The Mummy Demon Revisited

 

featuring horror and SF by Barbara CusterMy visit to Atlantic City was a trip through time. At the Johnny Rockets restaurant, where I had my supper, they played oldies from my childhood, such as the Drifter’s “Under the Boardwalk.” I later headed to the candy shops, and they sold the coconut slices I loved to eat. So it came as no surprise, as I munched on my treat when ahead loomed a sign: Make Your Own Horror Movie.

Underneath, read another: “Simulated Production.”

scene where the mummy awakens

A wrinkled, skeletal lady with wisps of jet hair sat in the display window to my right. I got some photos, but the sun was too bright to do the monster justice. Her blackened eyes sized me up, and I recognized the 1000-year-old denizen from my childhood. Dat’s wight, wabbits, the mummy from the Million Dollar Pier has paid me another visit. What’s more, the ten-year-old inside me was tempted to go inside the store and explore.

Come in and play, a voice whispered in my head. Maybe you’ll become like me, and we can both sit and watch the passersby.

I shook my head and backed away, but then tried to peer into the store. Someone had spray-painted blackout paint on the front glass door. The left window was also painted, but one clear section of glass revealed human bones. That, and a horrible zombie face.

Those things didn’t get me moving. The fact that none of the other passersby had stopped to check out the store did.

Perhaps the store intended a cheap Halloween thrill, but the possibility of snuff filming crossed my mind. In any case, I didn’t have my mom anymore to make it all better. Heck, I didn’t even have any Mylar balloons with me. Instead of exploring, I headed back to the candy shop to buy treats for my coworkers.

On my way back to the hotel, I looked for the store again but didn’t see it. Perhaps the heat had given me a case of the crazies. Maybe I stumbled into an alternate dimension.

Funny thing, later that evening, in my hotel room, I head the sound of exploding pipes. I assumed maintenance was doing some work. So when I went to take my bath, I was chagrined to see that black sand had blasted through the drain into the bathtub. Black sand! AC doesn’t have black sand, but some beaches around the Nile River of Egypt do.

I think the mummy was trying to send me a message.

I will be sending a $10 Amazon gift card to a random commenter.

About Barbara Custer

Author of: Twilight Healer Steel Rose Life Raft: Earth City of Brotherly Death Close Liaisons Infinite Sight When Blood Reigns Infinite Sight Publisher / Editor of Night to Dawn Books & Magazine
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8 Comments

  1. Love the mummy! Great piece!

    • I agree the time consumed with submitting and waiting for a response can be frustrating. That’s one of the reasons I went with independent publishing – when you’re in your late 50s and early 60s that time involved can mean a lot. Barbara of the Balloons

  2. That is a scary story! I think the detail of the sand was chilling (Lyssa Medana who hasn’t worked out how to change her WordPress name)

  3. Spooky fun and a delightful post.

  4. The black sand, only found in Egypt in some beaches around the Nike, and how it blasted through the drain definitely confirms that the Mummy was present and conveying a message. Perhaps the wrinkled skeletal lady (Mummy without its bandages, like Boris Karloff in ‘The Mummy.’

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