B.T. Viscer is an author of speculative, fictional horror from the northeast hills of rural Georgia. He grew up with the classic slashers of the 80’s and 90’s and eventually developed a healthy taste for transgressive subject matter which pushes the limits of normal social flavors. When he’s not writing or submerged in the splatterpunk horrors of the world, Viscer can be found building Lincoln log houses with his youngest son, riding roller coasters with his teenage daughter, throwing horns at a metal concert with his oldest, or simply enjoying some much needed alone time with his amazingly spectacular wife, who he thanks regularly for putting up with all of his bullshit.
Read more from B.T. Viscer right HERE.
PAPPY’S WISH
by
B.T. Viscer
I sat opposite the old bastard, waiting for him to gum his steak to a soft enough mush to swallow without choking to death. His birthday was right around the corner, and I was curious about what he wanted. My grandfather had become a bitter old codger, but deep down, I felt an inherent obligation to continue caring for him, despite what he did. My grandmother had recently bitten the big one, naturally in her sleep, or so everyone thought.
“So, Pappy, what do you want for your birthday?” I asked.
He looked at me with a scowl.
“My birthday!?” He barked back.
“Yeah, your birthday. You’re about to be seventy-eight. What do you want?”
“Well, you know..” he paused and looked out the window. “I kinda wish granny was still here.” He lowered his head.
For a moment, I thought he might have experienced remorse, but he sprang right up and said,
“Welp, guess there’s nothing we can do now,” and walked off as if it were no biggie.
I laughed at myself for thinking that he could feel anything, since he caused her demise. Her health had diminished, and Pappy was over taking care of her. He had a new girlfriend on the side and Granny required more care than he was willing to administer.
He was sick of the constant attention that she needed in order to function and survive, so he made an executive decision to eliminate the burden once and for all. Pappy’s behavior as of late had been shitty at best, and I knew he was up to something.
Fuck it. In all honesty, he deserved to die because he beat and abused Granny on a regular basis for as long as I remembered. My suspicions came true one late night when I was spying on him from outside his bedroom window. Pappy got up from ‘sleeping’ and pressed a pillow against Granny’s face, smothering the life out of her. Her legs and arms flailed quietly. I am sure he heard some sort of muffled gasps for air, though, as she faded away.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“It’s my wife. She has passed away in her sleep.” Pappy said over some rehearsed sobbing.
“Ok, sir, please stay on the line so I can get some details from you, ok?” the dispatcher said with an empathetic tone.
Soon enough, they had Granny packed up, shipped off to a funeral home, and plopped into the ground. Nobody asked the first question. They both belonged to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and they prohibited embalming her body. The deposit into the Earth was ‘as is.’ Granny and I were pretty close, and I knew I couldn’t share with the family what I had witnessed. They didn’t need any of the details. Pappy would get his soon enough; somehow, someway. His birthday wish was to see Granny one last time, and I wanted to grant his wish.
The cemetery was closed for visitors, being after midnight and all.
I had already been to the gravesite a few times, for two reasons. One, I needed to speak to her about this shitbag, Pappy, and two, I needed to locate any security cameras. To my surprise, I didn’t spot any.
With a mattock and a flat shovel, I went to digging. I dug for hours until my hands were sore and blistered. After what felt like an enternity, alas! I struck wood. I was poking at her pine box. Using the shovel, I carved out enough of the Earth to open the casket lid.
“Holy fuck!” I yelled out. The stench of decaying flesh and jellied organs gang fucked my nostrils, forcing me to throw up. Luckily, I brought a respirator, which I desperately needed. I donned the mask and exhumed her body. Slabs of skin from her back remained stuck to the coffin as I pulled her out. Manipulating a floppy, half putrefied corpse was a lot harder than YouTube made it out to be. It had only been a month, but nature has a way of saying ‘fuck what you once were.’
I lugged her limp, saggy body, if you could call it a body, to my car. I struggled keeping Granny intact, but managed to flop her corpse into the trunk. The process timed out like clockwork as I got back to Granny and Pappy’s place an hour before he got up.
I set up my phone to catch the audio.
“Hey Pappy!” I yelled from across the bed.
“What the..” He mumbled.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” I screamed out, then blew into the birthday honker horn with the wispy tassels.
Pappy opened his bleary eyes and rolled over. He was face to face with the rotting remains of his former beloved.
“Agghhhhh!!!” He yelled out. He wanted to look away, but his morbid curiosity got the best of him. Granny stared back at him with empty, coagulated gelatin eyes. The smell wafted into his nose and he blew chunks.
“Tell me what you did, old man! I already know. I want YOU to say it!”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” he blubbered. He still couldn’t compute what his eyes were taking in.
“I’ll move her out of the room if you say it!”
“Say what!?” He yelled out.
“Pappy, say it!!” I screamed out. “Tell me what you did!!!”
“I killed Granny!” He yelled out. “I killed her...” He lowered his head into his hands and sobbed.
“Well, you dealt with her before.. you can deal with her now,” I grumbled as I stopped the audio and put my phone in my pocket. “You can tell her how sorry you are, for as long you’d like.” I left Pappy alone with my murdered, rotting Granny to reflect how he wished. As I walked out the front door, I could still hear him screaming.
I often wonder what happened to those two...