Chapter 21: The Honeydew Meadow Massacre V: A New Dawn

Chapter 21: The Honeydew Meadow Massacre V: A New Dawn

You dirty Bubblebellys always lookin down ynoses at us, Horace said in the gloom of the darkening barn. Always look at us Baddieburrs like wes nothing. Like we aint fit for being round civilized folks. You was never neighborly! You treated us like trash the wind swept inna' yer yard! But we AINT trash! WE AINT TRASH! An you got no right tdo what you did?

Ohhhh? asked Billy Bubblebelly. Although the mouse hung by his wrists from the rafters of his barn, shirtless and whipped, with a slowly growing pool of blood beneath his dangling feet, he seemed perfectly at ease. As though he were in complete control of the situation.

His calm demeanor infuriated Horace.

Say it! Say what you done, Bubblebelly! Say what you done, gum-dangit! CONFESS!

Okay, Billy said amicably. I confess. I killed your boy. I killed Scooter.

You admit it! shouted Horace. You admit it

I do, Billy continued. I do admit it. I found him in the dark of the woods, pining away oer that hussy hed been set to marry. Saw him shedding tears and bawling his sweet little heart out. And it was a sweet heart, Horace, it was! Know how I know? Because when I was done peeling away at him, when I had slaked my lust for his screams, when he had not the breath remaining to so much as gurgle a final plea for mercy, I dug that beating heart out of his chest an I ate it beneath the light of the moon!

Youyou, Horace whispered.

Horace, it was delicious! You Baddieburr bug-slurpers got some flavor on you, boy! AHAHAHAHA!

Horace began whipping him again, his blows made frenzied by the mockery in Billys laughter. Why you done it, why you done it, WHY YOU DONE IT? he screeched madly.

That was when Billy stopped laughing.

You dare ask me why? Horace Baddieburr, you DARE ask me why?

Horace trembled at the sight of that red-eyed gaze. Scotty looked at his father in confusion.

Daddy, whats he mean? Whats this crazy mouse talking about?

Yesssss, Scotty. Thats good, thats good! Ask him! Ask him what he done to my wife an my oldest girl! Encouraged Billy.

What? Daddy? Daddy, what does he mean?

Scooter had nothing to do with this! Horace shouted.

All who share your blood, share your guilt! smiled the crazed Billy Bubblebelly. None of you shall be spared! Why, to even so much as love a Baddieburr is a betrayal of whats right! Whyd you think I had to take my blade to poor Miss Lydia? Because she was irrevocably tainted by the affection she shared with your bastard boy! It was Treachery!"

Daddy, what did you doooo? moaned poor Scotty.

He killed my wife an he killed my child, an he hid behind the law because he was too much of a coward to stand up and fess to what he done, Scotty. Thats why Lydia an your brother died. Thats why you an him are gonna die too. Cause its justice.

He hid behind the law? Scotty asked.

Oink-oink, snickered Patrolman Pig, as he entered the barn, dragging Lucy along with him, who he promptly threw to the floor. Horace, why are you dragging this out? Kill this crazy thing and lets be gone from here. That fire will soon draw attention.

NO! He aint begged for mercy yet! Horace seethed.

Horace, does it look like this nutbar is gonna be apologizing anytime soon? Git some sense into yer head! You wanted to know why he killed yer boy, now you know. Finish him off so we can be done with this!

I said no, Piggy! We do this my way! Twas my son he stole from me, so Im the one who says what goes! And this mad mouse is gonna BEG for my mercy!

Dog-DAMNIT, Horace, you always got to be in charge, dont ya? sighed Patrolman Pig. Always tryin to put yourself up over everyone. Thats why no one can stand ya! Not even yer own kin! No wonder Missus Bubblebelly laughed so hard at you when you propositioned her.

Piggy, SHUT your mouth! warned Horace.

Billy deserves tknow! Even Lucy here deserves t'know! Thats why your mama had to die, Sweetie, Pig said to Lucy.

Horace here got day-drunk like his loser ass has a habit o' doin and went walking along outside. Up by the creek, he saw your pretty mama playin with your sister, and had him an urge to do somethin naughty! But when he invited her to partake of himself, she laughed at him like the old, dirty fool he was!

I said SHUT UP, Pig! Horace said in a louder, angrier voice.

Horaces pride wouldnt let him take that laughter, no sir! So, he grabbed your mama an drowned her in the waters of that creek! Them same waters you like to play in, Little Lucy! And when your sister tried to run away, he chased her down and did the same thing to her!

Patrolman Pig shook his head sadly at the foolishness of it all. Now, technically, I didnt do nothing, except cover it up. Me and Horace go back a'ways, after all. I couldnt let my old friend go to the kennel over some mouse hoor an her spawn. So, I reported it as an accident, and I made sure that story stuck.

No, no, no, no! said Lucy, as she wildly shook her head. This cant be so! It cant! All of you areare murders...

Ah, hell, mouse girl. Dont say that like its a bad thing! This is just the way the grownup world worksnot that youll ever experience it yerself! chuckled the pig.

Patrolman Pig turned his head back to Horace and said, Ill take care of this one, an you finish off her daddy.

Not until I say, damn it! Youre not in charge here, piggy! Youre not in charge here

The roar of a discharged stinger shot rang throughout the air, and a hole opened in Horaces throat. Horace clamped a paw over this new wound then raised it to stare in puzzlement at his now crimson-stained palm. When his gaze turned to Patrolman Pig, his expression was one of immense surprise.

Hrghgrghrghr? he asked before falling flat on his back, dead.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAADDY!" shrieked Scotty, who ran to embrace his suddenly desceased father.

I was gitn sick of you bossin me around, anyway, badger, the pig said with a sneer.

HE WASNT YOURS TO TAKE, roared Billy Bubblebelly. Filthy pig, he was mine, he was mine, HE WAS MINE

Three more shots rang out and tore through Billys body. He jerked and spasmed as each awful impact tore away at his flesh. Then he too hung still, now quite dead.

No, that was yours to take, you dumb bastard! hissed Patrolman Pig. Oh, Im good and tired of people blabbing they mouths and tellin me what do to! Next fool runs their gums, they get a stinger in the face, you hear me? GOLL-EE. All this damn drama! All this doggone DRAMA!

If you didnt want to see dramatic things, you should never have joined the force, barked an angry voice from behind him.

C-chief? Chief is that you? asked the Pig.

Drop that Bee-bee gun, Patrolman. Drop it or Ill bury you like a bone in the backyard! commanded Detective Dachshund.

Chief, Chief, you dont understand. Ya got it all wrong!

My nose doesnt get much wrong, Pig. We Dachshunds are hunting dogs. I smelled your stink all over poor Carrots body. Your friends in high places aint getting you out of this one, Curly Sue.

Chief, I said you got it wrong!

Hey, Billy. Sorry, I just did a quick consultation. Hey, man, I really dont like your odds here, and I feel like it would be in your best interests to back down before this situation escalates, okay? I mean, Im not telling you what to do here, were both grownups and we can make our own decisions, but in all seriousness, it wouldnt turn out well if youwell, darn, Billy.

Billy ran at me, screaming like a banshee, doing this weird glowing red eye thing while baring his blood drenched fangs at me, I mean it was dramatic. I dont want to go into too much detail about what happened next, because, sadly, his little girl was in the room and she saw everything that happened, but I had to protect myself, right? I mean, I was the one being attacked.

So, yeah, I basically turned old Billy into a bunch of meaty nonsense.

Campell beef stew was made of chunky bits of meat!

And now Billy Bubblebelly was too.

Wow, look at her.

Lucys sitting on the ground, kinda staring blankly into space right now. But hey, kids arekids bounce back, right? They have all those fresh stem cells and stuff, dont they? She'll recover from what she saw today.

Shell be fiiiiiiine.

Besides, anyone whos ever read Harry Potter knows that having two dead parents is awesome! Ice cream for dinner with no bedtime! Party at whose place? Lucys place!

Oh, right. Someone burned it down.

Im sure shell figure something out.

Kids are resilient.

Man, Libby! Did you see all that?

I did. Regrettable choices were made by both sides.

Ha! Youre so silly. Billy was a bad guy, but I was here to stop him! The prophecy of the rhyming spider came true! Im ahero!

Max, that wasnt a prophecy, that spider was attempting to make you lower your guard so it could eat you.

A heeeeeeroooooo!

I really do have limits, you know. There may come a time when even I will no longer be able to tolerate the sheer absurdity of your many delusions.

Ha! Thats my tough talking pal, Libby! Shes got a thorny exterior, folks, but she also has a real heart of gold!

Max, I wasnt joking.

Good ol Libby! She's always ready to deliver a quip!

PapaPapa Lucy kept whimpering as she rocked forlornly on her haunches.

I think it was time to go.

The Dachshund was still breathing. And he was like an authority figure or whatever, right? Let him take over. Im just an axe, you cant really expect me to be some kids security blanket. And besides, I didnt really like Lucy anymore, anyway. I hadnt forgotten that shed pinched me! Nearly cut her frickin head off over it!

Im an axe, damn it! Treat me with respect! I'll kill you!

You know what? Honeydew Meadow really wasnt what I thought it would be. I needed to be around my own kind. This had been an interesting experience, but the real lesson I learned today was that talking animals are stupid.

So farewell, oh strange, twisted little world of cartoonishly adorable little critters who boldly wear shirts, but not pants. May you one day solve your various issues with class inequality, racism, mental health, crime, and corruption, like we human beings did ages ago. Be more like us and less like yourselves!

Goodbye, Honeydew Meadow! Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye!

__

Lucy, said a voice in the girl's mind.

Max had flown away hours ago, but Lucy had stayed in the barn, lost in her miserable thoughts. Desperately trying to remember happier times, times when both her parents had been alive. Times when it seemed that love and joy would never leave her life.

Lucy. I love you.

I love you too, Papa. she whispered.

Lucy. Its up to you now. They have to pay. You have to MAKE them all pay.

But Papa, Im so small.

Thats okay, Lucy. Big things often start small. A single raindrop precedes a flood. A small cell becomes a malignant lump. A single atom can smash an entire city.

You can do it, Lucy.

You can do anything.

To her right, Detective Dachshund struggled to breath. He hadnt opened his eyes once, since her Papa hurt him.

You know what you have to do.

But Papa, isnt it wrong?

You know what you have to do.

Lucy picked up Patrolman Pigs Bee-Bee gun. It still had a single round chambered in it. Then she looked at the helpless Detective Dachshund.

Do it Lucy. Make the right choice.

Do it, Lucy.

Do it, Lucy.

Do it, Lucy...

Eyes wide, hands trembling, Lucy did it.

Lucy made her choice.