So Scary 7- The Old Portrait
Little Nicky have found something very valuable. In fact, he didn't know what he was dealing with. His grandpa had told him to be careful of old items such as the one that he found in the attic. Sometimes, Nicky could be troublesome at times. And other times, he wondered about the strangest thing, staring right before him. He blinked his eyes, as if he couldn't believe it.
It was the portrait of his parents. His parents had died of a car accident, and he was the first person who heard about it, when a phone call came from his grandpa's house. At the time, he played with his toys, and then rushed towards the house. The house was located by the sea, and at the same time, the boy could hear the seagulls crying for each other, and the fishermen calling out that they have finally caught a big fish.
And so, Little Nicky had taken the phone, and heard the accident. A child like Nicky shouldn't hear about that. He cried about it, and ran towards his grandpa, who was currently cutting wood in the forest. When he saw the boy crying, he asked him what the problem was. And Nicky had said the whole thing to him.
Now, Nicky had to stay with his grandpa. It had been several months now, since the death of his parents. Nicky didn't feel eating at the moment, as he stared at the old portrait. What was strange was that the portrait had a date on it. And it said, December 18, 1766.
"GRANDPA!" He shouted from the attic. Of course, the old man couldn't hear well enough that he might have been sleeping on his rocking chair. All the time, he had been on it. Having dreams about his son, getting killed in a car accident. And then, when a shout reached towards his ears, he finally woke up. And that same voice said, "GRANDPA!"
The old man came back to his senses and shouted back, "NICKY! WHAT IS IT?!" The boy didn't say anything after that. The old man shook his head, and got up from the chair. Walking slowly, he just remembered that he had injured himself while trying to cut wood. He kinda smiled at the thought. But eventually, he was getting old to the point that he may not able to take care of Nicky anymore. He thought,One of these days, somebody has to look after him while I'm gone. The old man climbed up the ladder, and peeked at the attic. He said, "What is it?"
Nicky looked back at the old man. "Grandpa! Come here! I want to show you something!"
"For crying out loud, Nicky. I was just trying to..." He paused as he stared at the old portrait.
"Nicky... Put it away. Right now."
"Why? It's Mom and Dad. Isn't it?"
"Oh, Nicky. You wouldn't understand. Just give it here." Nicky handed the portrait carefully back to the old man. He even stared at the portrait, and then shook his head again.
Nicky always wanted to ask questions. But he never realized that his parents had taken themselves a portrait years ago, which also didn't make sense. So, he asked, "Grandpa? Why are my parents here in the portrait? I saw the date, and it looks pretty old to me."
The old man looked at the date from the back of the portrait. He sighed. "You still wouldn't understand, Nicky. You're too young to know all this stuff. When you're older, then you'll know. Trust me."
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Years later, Nicky remembered those old man's words. Unfortunately, he had died before he could reveal the true secret of the old portrait. Nicky have ventured out to find the truth, but to no avail. However, there was one person who could help him. It was Grandpa's old friend, Charlie. You see, Charlie had been working with Nicky's old man from the very beginning of the shipment days. Several things have happened during those years, and the fact remained clear that Charlie couldn't believe it either. By looking at the portrait, he could figure out, what really happened to Nicky's parents.
When Nicky have arrived at Charlie's home, he knocked on the door. There was a dog barking on the front porch. Old Charlie had noticed it. He came out of the house, and saw him. "Yes?"
"It's me, Nicky," the 22-year old man said. Charlie looked up at him, from top to bottom. Then he recognized him. "Jesus Christ! It's you! How have you been doing?"
"I'm fine, Charlie. I've just graduated from college. I figured I could come back here, and find out the answers. You know..."
"Oh, I see. Okay. Come in." Nicky followed him, and the dog did the same. But this time, it didn't bark at Nicky. Charlie said, "Do you wanna drink?"
"No, that's fine. I just had one on the way here."
Charlie sat on the couch, and said, "So, Nicky. You've graduated from college, eh? Your old man must be proud of you."
"Yeah... I'm sure of it." Then, there was a moment of silence. After all, Nicky have come back to his hometown to find out the truth of his parents.
"You want to know about your parents. I can tell it from the likes of you. But you won't like it, Nicky. Because... Well... Let's just say it sounds bizarre if you ask me. Or you could say weird, of course."
Nicky looked at the old man, and still didn't say anything.
"Anyways, that portrait... I seemed to remember your old man had been talking about it. It sounded strange to me. And I didn't know what to say. But I figured it had something to do with that date."
"Yeah... About that."
"Yeah." Charlie got up from the couch, and grabbed a bottle of beer from the table. He said, "Sorry. I tried to get rid of this bad habit of mine. Seems to me, I'm still remembering your old man in the good ol' days." He drank the beer, and stopped.
"Do you know anything about my parents?"
Old Charlie looked at him and nodded. "Yep, your old man had told me everything there is to know. I just couldn't believe it. That date behind the portrait was not forgery. That I can tell you."
Nicky was stunned to hear it. And this time, he also got up. "Are you serious?"
"Yep, I'm afraid so." Charlie drank the rest of the beer, and put it back on the table. "We had some art expert, who analyzed the portrait and the date itself."
"I see..." Nicky stared outside the house.
"Look, Nicky... I know this also sounds strange. But there's something I need to show you." Charlie told him to stay in the living room for a while, and then he went upstairs. Nicky waited with utmost tension. He never felt this kind of way before. He was probably nervous of what he might find out. Over the years, he had been wondering that. Now, here it came.
When Charlie returned, he handed Nicky an old book. He looked at it. It was a diary.
"Holy Christ!" Nicky said. He stared at the dates. It was really old, and one of them looked similar to the one in the portrait itself. He read the entries...
November 3, 1765
I and Christine have ventured out in the open seas. We were to head to a small town after the plague ravaged our own, and we didn't know what we could find. But as the days have gone by, we knew that we couldn't survive in this heavy rainstorm. Christine have already caught the sickness, and I feared that I might lose her.
But the sailors have decided to abandon the ship. There was nothing else they could do, including the captain himself. Therefore, they have escaped by a small boat. And we were alone.
November 4, 1765
I have feared much worse than I expected. Christine was having a high fever. I have tried to keep her comfort as much as I could. But the fever have increased to the boiling point. I cried out to the open seas, knowing that she would rather die in my arms. I thought of a future that lies before us. A future where my child will be born, and we could live happily ever after. Then, something came out of the sea. Like my prayers had been answered all along. It was a horrible sight, and yet it heard my pleas. It had said...
Nicky stopped reading the diary. Charlie looked at him and said, "Are you okay?"
The 22-year old man looked at him. He couldn't say anything else. He gave the diary back to Charlie, and left the house. The old man called out after him. But Nicky didn't listen.
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The next day, Charlie have heard the news of a car accident. He didn't know what else to say about that. He stared at the dairy, and said to himself. "Well, it's that old saying goes... the truth hurts after all."
Next story- The Thing from the Well.
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