Steve Fleming
The Urge
A dark blanket surrounds him. A faint beam of white, eerie light bleeds through the window from the moon that floats upon the clouds of night. It stares at him, with several eyes of black and white. Its feet awaiting his very touch. It calls to him, in silence. For it can only speak with his touch. He stands, motionless, just smiling at what he loves. He sits upon the bench, with perfect comfort, as he places his cold and boney fingers on the old worn keys that he knows so well. His fingers move with such grace as he begins to play. It speaks, loud and with glory. It is final, the one we once knew, has been taken. He is gone.
The year was 1955 and it was the first day of high school for a lonely boy at Grosse Pointe South. His name was Rodney Calsner. He had been eagerly awaiting high school for he longed the freedom it seemed to present. Most of Rodney's time was spent at home, in his study room. Rodney's parents would force him to read and study for most of his day. He would wake up, eat breakfast, read. He would go to school, come home, and read some more. Dinner would come and after he would have to read and study his books until he fell asleep. On nice days Rodney would be able to read out on the porch, but never was he allowed to hang out with the few friends he had.
As the few first weeks of school go by, Rodney's hopes have clearly diminished. The chance of any form of freedom had not come. His parents still enforce the strict schedule and boundaries on him. Rodney becomes exhausted with the way he is forced to live his life, but just keeps going along. Day after day, Rodney reads more and more, just as he is expected to. At this point Rodney has tried to make friends at school, but can never spend time with them, so they have all faded away. At school he doesn't talk to anybody, not even trying to make friends anymore because he knows it will never last. Rodney now knows that this is his life, and there is nothing he can do to change it.
One day after school, Rodney is on his way out to walk home, when he notices something interesting. There are two large, wooden doors, with brass knobs. The shimmering doorknobs were engraved with mysterious writing and symbols, he could not determine of what language they were. Rodney passes these doors everyday, but this time they came to his attention. One of the doors was slightly open. He had never seen the inside of this room before, and he had this strange urge to go inside. As he walks in side he is instantly engulfed with all the art throughout the room. Something pulls his attention in the corner of his eyes. A spiraling staircase that leads up towards a small balcony. Rodney slowly walks up the staircase. When he gets to the top a sudden strange wave of comfort and power overcomes him. He knows exactly the source of this energy. It is coming from an organ, perfectly placed against the wall at the end of this balcony. Rodney walks towards it, and when he gets to the bench, he feels as if he has no choice but to try to play. He places his fingers upon the keys, and begins the play. Rodney had never played the organ before, but once he started to play, it was as if something had taken over him, and was playing for him.
The next day, Rodney was thinking about the organ the entire length of the day. He wanted to experience this strange sensation that he got when he played, even that he was tremendously confused on how he knew how to play. Later at night he was at home, waiting for his parents to go to bed. Rodney was craving for the feeling of the keys pressing under his fingertips. He knew that his parents wouldn’t let him play the beloved organ, for it would supposedly distract him from his reading. Rodney waits and waits, until his parents are finally asleep. He ever so slowly opens his window and creeps out. Once he gets to the road he starts running, going faster and faster toward the school. Once he gets there, he opens the door with the key that he stealthily stole from the janitor earlier in the day. He walks in, and step by step gets closer to what he has been waiting for. He gets to the same two, large wooden double doors, opens them, and walks in. Rodney is giddy with excitement, runs up the stairs, and gets that same feeling he did before. He sits down and begins to play.
Every day, for the next couple months, Rodney would sneak out, and go to school and play the organ. Rodney couldn’t resist the urge to play the organ every night. The urge is so great, it almost isn’t enough. He wishes that he could play the organ all day.
As the weeks go on, Rodney gets less and less cautious when he sneaks out at night. He starts going out earlier and earlier in the night so he could play longer. He did this to the point that he would sneak out when his parents were still awake. Rodney didn’t worry about it, he thought that they wouldn’t even expect it. But one night, Rodney is trying to sneak out earlier than ever. Rodney climbs out the window and is walking down the street when he hears loud yells of extreme anger.
“RODNEY CALSNER!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE MAGGOT!!”, screams his Mom.
“Leave me alone!”, cries Rodney.
Rodney’s father runs after him, snatches him up, and locks him in his room.
Rodney’s parents have put him under complete lock down. They drop him off at school. They wait for him after school, and once he gets home, he is monitored by them until he is sleep. Just in case he woke up in the middle of the night, they even put bars on his window. Weeks pass, and Rodney’s urge to play the organ has completely overtaken him. All he thinks about is the organ, and the way it’s sound floats through his ears. His grades start to slip. He stays awake all night, thinking. The nights get longer and longer, more torturous, for the urge is ripping Rodney apart. He tries not to think about it, but something, some kind of force is stuck in his head, telling him that he needs to play, he must play. He would begin to draw pictures of the organ, and the scene around it, hundreds at a time. Paper after paper, scattered around his room, on his walls, the same thing. The same scene, him at the bench of the organ, playing.
Soon it becomes too much for Rodney to consume. He has to do something to fix this. Something so he can play the organ like he did before. His brain is filling with ideas. What can I do to fix this? What is the source of he problem? How do I stop it?! Then it comes to him. He stops, and smiles. Rodney comes to the conclusion that his parents are obviously the only reason why he can’t play his organ. He needs to get rid of them. So he comes up with a plan, that for some strange reason, doesn’t bother his mind or soul one bit. He plans to kill his parents, in cold blood. He doesn’t care how, just as long as it is soon. He walks into the kitchen and sees them both sitting on the couch facing the other way. He grabs a kitchen knife and creeps toward them. He is hovering about them, in perfect silence. His dad turns around, Rodney quickly slices the knife through his neck, like it was nothing. His mom quickly follows with a scream and she suffers the same, a quick slice to the neck. Rodney then just stands there and stares at the pools of blood covering the floor. He drags them outside, puts them in two old trunks, and buries them in the woods. Finally, he is free.
Rodney now goes every night to play his organ. He plays from dusk to dawn, not even sleeping. But he doesn’t need sleep, as long as he has his beloved organ under his fingers. For a few weeks Rodney is in complete happiness, or so he thinks. He is so consumed by the organ that he does not even realize the shortage of food at his home. Rodney is home afternoon and is shuffling through the cabinet’s, desperately searching for food. All he finds is one can of expired pickles. He eats them one by one in overwhelming disgust. He is now very scared, for he has no money to buy food, or take care of himself. He also has no friends to live with because of his time being completely taken over by the organ. Rodney just tries to forget about it, and goes to the school. He plays. What is left of Rodney’s diminishing life completely revolves around the organ. During school he will even skip class and just sit, staring at the organ.
One dark night, Rodney goes to the school once again. He enter Cleminson Hall just as he always does and goes up the stairs. A dark blanket surrounds him. A faint beam of white, eerie light bleeds through the window from the moon that floats upon the clouds of night. It stares at him, with several eyes of black and white. Its feet awaiting his very touch. It calls to him, in silence. For it can only speak with his touch. He stands, motionless, just smiling at what he loves. He sits upon the bench, with perfect comfort, as he places his cold and boney fingers on the old worn keys that he knows so well. His fingers move with such grace as he begins to play. It speaks, loud and with glory. It is final, the one we once knew, has been taken. He is gone.
Three days later, the school was in havoc. Police officers were everywhere, blocking the students away from Cleminson Hall. Something was being carried out, but no one could tell what because there was a large crowd of officers and EMTs surrounding. Whatever it is, it is carried out. Some students start putting together the pieces. Rodney had not been at school the past three days. Now they know, Rodney had died in there.
Later that night, a small group of students snuck into the school to try to find something in Cleminson to clear up the story. They open the door to Cleminson, look around and see ‘Do Not Cross’ tape by the stairs. The walk up and when they see the organ, they step towards it. Suddenly they get the feeling of a frozen spike shooting down their spine. They can’t help but to stare at the organ with horrible fear. And without question, the keys begin to move, the loud engulfing sound of the organ surrounds them! They he hear sinful laughing of enjoyment fill their ears! They run, run faster than ever, and never speak of that moment again.
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