The Bloody Barrel

I found myself in a dark alley, the road wet with puddles of rain. Newspapers were fluttering here and there, hitting the dark brick walls that had completely lost their paint. The street lamp was barely giving any light, it was cracked and engulfing me in darkness.

The sky above was pitch black, not a single star above. Suddenly I heard something and looked beside me to find an old barrel. There was a tap attached to it, and when I was about to go on, I heard a tiny drop falling from the barrel. The drops was black but I could see a hint of red in it.

Plop, plop, plop …. BLOOD??!!!

I am a watchman at the textile factory, where every day was mundane and boring. There was hardly any adventure, or theft or murder and I was getting bored of it. I was young and adventurous at that time and longed to do something exciting. I had asked for a shift to a better place to watch, and here I was.

Seeing this desolate place, I felt like leaving right away, because there was nothing more than a pile of rocks and ruin here. Normally, we watchmen are trained and are not afraid of the dark, but there was something in this place that made me feel uneasy. Why would anyone want me to guard this strange and creepy place? I felt that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Nevertheless, I stayed here and watched, faithful to my job.

I stumbled back in fear - who would collect blood in a barrel? Only a mad man would do that. So I had to get out of here as fast as possible. But the night was very foggy, and I could barely see a thing. It was as if, the highest clouds had descended down here. The moment I switched on my torch, I heard a loud cry from above. It was an ear piercing shriek, which could be heard vividly.

As I try to make my way out, I could see dark shadows zooming around me they were quick, dark and scary, enough to make a man die of fear. The fog was getting denser, the shriek was getting louder, and the shadows were coming closer. As if this nightmare wasn’t getting worse, I thought I heard a grim howl, could it be that wolves were about?

I started to sweat, it poured from all over my head. I was shivering from head to toe, and gulping. I was about to say my last prayers, when something like a shadow gave me a light slap across the face. It had stuck to my face blinding me for a second. I was in panic; I ran around trying to scratch it off my face. I was in for a surprise!

What I had thought was a shadow, had turned out to be a fluttering newspaper; the wind had gone wild and made these papers fly about. The howling wind was probably the wolves of my imagination. The fog, as though it had been defeated, had cleared a little bit, pointing out a big black raven perched on top of a window sill.

As I was about to leave, I noticed the barrel again. I bent down and smelled the liquid that was dripping down. To my surprise, it was the sweet and heady smell of rum! I chuckled to myself and was out of there before any other nightmare caught me. Enough adventure for one night I guess!