The Boat
James was fiddling with the corners of the yellow paper in front of him, rain slamming against the window in a rhythmic beat. He bit his lip as he began to form a paper boat, doing the origami with care. His younger cousin, Joseph, had been staying over for a few weeks, and he and James had become rather fond of each other. The small boy was hispanic, with messy hair similar to James’.
James’ parents, Effie and Monty, were both out for the night at a hotel. James had obviously agreed to babysit Joseph, why wouldn’t he? The kid had asked for a paper boat, so viola, that’s exactly what James was doing. Once the piece of paper actually began to resemble a boat, Joseph had snuck up behind him and pleaded for James to join him in the rain. James had school tomorrow, and so he couldn’t be sick the first Monday after summer break.
James faked a cough, and gave Joseph an apologetic look. “I-I’m sick, sorry b-bud.” He said, the guilt of lying stabbing him in the chest. Joseph nodded, a grin playing on his face.
“It’s okay, we can play next time.” He said in a husky voice - as husky as a seven year old could be - before taking the boat from James’ hand and rushing out of the room. James could hear Joseph’s footsteps on the stairs, extremely loud in his welly boots. The sound almost drowned out the rain; almost.
At the sound of the front door creaking open, James hopped up from his seat and placed his cold hands against the fogged-up window. He watched as the young boy splashed away, his vibrant yellow coat sticking out against the dark hues of the background. Joseph gave one final wave before turning back and rushing into the empty road, puddles splashing with every step. He was out of view soon enough, his paper boat was surely washing away faster than his small legs could take him.
James stepped away from the window and collapsed on his bed, heaving a sigh of pure thankful relief that he didn’t have to go out into the freezing cold rain.
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Joseph was running through the near-flooded street, the lingering taste of chicken nuggets and spaghetti hoops lingering on his breath. He bent down to place his paper boat onto the stream of water which seemed to run forever. The boat immediately began shooting down the thick trickle, and he darted after it with ease.
He did manage to stumble over his feet a few times, seeing as he was wearing James’ bright green welly boots which were far too big on him. He was struggling to keep up with it, and at one point he even had to side step a roadclosed sign. He had the boat still in his line of vision, though.
That was, until it fell into a sewage drain which had a rectangular mouth as it drank the rain water, and swallowed his boat whole. Joseph beant down and craned his neck so he could see inside of it. For a few short moments, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness inside of it. But suddenly, an unfamiliar figure had showed up in the drain.
It was a clown. It had powder-white skin which was crusting off around his face and breaking slightly at his eyebrow creases. The clown smiled with a wide, sharp smirk. Joseph felt uneasy at first, even slightly frightened at the sight before him, but that was until the clown began to speak.
“Hiya.” Its voice was high and squeaky, and cracked in the middle of his words, it wasn’t human but nothing close to a demon. It was similar to a rubber toy which Joseph’s dog would play with back at home. Joseph decided to politely smile and give a small wave. “My name’s Pennywise, what’s yours?” It asked.
“I’m Joseph, but my friends call me Joe.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Hiya Joe, I’ll call you that, because we’re friends.” It took a short pause after speaking. “Is this yours?” Pennywise said, holding up James’ paper boat which he had made for Joseph. It was now soggy and dripping with rain water, but James would be so angry if he lost his boat. Joseph nodded eagerly, and went to reach for the boat. The clown jerked his hand away before he could take the boat from it.
Pennywise wriggled his finger and smiled playfully. Its nails were long and filthy, like the claws of a wild animal. “You like balloons, Joseph?” It asked, twirling the boat in his hand.
“Yeah!” Joseph replied, excited and smiling now. The rain was becoming heavier, and it felt like pebbles were being thrown simultaneously onto his back, but Joseph didn’t mind it too much, it’s not like rain could hurt somebody.
The clown seemed to enjoy this, it began giggling. “You like when balloons go pop?” Pennywise asked with a chuckle. Joseph nodded, smiling at the clown’s playful antics. “Pop pop!” It said in a joking way, repeating it over and over again whilst Joseph was laughing at this.
Suddenly, Pennywise’s face went stone cold, emotionless. Joseph’s laughter subsided, and the smile on his face faded. “Well, you can keep the boat.” He said, as he began backing away from the clown.
He was too slow, though. The clown lurched forwards, sinking his razor-sharp teeth into the thin fabric of Joseph’s coat. He obviously panicked, screaming and punching the clown in the forehead. His skin was hard and flakey, and all Joseph wanted to do was rip his arm away from that creature.
Unfortunately, the creature ripped Joseph’s arm from himself.
Joseph continued to back away from the sewers, screaming in agony as he felt his vision go blurry and his body slowly go limp. Just as he felt himself slip out of consciousness, he also could feel him being dragged back towards the sewers by his legs.
He managed to force his last words out, but they came out in more of a strained sob than coherent speech, “James.”