Mr. Grimm

Once upon a time, there lived a very bad man called Mr. Grimm.  Mr. Grimm had not treated his family particularly well when he was a young man, and as a result they had all abandoned him.  Now nearing the end of his life, Mr. Grimm was a rather bitter and sad man who liked nothing more than to make other people as miserable as him.  

He used to stand outside his ramshackle cottage and shout at the passing children. He would cry ‘Young child!’ Come here and see what sweet treats I have in my kitchen, just for you!’ Many of the children would be scared at the sight of this wild old man, and would run away.  However on occasion he would get lucky.  When this happened, his heart would fill with joy as he lured the naive children into his dingy home.  Instead of taking them to the kitchen as promised, he would take them by the hand and swiftly throw them into the well at the bottom of his garden. As time went on he gathered quite a collection.  He gained satisfaction from the act itself, but also in seeing distraught parents calling out for their missing children all through the night.

When he sat alone in his chair in front of the fire, he would always remember the tale his father used to tell him when he was tucked up in bed.  He began to murmur the story to himself:

“There once was a young man called Pod who lived in a small village.  The village people were very scared of the gods and always tried to please them. Pod, who didn't even believe in the gods, thought this was very silly and used to enjoy playing tricks on the villagers.  He told one of the men that the gods would be pleased if he ran down the street naked.  The man did this the very next day and all the other villagers laughed, embarrassing the man.  He told one of the women that the gods would be pleased if she threw all of her coins into the stream, leaving her destitute. 

One day as Pod was laughing to himself about all of his pranks, a booming voice came out of nowhere and shouted, ‘POD!!!’ You have disrespected us and your neighbours! If you continue to tell lies, we shall banish you from your village, to a life of eternal misery with us!’ Pod was angry; but not at the gods as they didn’t exist.  He was angry at the villagers - they must have realised what he was up to, and were now playing some sort of trick on him.  He had always hated these simple people and wanted to run the village his own way.  He decided to exact a final revenge. 

The following day, he gathered the villagers together and told them the gods had come to him in his dreams.  They had told him a storm was coming, and they must hide in his barn for protection. All the villagers ran without hesitation to the barn, believing every word.  As Pod herded the last one in, he padlocked the door and walked away.  After a time, the villagers starved to death and Pod was enjoying a solitary life.

Unfortunately for Pod, the gods DID exist, and they never broke a promise. Horrified by what Pod had done, they banished him to Hell. Each person on Earth has their own individual Hell, catering to their own nightmares.  Pod spent the rest of eternity in a cramped barn, forever starving and surrounded by the screams of the villagers he had hated so much.”

Mr. Grimm laughed as he ended the story.  His father had always warned him not to tell lies, not to be mean.  This story was obviously supposed to deter him.  He was living proof however that you could tell lies, and you could be mean.  If anything was going to happen to him, it would have happened long ago.  He went to sleep in his chair, safe in the knowledge that he was untouchable.

After some time, Mr. Grimm decided his well could do with filling up.  He began to shout at the neighbourhood children again from his cottage door.  Eventually a strange looking young boy came wandering up his path.  ‘Where are the sweet treats, old man?’ the boy enquired, rather gruffly for a boy of his age.  ‘Out in the garden, dear boy, said Mr. Grimm, leading the child to the bottom of the garden by his arm.  As they reached the well, Mr. Grimm could feel the excitement building.  Finally they reached the boy’s final destination. Mr. Grimm grabbed the little boy round the waist and tried to lift him over the side but he couldn't move him! The boy was rooted solidly to the spot, smiling at him. Beads of perspiration appeared at the old man’s temple as he struggled with the boy, not knowing quite what to do.

‘Don’t you know who I am yet?’, said the boy, his voice suddenly booming so loud the old man had to cover his ears. He looked at the boy; his eyes were now glowing a fiery red and he no longer was an innocent child, but something much more malignant. 

‘Are...are you….God?!’, whimpered Mr. Grimm.  ‘One of them, yes’, said the apparition before him.  ‘You should have listened to your father more carefully.  Bad things always come to those who lie’. 

Mr. Grimm fell to his knees, begging for mercy but it was too late.  This god was in no mood for forgiveness. He decided that Mr. Grimm needed to be punished harshly.  He forced the old man to locate the parents of the children that he had murdered, and lead them to their final resting place. The parents quickly rounded on the old man, beating him soundly, and finally throwing him in the well.  A curse was placed on the old man by the god; he would live for eternity in that well, terrified and alone, hearing the dying screams of those poor children forever and ever.

The End…….