Midnight Snacks: The Dark Collection

By Jody T. Pratt

Midnight Snacks: The Dark Collection holds 13 uniquely disturbing stories that will give you nightmares and make the strongest reader tremble..
 

"Twenty-Four Fifteen" - A young man seeks revenge for the horrific death of his mother. But he gets more than he bargains for when he realizes who or what he seeks revenge against is not exactly human or anything of this world.

"Blueberry pie" - Calvin couldn't help himself when it came to eating at night, to the point of sickness sometimes. Even after he was warned of a dark force that stalked the halls of a plantation who has caught and punished greedy children for thier misdeeds. Calvin didnt believe in what he was warned about until it was too late.

"Letter to my Love" - A soldier at war confesses to a terrible deed he had done as a child that resulted in the death of his stepmother and the day that changed his life forever.

"Rest Here" - Ja'Marcus just couldn't hold it any longer on his long drive to a pick-up game of basketball and finds himself at a disgusting gas station run by a peculiar plastic skinned man. What comes next will leave you with goosebumps running down your spine.

"Assorted Popsicles"- A beloved lunch lady loves and cares for the children she serves day in and day out. With it being the last day of school, some would say, her love is borderline... obsessive. 

...Plus, 8 more stories that will make your skin crawl and your hands quake. You have been warned..

"Dont be afraid, its only a snack." 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jody T. Pratt
• Release date: May 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223940135

Book preview

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The Dark Collection

Jody T Pratt

Illustrations by Rob Cannon

This is a work of fiction . Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincident-al.

Midnight Snacks: The Dark Collection

Copyright © 2024 Joseph T Pratt

All rights reserved

[e-mail]

To Sunflower, Damar and Patrick.

Thank you all, from the deepest, darkest

and the most troubled part of my mind.

Table of Contents

Assorted Popsicles

Terrarium

Leaky Ceiling

Blueberry Pie

REST HERE

Head & Heart

Twenty-Four Fifteen

Saffron Kush

Take with Food

He My Uncle Leslie

Cabbage Head

A letter to my Love

The Line

Assorted Popsicles

On a warm summer morning on the last day of school, at Doner Elementary, Ms. Le'Rouix slid the last of what will be called Roast Beef into the second oven. Setting all three kitchen timers for precisely 1 hour and 20 minutes, leaving enough time for cooling and cutting according to her tried and semi-authentic recipe. Ms. Le'Rouix takes her time prepping the slightly frozen hoagie rolls by delivering a well-placed cut down the side and a quick steam in the oven's proofer. A little trick she picked up being in this line of work for so long. Cafeteria worker or Lunch Lady, she didn't care which label she wore as long as you said her name correctly, Ms. Le'Rouix pronounced ‘ Lah-Rue.’

With the timers set, she strolls to her hidden ‘voyeur’ area, an upside-down five-gallon bucket waiting behind the set of shrubs in view of her favorite person, 6th grader, Patrick Reyn­olds. Effectually Miss Le'Rouix would call Patrick Patty unbe­knownst to him. She would chain smoke cigarettes, usually going through two packs a day, and lick her lips, a habit that forced her to reapply her favorite burgundy lipstick ever so of­ten. To a more considerable extent, when he would stretch be­fore a foot race, she couldn't help but giggle when he would laugh out loud. She would even show concern when he would fall or get hit in the head unexpectedly with a ball, cursing under her breath towards the perpetrator that would usually go un­found. Watching Patrick, Miss Le'Rouix would suck her bottom lip to the point where she is left with a thick purple and black ring just under her lip for her lustfully nervous tick.

When the bell rang, signifying the end of recess, Miss Le'Rouix would watch Patty line up for his 6th-grade class with Mrs. Linner. As they walked in, disappearing from her line of sight, she put out her newly lit cigarette. Hastily retreating back to the kitchen of the cafeteria where her uninteresting fellow lunch lady, Ronda, was prepping the sides for tomorrow's dis­trict summer party while staging today's sides in the chafing dishes on the serving line. 

Ms. Le'Rouix straightened out her uniform before putting on her apron, finger curling a tuft of her hair, and putting on her hairnet and gloves. 

Did I miss anything? Ms. Le'Rouix says, assisting Ronda in the rest of the mundane tasks to take her mind off Patty for a while, giving her lower lip a rest.

I can't say that you did, girly. You heard 'bout that missing child in Roseville a few weeks ago? Poor baby, the family says they came to school to pick him up, and he was gone. One mi­nute he was with his friends, and the next, poof. How could the teacher not know a baby is gone – oh God, girly, act busy, Ronda replies in an airy yet caring way seeing the principal ap­proach before he interjects in the way he made a habit of.

Good afternoon, ladies! That was a wonderful breakfast this morning. I can't wait for lunch. Rubbing his hands to­gether and peering over to the empty covered chafing pans ser­vice line. In a show of anticipation and want, his tongue would glide over his upper lip.

Things always taste better if you wait. Miss Le'Rouix said, looking through the top of her eyes in the way dressed in innu­endo.

Well-well-well, I skipped dinner last night in excitement for some of what this group will be cooking up this afternoon. And believe me, I had all the opportunity to eat, the Principal answers with his hands on his hips and his feet separated, breathing deep into his nose and exhaling loudly. 

A growing boy needs to eat as much as he can, and he can't be picky.

Oh, um, yes... A good boy also does what he’s told.

Promise?

..I pwomise, the Principal says in a baby voice.

We have roast beef sandwiches with tater tots and boiled carrots and a – Ronda interjects in a flirtatious brown-nosing tone towards the Principal before being interrupted by him. 

Mmm, Very good, very good.. ahh yes, Ms. La'Rouix, may I speak with you for a moment in my office? Please? The Princi­pal says, turning and walking out of the cafeteria. 

With an eye roll and a wink to Ronda, who responded with a silent snarl, Miss Le'Rouix takes off her apron and follows the Principal down the empty Doner Elementary School hallway. She gets distracted, gawking through the small vertical rectangul-ar-shaped window on Mrs. Linner's classroom door. Staring at Patty studiously filling in tiny bubbles on some sort of end-of-the-school-year test.

Um, Ms. Le'Rouix? May I speak with you briefly? The Principal says, holding open the janitor's closet. 

Breaking her concentration, she catches the attention of Patty by her fleeting gaze. Patty waves in confusion and is given a wink by Miss Le'Rouix in return. Patty slightly frowns and skips over the moment after he is reminded of the test in front of him.

Entering the janitor's closet, the Principal jumps on Miss Le'Rouix from behind. They kiss and grab on one another. In between kissing and the feeling of sexual organs, the Principal says, Mm, Ms. Le'Rouix, you're doing well with the meal budget lately. That butcher shop cousin of yours donating the meat to the school has got the school board off my back. I owe him one.

"No, you owe me, one," Ms Le'Rouix replied, pulling up her uniformed dress and pulling down her pantie hose, turning her back to him, gripping the cold metal shelves filled with cleaning products, and bracing herself. From then on, she closed her eyes, as usual, during their interactions. At this time, Ms Le'Rouix is picturing Patty behind her on the tippy toes of his worn blue Chuck Taylors, instead of The Principal bringing herself to the point no matter how quick the Principal is. Her eyes rolled back as her knees lose strength.

"Patty." She would mouth as she bit down on her inner arm. Between heavy breaths and a slimy gratifyingly thin-lipped grin, he would go on to say shortly after almost beginning to spasm while stifling his own groan of completion, 

My goodness, Ms. Le'Rouix, I must admit, you make this job worth it if I say so myself. Oh, and if you wouldn't mind, I need a menu that serves 70 to 80 people for tomorrow's District Summer Bash.

I was under the assumption that it was going to be hosted by another school. It's just that we don't get our shipment until Ms.Le'Rouix would say in light protest before being interrupted. 

Well, erm it's us whether you like it or not. So call up that cousin or brother of yours for a favor and get it handled. The Superintendent has caught wind of your culinary prowess and wants to see what all the hype is about. I am very high on you, I must say.

Stuffing his shirt into the loose-fitting slacks sagging around his waist. Looking at his watch, he situates himself quickly and leaves the room, but not before slapping Ms. Le'Rouix's ass and her giving a lackluster smile in return.

Adjourning to the cafeteria kitchen Ms. Le'Rouix writes, 90lbs of Ground Chuck on the chalkboard’s list titled NEEDED. With a deep exhale, she explains to Ronda, You, don't have to do this one. I got it. I'll have my brother deliver the meat after school and I will prep everything for tomorrow after school lets out.

If you say so, girly. I ain't complaining if that means less work for me. Ronda says, chuckling, pouring the rest of the tater tots into chafing pans. 

Before they knew it, it was time for lunch. The bell rang and moments later, the cafeteria and hallway was filled with the nonsensical chatter and authoritative whistles blowing to stop roughhousing and the like, Ms. Le'Rouix loved every moment. So many, "Thank you, Miss La'Rouix! rang out so many times she couldn't keep count. But none of that was important, not as crucial as Patty was to her. 

In her vision, Patty sat eating a sack lunch and laughing with a group of boys. In one bout of laughter, he would mistakenly knock his bag of grapes on the cafeteria floor, unaware. Having seen it, she eagerly called his attention to the bag of grapes, which he uses as ammo toward random people seated at the table. But, getting his awareness again, she finger-waves him over coyly. Coming over in a playful gallop, he reported to her, she would walk around the counter and whisper to Patty,

Hey, you know that’s a detention if I were anybody else, right?

I'm sorry, Ms. Le'Rouix. I didn't mean to, Patty says with his puppy dog eyes.

"Don't worry. It's our little secret, okay? Oh and call me Jude. I won't tell you again," she replies with her pinky out. Patty hesitated before interlocking his pinky with hers, holding for a few seconds, locking eyes, and slight smiles. She kisses her thumb to seal the pinky promise. He follows her lead and gives a little kiss to his thumb, but not without a crinkle in his brow.  

Okay... Ms. Le— Erm, Jude. 

Would you like some popsicles for your long walk home today? I'll even give you some for your little tablemates too. It's gonna be pretty hot out there. I heard it's going to be the hottest day of the summer.

Hell, yeah, I would!

Okay, then, Mr. Potty Mouth. Meet me right here, after school, and you can help me dig them out. Oh, and here is a banana. They are way better than grapes, anyhow. But only you can come back. You don't want me to get into trouble, do you? And leave it a surprise for the boys. Do we have a deal?

Deal. Patty smiled big with excitement, already planning to keep certain flavors to himself. With a handshake and a reception of the banana on Patty’s behalf, a promise was made, and so it was. 

After the final bell rang, the rest of the children fled from the halls, leaving them empty and echoing, but Patty was prompt in his arrival as promised. The summer sun, showing through the large cafeteria windows that looked out toward the open quad as the