from Josh's voice as he tried to calm those worries about his new passenger. The city gave way to the suburbs, which gave way to fields surrounding small groups of houses. Key-no would occasionally point to change direction, silently, but somehow he always seemed to do so when Josh was looking over at him. Soon, even the houses were becoming scattered. Josh finally spoke up.

"Look, I need to know where you want to go. I have to get home sometime tonight myself."

The old man simply raised his hand. "Stop." Josh slowed to a stop on the icy road beside a long driveway that seemed to wind away behind a grove of thick trees.

"Here? Are you sure?" The man opened the door, again letting that icy blast of air in. He struggled with his cane to stand up outside the car and fumbled in his coat pocket. He leaned down to look directly at Josh and held out a gold-colored coin.

"Josh."

"No, no. I don't want your money. Use it to buy... I don't know, a coat?"

"Josh help Key-no. Key-no help Josh." The man turned his hand and let the coin fall to the passenger seat.

"No, Key-no, keep it! I don't need..."

The car door closed and Key-no began laboriously inching his way down the gravel driveway toward nowhere that Josh could see.

"Hey, wait!" Josh fumbled with his door handle, stepping out to continue to resist. When he stood up and looked over the car, there was no one there.

"Key-no?"

He looked around him. There were no houses he could see, only fields and groves of trees scattered around, and a lone stretch of asphalt that seemed to extend both ways to infinity.

"Key-no!"

>> continued >>

>> continued >>

Josh ran around the car, almost falling on the ice, expecting to see Key-no on the ground. But there was no one there. He again looked down the long driveway. It was empty. "People don't just vanish!" Josh thought. But there was nothing to indicate that Key-no was ever there.

Confused, Josh made his way back around the car and got in. He glanced over and saw the coin lying in the seat, the only evidence that he hadn't hallucinated the whole thing. He picked it up. It was about the size of a half-dollar, but it certainly wasn't US tender. It had a strange symbol that resembled a cross and a tree at the same time across the front with markings he couldn't decipher. On the back were more symbols that seemed to reference sunlight and more undecipherable markings. It was heavy, too, much heavier than he had expected. For a moment, Josh wondered if this could really be a gold coin. But no, it couldn't be! Key-no couldn't be walking around in winter like that, in the middle of a snowstorm, and have something valuable on him. He didn't even have a decent coat.

A passing pickup truck pulled up beside him, and a young, heavy-set man with a full beard and short hair rolled down the window. "Hey, boy! You need help?" Josh shook off the confusion long enough to remember where he was and just shook his head. "OK, but don't get froze to death out here boy!" The pickup moved off and Josh, with one final look around, headed back to the suburbs.

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"How was your day, honey?" Mary, his wife, beamed at him as Josh walked through his front door.

"A mess," Josh replied, "Sorry I'm so late."

"Late?"

Josh glanced up at the clock above the mantle. It was 15 minutes since he remembered being stuck in traffic. He furrowed his brow... that couldn't be right!

"Oh. I guess it just seemed late, wanting to get home to you so bad. How's little Jerry?"

"Asleep. He played himself out early today building a snowman. Thank goodness! I've been trying to cook dinner for you and the power kept going off and on and off and on..." Mary gave a long sigh. "But, I'm better now that you're here," she smiled.

Josh gave the coin in his coat pocket a little flip with his fingers, feeling it to make sure it was there. "I'm better now that I'm here, too."

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"Josh! Josh! Honey, wake up!" Mary's voice was a terrified whisper in Josh's ear. "Josh!"

Josh opened one sleepy eye. "What? I was asleep."

"There's someone downstairs!"

Josh woke at that revelation. He listened silently until, sure enough, he heard someone rummaging around downstairs. He sat up.

"Josh, I'm scared!"

"Call 911," Josh replied, sliding out of bed and grabbing a can of mace from the bedside drawer. He stopped for just a moment as he saw the gold coin lying on the nightstand where he had left it - it seemed brighter than before. No, this was no time for thinking about that craziness! He griped the can of mace tightly and headed for the door.

"Be careful honey!"

Josh slowly pushed the bedroom door open and looked out. The door to Jerry's room was still closed. Good. A sound like silverware being dumped out came from downstairs, prompting Josh to slowly ease to the staircase. He lowered himself down the stairs one step at a time, trying to not make a sound, with his right hand clutching the can of mace.

As he got to the bottom of the staircase, he could see no movement. He slipped into the living room. Then he heard another sound, coming from the kitchen. Josh bit his lip and steadied his courage, then moved toward the kitchen door with the mace at the ready. He could already see the light was on.

Then the kitchen door opened. The man in the doorway holding a bag stopped as he saw Josh and raised a pistol.

"Merry Christmas."

Josh immediately threw his hands up and took a step backward, the mace clattering to the floor. "whoa! Whoa! I'm unarmed! Don't hurt anybody!"

"Wouldn't have to if you'd stayed in bed like a good little boy."

"It's OK... take whatever you want. Just don't hurt anyone!"

"So you can ID me to the cops later?" He man laughed. "What, you think I was born yesterday?"

"I won't tell the cops!"

The robber aimed the pistol. "I know you won't... what the hell!"

The robber's eyes widened in fear as he looked beyond and slightly to the side of Josh. Suddenly there was a blast as the pistol discharged, spewing flame from the barrel. Josh heard the whizz of a bullet fly past his head as he closed his eyes and dropped his head. The pain of a bullet penetrating his body never came, even though he was expecting it. Two more shots rang out in quick succession... still no pain. With each blast, Josh winced, expecting the bullet to tear through his body. Then he heard a scream and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor off to his side.

As he opened his eyes, hands still raised, Josh could see the robber with a poker from the fireplace protruding out of his chest. He was lying semi-prone on his back, with his elbows underneath him, his eyes still displaying that look of terror. Blood gushed from his wound in spurts. The gun was nowhere to be seen.

"Who are you?" the robber whispered in an agonized breath. Josh couldn't answer; he was frozen in place watching the horror before him. The robber wheezed a couple of times, and slid down completely onto the floor. A trickle of blood oozed from one side of his mouth, and his eyes closed halfway as they seemed to darken.

Mary ran in and stopped, placing her hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle her scream. The windows erupted with bright blue and red flashes of light. Josh didn't see the police kick in the door; he was fixated on the corpse lying before him. He didn't hear their orders to get on the floor and remain still. He didn't see the firearms drawn on him, his wife, and the corpse. His mind was in shock for what seemed to him like hours. Only when the cop spun him around and threw him to the floor did his senses return.

"I said on the ground!" demanded the burly cop.

"I have a gun!" shouted another one, picking up the robber's pistol gingerly by the trigger guard from the far edge of the room.

"Please! We live here! I called you! That's my husband!" Mary's cries helped Josh pull himself out of his stupor. He stammered as best he could, "I'm Josh Gardener. I was being robbed."

The scene took some time to clear up. The police took fingerprints and pictures, and grilled Josh and Mary about what had happened. Jerry came downstairs and the cops let Mary carry him back to bed. Eventually the cops left, taking the body and the gun with them. The last thing they said was that there would be no charges. It was obviously a case of self-defense, but they also cautioned Josh about future attempts to fight an armed robber with a fireplace poker.

"You're damn lucky, mister. Better leave things to us next time or we'll be carrying you off in a body bag."

Alone finally, Josh walked over to where the robber had fell. The carpet was soaked red with blood. As he looked around at the scattered silverware, he noticed something small and round that looked out of place. He picked it up. It was the coin from beside his bed.

"How...?"

>> continued >>

>> continued >>

He ran upstairs to the bedroom. There was nothing on the nightstand where the coin had been. He opened his hand to make sure the coin was still in it. It was. As he sat it back on the nightstand, it seemed to flash as he released it, bright enough to fill the room with a split second of blinding light. The blood was gone; it was once again the same shiny golden color as before.



The surroundings somehow looked different as Josh pulled off the road at the driveway where he had last seen Key-no. It was still surrounded by grey, dead fields and dotted by groves of trees, and the long, gravel driveway was still there as well, winding back behind the treeline. But without the heavy falling snow, it somehow seemed more peaceful and serene. Josh stepped out of the car into the brisk air and stood there, looking around. His hand fumbled with the golden coin in his pocket.

After a while, a sheriff's car pulled up along beside him. "You lost mister?" Josh just smiled and shook his head.

The deputy stepped outside the car. "Care to tell me what you're doing out here then?"

"Just... just thinking, officer."

"That there's private property and they don't like visitors. You'd best do your thinking somewhere else."

"Sorry, sir. I was just looking for a friend. I'll move along."

The deputy closed his car door and walked over to Josh, eyeing him. "Friend? Wouldn't be some old guy calls himself 'Key-no,' would it?"

Josh just nodded, shocked.

"He give you a coin?"

Josh nodded again, pulling the coin from his pocket and handing it to the deputy.

The deputy turned it over in his hand. "Yep! That's 'Key-no' all right." He handed the coin back to Josh. "If you know what's good for you, you'll get rid of that thing and forget you was ever here."

"Officer?"

"Damn thing's haunted. I don't know who this 'Key-no' fellow is, but if I ever catch him I'll lock his butt away till Doomsday's just a distant memory. Now move on."

"Lock him up? What for?"

"Desecrating graves! Crazy fool claims to live in that old cemetery up there. Now get out of here!"



The End (?)



TheRedneck

Well that was nice little romp into the weird and mysterious, and I loved every minute of it.


Thanks Redneck for your "Just 4 Fun" submission, I'm sure the membership will enjoy it also.
Johnny

a reply to: TheRedneck

Too bad it's ""just 4 fun". I gave it a start anyway!

a reply to: TheRedneck

Weird but a good read.



Thanks for submitting!

Oh now that was a supernatural plot twist after my own heart.❤

a reply to: oddscreenname

Thank you!

I'm just happy doing a little writing again for a change. It means more to me to know that someone else liked reading it.



TheRedneck

a reply to: DBCowboy

Wait, wait, wait... didn't you write the one where Santa died?

And you call this one weird?



TheRedneck

a reply to: AccessDenied

Thank you! I purposely left a lot of loose ends to maybe try to tie up in a later contest.

TheRedneck

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: DBCowboy

Wait, wait, wait... didn't you write the one where Santa died?

And you call this one weird?

TheRedneck

To be fair, who doesn't want to kill their fat boss?