*This story may not be suitable to be read to some children
The Stitcher
By Ryan Slattery
By Ryan Slattery
“Once upon a time in a swamp beyond the dark forest there dwelt
a monster called the Stitcher. He took the remains of dead animals, cut them to
pieces, and stitched them together with other animals to make unusual and grotesque
creatures, called ‘Stitches.’ Using a mysterious power, he gave life back to
the bodies of the Stitches, releasing them into the forest. Travelers and those
unlucky enough to be caught in the forest at night report seeing these
terrifying beings in the trees, in the ground, and in the air. The poet has
said,
With pincers or claws
it tunnels or flies,
With one head or two, and how many eyes?
The forest is dark, a mercy of night,
For sight of a Stitch is worst of all sights.”
With one head or two, and how many eyes?
The forest is dark, a mercy of night,
For sight of a Stitch is worst of all sights.”
The
father closed the book and looked at his child, who grasped his sheets lying in
bed.
“Do the
Stitches ever leave the forest?” the child asked.
His
father turned his back to the child and walked to the bookshelf. He slid the
thin book between the well-worn covers of other favorite tales, and came back
to the bed, lowering down to the boy, looking him closely.
“The
Stitches are just a myth,” the father said. “Now go to sleep.”
The
father’s answer pacified the boy, who turned to his side and closed his eyes.
The father left the small room, extinguishing the lantern and closing the door.
Pale light poured through the window from the moon. Although the boy believed
his father, as he drifted into sleep his imagination conceived of a pig with
the head of a dog and wings from an eagle. At first the picture made him laugh
a little, but the idea that the animals were once dead emerged in his mind and
his imagination grew ever more frightening. He tossed in his bed dreaming of
such nightmarish creatures. He opened his eyes to refocus his mind. His saw
nothing but the pale light of the moon, except a tiny fuzzy dark shape
silhouetted against the light of the open window. As his eyes focused on the
shadowy figure he saw flapping wings like that of a bat, but with the body of a
frog. It had the claws of crow and the tail of a lizard. Its head was that of a
mouse and it began to speak as it came closer.
