Squirmers: A Nap Lapkin Story (Part 6)

Later that night, on cue, Nap woke up. This time he didn’t even need to pee. The first thing popped into his head wasn’t some inane question he’d been thinking about before going to sleep.

He was thinking about Walcott and the odd figure that had been visiting him.

He hopped out of bed and made his way to his bathroom window. He looked out at the cull de sac, waiting to see his strange visitor and was relieved when no such visitor was to be found.

He laughed to himself, “I can’t believe I was spooked by an Indian kid in a loin cloth.”

He turned to look in the mirror and said “You’re better than this Lapkin.”

He pivoted and began to make his was back to his bed. “Hmmm.”

He stopped. Having hmmmed, universally acknowledged as the sign that someone has some unfinished business to attend to, he strolled purposely back to the window and looked down.

Standing directly under the window was the child. Looking up at him.

“Holy fuck” escaped Nap’s lips. The child’s eyes were just black holes. Not simply hollow but large and slowly growing. Whispering from the abyss. Slowly the child opened his mouth and his mouth was the same.

Black. Deep. A yawning void.

Nap stumbled back from the window and crashed into wall on the other side. He slid to the floor, repeating small bursts of profanity the entire time. Eventually his heart rate and breathing began to return to normal and he again felt the cold tiles under his feet.

“Fuck. I guess I’m going to Walcott.”

“I’m going to Iowa” Nap said into his phone. The morning sun streaming through his kitchen window and the sound of birds chirping away in his yard did nothing to improve his mood.

There was a small pause. “I never thought I’d ever hear those words leave your mouth” Dan finally said.

“I know. I know. But something tells me if I’m not on a plane right now that the little bastard will be standing over my bed tonight.”

Dan tried unsuccessfully to process what he’d just hear.

Nap continued. “I need you to set up a meeting with whoever is still at the truck stop working on the dig. Not tomorrow, today. It’s important.”

“You got it boss.”

“And one more thing” Nap said, “Where the fuck is Walcott?” And another thing… where the fuck is Iowa? Midwestish?”

“Spot on boss. I’ll make your travel arrangements, just get yourself to the airport.”