“Portfolio” – Carson Curley ’23

What makes me popular? Being a monster?

Every morning I see a monster in the mirror. I inspect myself, hair messy, smelly. Memories replay of me getting made fun of. Janet, the girl at my school that everyone loves, perfection to say the least. She called me a monster, so that means I have to be one right? As I walked to school, I constantly thought about what Janet will say today. “Oh look it’s fat-ass Lucy, with her long thick hair” “She can’t do anything but look like a monster.” I think to myself, maybe what Janet said is true. As I walked I opened Snapchat, just to be met with once again my reflection, it haunts me everytime, same with Janet. I go through my stories, I open Janet’s story of her kissing her boyfriend, I can’t even believe someone could like her, she may be perfect but she’s mean. I take a deep breath, take a snap, and start texting. I type the exact words, ‘Oh by the way, Janet cheated on her boyfriend with Ryan.’ Soon after I posted that the coming days were Janet’s downfall. She fell apart, literally. One day during school she did not see a sign that said ‘floor is wet’ and slipped and broke her neck. I laughed. Janet Combs used to be the most perfect girl in school, but now she is simply a mess. The next day I go home, I stare at myself, and think I look like Janet. A week later, I am Janet, I am no-more fat-ass Lucy. Start hanging with her friends, dating her ex, and no one mentions Janet. I see Jane roll into school with long thick hair. I laugh. 

Bones

The graveyard was empty. Wind blew through the trees leaving leaves falling on the stones of the dead. One night a year the graveyard would shake, rumbling the trees making all the leaves fall. Suzzy sat next to one of the stones. She was dressed in the normal fall attire, flannel, and jeans. She did not think much of it till she got up and felt the ground shake. Thinking the worst thoughts possible Suzzy started running but was suddenly tripped by a bone on the ground. Here lies Suzzy’s grandma’s bones, the sign said. One after another the bones popped up from the ground forming a skeleton. Suzzy was shocked by the inanimate bones laying on the ground. A girl stood in the graveyard, watching the skeleton rise, it was Suzzy’s grandma after all so she would not hurt her. Well she did, and that night Suzzy was murdered, but the thing is Suzzy’s body was never found. Just some flannel and a pair of jeans. 

The Butcher (v1)

Organs are transported daily, some stolen, some found in the lost in found, they are like money to people. Trent, a 22 year old male, had his kidney removed the other day. He thought his kidney would go to the medical waste bin, but nope, straight to the dumpster. It stunk in the dumpster, many organs laid in their drying up from the lack of blood. A day after, the kidney was dropped in the dumpster, all the organs were gone. Trent decided one day to walk into a butcher, the butcher stunk of raw meat but there was no question. Trent purchased one pound of what he thought was ham. He got home, and put it in the oven, but he had a weird feeling about this piece of meat. It was a bit too raw for his liking. Trent did not give a second thought and devoured it, after he thought to himself, how yummy it was. 

One dare they said, just knock on the door, and it will all be over. I knocked, no answer, I knocked again, confused if this is what I was supposed to do. No answer, weird. I turned around to see a man with a bag, and everything was dark. I woke up in a bathtub, hearing the creaking noises of the floorboards in the hallway. The bathroom was bland, with one sink and the tub, where I sat. My hands were tied to the shower curtain hanger, preventing me from escaping. I started to think, was it worth the dare, hell no, I just got kidnapped. My friends are probably wondering where I am but they probably don’t care either. Just one dare, can turn into this, me sitting in a bathtub confused. The man with the bag walked in. He asked, “How are you doing?” I stared at him wondering why the hell someone would ask me a question like that after I was just captured. However, I’ve seen this man before, his face reminds me of someone. “Have I met you before” “Oh, yeah we go to school together” Here I am thinking who the hell kidnaps their classmate, well this weirdo definitely does. “Why am I here?” “Oh, I don’t know, you knocked on my door after all so–” “What the actual hell, it was one dare jeez” He stared at me, his eyes locking with mine. He proceeded to walk away, leaving me with so many questions. I yanked on the tie that was holding me, soon I got the hanger to drop off the pole. I now could walk around attached to a shower curtain. I walked out of the bathroom, hearing the creaking floorboards throughout the house. The hallway was long and dark, the whole house actually had every window covered up from what I could see. The lights off of course, because what makes a house more ominous. One foot after the other, the floor creaked. I soon decided to run because why not. As I ran the shower curtain dragged behind me, soon tripping me. I fell to the ground face first, almost like a cartoon character. Bam, head to the ground, nose bleeding, shower curtain tied, I laid there on the ground. One dare got me here, ironic because dares are simply funny, but here I am with a dripping nose of blood. I looked up to see the boy standing there. He kneeled down to help me up. He said, “What are you doing…?” Not knowing what to say, I slapped in the face and bolted for the door. In the process, I untied my hands sending the shower curtain flying to the ground. Grabbing for the door knob, I heard a gun glock. I turned around to see a shotgun staring me dead in the eye. The boy then said, “What are you doing?” I was horrified, so I followed him into the kitchen. The kitchen was as boring as the bathroom, lacking decor. There was one island, cabinets empty, and a sink. I stood there shaking because the gun was held right to my head. Backing up into the corner of the cabinets, I grabbed the handle of the cabinet and slammed the cabinet door into his face, firing off his shotgun. One bullet went into my stomach making me start to bleed. Covered in blood I ran out of the house, passing the door that I knocked on. As I ran out of the house of terror, I noticed my friends looking for where I went. I dashed towards them, while I heard yelling from inside the house. Another shot went off as I was running, it hit my leg. Once again falling to the floor slamming my head into the payment I laid there, questioning my whole life, as any normal teenager would do in this situation. The pavement was cold, and I could feel the pile of blood start to form around me. I soon saw my friends come up to me and lift me up, one already calling the police. The boy came running, and then I blacked out from the blood loss.