The Epic Battle

By Nandy Ekle

Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief. It was over. The whole thing was behind him. Now he would be ready for tomorrow.
It was hard to believe that five minutes earlier Brett had been sure his death had come to meet him. Five minutes ago he faced the monster head-on and stood his ground, tapping the heroic attitude that this satanic demon would never take his soul. He faced the angel from hell and the fight began. Five minutes before this epic battle he sat on the bathroom floor backed into a corner and cringing like a young child. No! No! It couldn’t be real! He pinched himself in an effort to wake up, but only created a bruise. The horror still stared at him.
Five minutes before he realized this monster actually existed, he had been in the kitchen eating a fine meal with his wife and kids: pork chops with apple sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, broiled asparagus, and he knew carrot cake was for dessert. His favorite meal; Cassie must have something special planned. She had carefully cultivated his anticipation. He would enjoy his meal, then give her his undivided attention.
And then, between a bite of potatoes and a drink from his glass, one of the kids asked to be excused to the restroom. “Sure, go ahead,” he had answered with a smile.
Five minutes before that wondrous meal which would lead to whatever Cassie’s plan was, Brett pulled into the driveway after a day at the office. His job was going well and he didn’t have a care in the world. The promotion looked right in line right where it should have been; his work for the month was finished; all the customers loved him and asked for him personally instead of taking the next person in line. What in the world could knock him down now! He smiled and left his car.
Now, these twenty minutes later, he had learned what endurance and strength really meant. He looked at his handiwork, the remnants of the beast left laying on the floor, Cassie and the kids standing in the hallway with eyes as round as the plates on the dinner table. He grabbed a piece of toilet paper to soak the sweat from his forehead.
They knew. They knew his weakness. Correction, they knew his PAST weakness. Never again would he feel faint when facing a monster of this type.
Thinking back to the battle that had ended in the bathroom two minutes earlier, his trembling began. Tina, the child that had been excused from the table, had screamed and Brett, the father and defender of the home, ran to her side. He saw the intruder and suddenly felt faint himself. Of all evil things in the world, why did he have to face this one? But his daughter’s screaming little voice cut through the fear.
“Kill it, Daddy! Kill it!”
He had stared at the vile creature as Cassie put the weapon in his hand. This was the moment of truth. Could he, Brett Foster, master of the banking world, protector of the House of Foster, face his biggest fear and kill the terror that threatened to take his home, his family, his daughter? He raised his weapon and took a step closer. IT rose up as if to look him in the face. He could almost hear the hiss of its voice.
“Come get me, scaredy boy!”
He had backed against the wall, his weaponed hand lowering without his consent. “I can’t do it! I can’t! No way! It’ll just go away if I leave it alone.”
“Daddy, I believe in you.” Tina leaned over and brushed her lips against her daddy’s ear.
A light exploded in his brain so that he almost lost his vision again. He WAS the master. He was the builder of the house, the provider and protector of the home, and his darling little Tina had faith in her daddy. How dare this demon threaten his daughter! He would hang its giblets from the porch to show any others that came along that he was the boss of his turf!
He raised his weapon one more time and a look of supreme determination gelled on his face.
“NO SPIDERS ALLOWED IN MY HOUSE!!” And he had slapped the arachnid with the force of a dynamite explosion sending it to oblivion.
He heaved another sigh of relief as five hundred nearly invisible black pots left their dead mother and looked for dark corners in which to hide.

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