Empty Eyes / Ben

A couple of years ago, I bumped onto an article about child murderers. There is nothing more shocking to me than a child reaching the point to commit murder. Nevertheless, the article became the inspiration for 6 short stories under the common title "Empty Eyes". It was difficult writing these stories, but I tried my best. I made an effort to stay away from moral conclusions about wrong and right. I think I was successful in simply narrating each child's story. 

Needless to say that these stories do not have a happy ending, they are depressing and sometimes quite eerie (in my opinion). 

I think it wise to warn you not to let children read these short stories.

Segment 1 : Ben

He woke up from a sound. Initially he thought that he had dreamt it, but as he became more and more conscious of the world around him, he heard it again. He could not understand where it came from. This had never happened before. Strange sounds in the middle of the night were unheard of for this house where everything was always quiet.

“A thief!” he thought alarmed.

He crawled out of his bed soundlessly and grabbed his baseball bat. Whoever the thief was, he knew he was brave enough to fight him and drive him out of this house. He opened the door of his room and walked out carefully. He soon realized that the sound had come from upstairs. Instinctively, he rushed towards the big bedroom. The door was half open. He could hear a whimpering voice whispering in despair:

“Wake up! Please, wake up, my love! I did not mean to hurt you, please, baby, please!”

He looked through the door. He saw a woman lying on the floor, a growing pool of blood around her head. She was so pale… so pale… much more than the usual… A man was kneeled beside her and he looked so desperate, so lost. One could almost pity him… maybe.

He opened the door completely and entered slowly, the bat still in his hand.

“What did you do to her?” he asked, anger in his voice.

The man looked up in shock.

“Ben?” he called, his voice hoarse. “What are you doing here, son? Go back to your bed”

“What did you do to her?” he asked again, his voice turning lower and colder.

The man broke down completely.

“No…thing. I…I did no…thing. It was ju… just an accident. We argued a… a bit and she fell and hit her head. It was an accident. She… she will tell you it was not my fault. She will.”

“Can’t you see she is dead?”

The man nodded frantically.

“No, no, no. she can’t be. It was just a scratch”

“Look at all this blood. She is dead. You killed her” he whispered twisting the bat in his hands. “I thought it was a thief. I thought we needed protection from outsiders that wanted to harm us. That’s what you taught me dad”

“Ben, son...”

“You never said that you were the outsider. You should have warned me against you. I would have protected her”

“It was an accident!” the man shouted looking terrified at his son.

“No, dad. It is a murder. You left her bleeding instead of calling an ambulance. You did kill her” he said as he lifted the bat.

He hit the man hard in the head. Once… twice… many… many times. 

All feelings were gone.

His eyes were empty.©Constance M.