Daily Screams

Radio Transmission

Start of transmission: Please note, due to the extensive static and the continued crying of an infant in the background, parts of the transmission are incomplete.

*child's voice. gender possibly female. young. sounds frightened*

Hello? Hello, is anyone there?

*static*

*infant crying in background*

My name's Millie. Is anyone there? Please help me. The bad men are coming...

*static*

...Papa made us go into the basement. He's upstairs still. He said he was gonna fight 'em off. It's me, Mama and the baby down here. She's crying 'cos the windows scared her.

*banging in distance*

Please help us. It's dark down here. Papa turned the light on but it only flickered and spluttered and didn't come on. All of the lights did that upstairs; they went bright and dim and bright and dim, and the TV went all funny and jumpy, and then all the lights and the TV went off. Papa said a rude word and smacked the TV with his hand, but it didn't make any difference.
And then all the windows exploded.
Well, they sort of exploded, only they exploded inwards - like someone went round the house and threw a brick through every single window all at once. Only there weren't any bricks on the floor. Just all the broken glass. Mama got cut on her face. It was really scary, 'cos she was bleedin' everywhere and the glass was sticking out of her face. She was screaming and that made Carla scream too....

*static*

....pa wanted to pull it out, but Mama wouldn't let him. And that's when all the windows started glowing. It looked like a giant was shinning his torch at us. It hurt my eyes and it musta hurt Mama and Papa too, 'cos they covered their eyes with their hands. Carla was still screaming, but she's just a baby and that's what she does. I wanted to cry too, but Papa always calls me his little soldier princess so I won't cry. The bad men aren't going to frighten me....

*static*

*gunshot in distance*

Please help us! Please. The bad men are coming.
Only I saw them through the window when Mama and Papa covered their eyes and I don't think they're men at all. They're really tall and skinny. Very, very skinny, like they never eat anything, with big, long fingers - longa that Carla's whole arm long. And they've got big heads; sorta heart-shaped, but maybe more like upside down yeardrops.
And they're real pale. Not white like white-people white, but kinda gray-white; like dead fish. Only glowing, like when you hold a lamp over the water and the fish come to you and the fish look all sparkly. And the bad men have fishy eyes too; all big and black and empty and...

*static*

*crying of infant becames muffled at this point*

*child's voice lowers to a whisper*

Mama is covering Carla's mouth with her hand. Mama thinks the bad men might hear her and come for us. But Papa is still upstairs - I know he is 'cos I can hear him shouting. He's using lots of bad words and Mama will tell him off. I heard him shooting his gun; Papa's got three guns and I know he used the 12-bore 'cos I heard it go off. But Mama doesn't like him using that one near the house 'cos she says shotguns upset her. But his other ones - he's got two little hand guns and he's teaching me how to use them - are kept in the office, next to Carla's room. So I don't think he got them. But the 12-bore takes Papa twenty seconds to reload - I know 'cos he's made me time him before - and the bad men might get him in that time.

*static*

Mama's crying. The glass is still in her face and it looks horrible. It sticks out bigger than my hand and is all zig-zaggy and sharp. Carla's stopped crying which is good. I asked Mama why she is crying when she said we had to be really, really quiet. But she won't tell me. She just said that she had made Carla stop crying for too long and now Carla has gone to sleep. Mama's leaning backwards and forwards now, as though she's sitting on an invisible rocking chair. And even though it's dark, I can tell she's holding Carla too tight. You shouldn't hold babies like that, they wake up and start crying again.
But Carla isn't waking up and Mama won't even answer me. She's just crying and rocking and crying.

*static*

Papa is banging on the basement door. He can't get in 'cos I locked it like he said. But why doesn't he shout me to open it?
Under the door is glowing, and I can smell roast pork and burning.
Papa is still banging on the door and it's angry banging. I should go and open it, but I don't want to leave Mam....

*static*

*static*

....'na open the door for Papa.

*screaming - possibly a woman*

*inderminable hissing sound*

*static*

End of transmission.





Word Count: 845
Prompt: Home Invaders (with a paranormal aspect in addition to the usual horror)
SCREAMS!!! Weekly Winner