THE EATERY
The Eatery
Jay first saw the child on a Sunday evening. It was a slow, steady shift at the Eatery, a bland family restaurant he had been working at for a few months at the time. He decided to take the garbage out back. As he lugged the dripping plastic bag, filled with unpleasant leftovers, over to the dumpster he was humming to himself, trying to take his mind off of the job. He set the bag down, pulled the greasy plastic door of the dumpster open, and picked up the bag. Right when he was about to drop the bag, he let out a strangled yelp of surprise and froze in mid-toss. Looking up from out of the semi-darkness of the filthy dumpster was the face of a child. His skin was awfully pale, his lips a dark, cracked black smudge. His eyes were like two harvest moons, reflecting a sickly yellow. For a moment he stared at Jay, and then emitted a pained gurgling sound from the back of his throat. Trash could be heard being shuffled as he squirmed atop the pile, attempting to move closer. He began to right himself, revealing a ghostly white, emaciated frame. The gurgling noise grew louder and more revolting, as if the child was about to vomit. Jay let the bag drop and backed away as the child’s oily hair rose over the edge of the dumpster. Something told him this wasn’t right, whatever right meant. There was a sudden impetus to run, to flee the gruesome child. But what if he needs help? He thought. Backing away still, he passed the grease depository, and slipped on a slick of oil. Swearing and rubbing his sides, he got back to his feet and walked quickly inside, not looking back. He did not return to the dumpster later that night. Instead, he switched duties with the other busser and cleaned tables. Nick, the other crewmember, did not notice anything odd about the dumpster, as he ran trash out back for closing. The next week he returned out back. By now he had assumed that the previous week’s incident was just a hallucination, brought on by
Jay first saw the child on a Sunday evening. It was a slow, steady shift at the Eatery, a bland family restaurant he had been working at for a few months at the time. He decided to take the garbage out back. As he lugged the dripping plastic bag, filled with unpleasant leftovers, over to the dumpster he was humming to himself, trying to take his mind off of the job. He set the bag down, pulled the greasy plastic door of the dumpster open, and picked up the bag. Right when he was about to drop the bag, he let out a strangled yelp of surprise and froze in mid-toss. Looking up from out of the semi-darkness of the filthy dumpster was the face of a child. His skin was awfully pale, his lips a dark, cracked black smudge. His eyes were like two harvest moons, reflecting a sickly yellow. For a moment he stared at Jay, and then emitted a pained gurgling sound from the back of his throat. Trash could be heard being shuffled as he squirmed atop the pile, attempting to move closer. He began to right himself, revealing a ghostly white, emaciated frame. The gurgling noise grew louder and more revolting, as if the child was about to vomit. Jay let the bag drop and backed away as the child’s oily hair rose over the edge of the dumpster. Something told him this wasn’t right, whatever right meant. There was a sudden impetus to run, to flee the gruesome child. But what if he needs help? He thought. Backing away still, he passed the grease depository, and slipped on a slick of oil. Swearing and rubbing his sides, he got back to his feet and walked quickly inside, not looking back. He did not return to the dumpster later that night. Instead, he switched duties with the other busser and cleaned tables. Nick, the other crewmember, did not notice anything odd about the dumpster, as he ran trash out back for closing. The next week he returned out back. By now he had assumed that the previous week’s incident was just a hallucination, brought on by