Friday, 13 April 2018

The Mickey Mouse Man - a Short Story by Chia De Zhong


The Mickey Mouse Man

By Chia De Zhong

But why must I remember?

*

I was 8. I attended a convent school a few blocks away from home, and every evening, I would walk through a dark road home. Then one faithful night, as I walked through a void deck, I saw him. Dressed in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and shorts, slippers dragging through concrete, he looked friendly. Almost welcoming. With glasses perched gently on his nose, and an awkward grin on his teenage face, he reminded me of my piano teacher my mother used to hire.

And so I smiled back.

I remember him making small, measured steps towards me. A lollipop in his hand - an innocent gift to a young child. I licked my lips. I was always quite a gregarious young lady, making friends with the coffee shop auntie, the condo janitor. A blossoming flower.

And so I smiled back, and reached out my hand in anticipation.

What happened next was an unspeakable evil. With a swoop, the lollipop disappeared into his pocket, but out came two outstretched hands, which dug into my skirt with a desperate longing. I struggled but no sound came out of my throat.

The smile had long faded from my face, now shining with sweat. And red with fear.

I, the damsel in distress, had no fairy-tale prince to save me from the clutches of the Mickey Mouse Man. All I had left was my voice. Weak. Trembling. I pleaded but my words were buried within the folds of his jacket, heard by no one else in the dead of night.

I struggled to no avail, and when we reached a desolate area of my estate, he dropped me on the floor, brushing off imaginary cobwebs from strands of runaway hair, now in a dishevelled mess. And then I felt him, a dagger digging deep within my loins. Nothing could stop him from defiling me. As he achieved release, I opened my eyes and there I saw him, eyes closed, lips parted. In his hand was a tattoo. It said, “I believe in Freedom” in a messy scrawl.

Those were the hands that forever imprisoned me in my nightmare. I was found in the morning by the newspaper man. My eyes still open, vacant. Soulless. My parents took me home and made a police report, but when questioned for the perpetrator, my young mind had only one reply.

“He believes in freedom. He believes in freedom.”

I never ate that lollipop.

*

That was 22 years ago. I have since then created the illusion: Busty Girl 88. Hot. Horny. Big tits. Double DD, always yearning for that D. My online profile was always swamped with requests from hungry men. But within that illusion was a ravaged soul. Always looking. Always searching. Always in memory of the child who was taken away, and then returned, broken.


Once broken, considered sold -

That should never have been a child’s destiny.

But at least I’ll never be lonely, for I have the bodies of men by my side. Never mind their hearts, for I too have lost mine to –

Did I say that I charge by the hour?

*

Today, one of the men come knocking at my door, just like with many other nights. I look at the clock. It was 9pm. Their wives must be at home, waiting. He, like many other men, are entertaining clients till late.

“Work is important,” She would chime.

I could almost see her enigmatic smile, reflected on the red of my lips.

I check myself in the mirror, chuckling. There was a faint love bite left by a previous customer. Rash, unrequited love. I feel my breasts, tingling with sensitivity from the night before. He was too aggressive, I thought; but the money was worth it.

The fruit of my labour.

I then clasped my bra on, a classy red piece. Throwing on a thin, almost translucent nightdress, I went to the door.

In that peephole stood a man, just like many days before. I heaved a heavy breath of anticipation, tilted my hip, and opened the door.
“I’ve been waiting for you my love,” I quipped in a high whisper.

Some men liked it slow. They would bring with them a wine bottle, and sit me down gently by the sofa table, breathing slowly into my hair. The fruits on my table were never cut, never bitten into. The conversation was always boring.

“You’re really sexy by the way.”

“It’s my first time actually.”

I always liked the play-pretend. And then I would shyly beckon to the bedroom, and with a hand - feel the bristles on his face. This hand would then travel gently down, from his neck, to his shirt, to his belly, to where the fire burns so passionately below.

Today was different.

He came through the door like a wild bull, taking me into his arms. Slamming the door behind him, he pushed me onto the sofa, kissing me passionately. He was in his late thirties, weathered but well-built. I nodded with approval, beautiful was him, and beautiful would be the money that enters my pocket after that session.

My words came out as a gentle caress, travelling down his neck and into his psyche. “I need you baby.”

Breathing into my neck, making small nibbles at every corner, he turned into a ferocious beast at my invitation. I cry out: half in excitement, half in fear. He claws vigorously at my dress. I am mildly annoyed: the nightdress was from Victoria’s Secret.

But then it was off.

He grappled at my breasts, heaving them together like new dough. I was a new girl all over again, passionate and in love. He was not young, but in his mind was a young beast out to play.

A faint treasure trailed down to where secrets lie, and I was now ready to collect my dues.

His briefs were still on, but it was wet, dripping with lust. He was big, and I was ready. Taking off my panties, I wrapped myself around his hips, still with briefs on, hot with passion and dripping with longing. He smelled of heaven. We kiss, and our tongues reach deep into the shadows. I feel his arms, hairy and veined.

And then on his hand I noticed a tattoo.

That tattoo shimmered in the dim light, but on my mind, it read as bright as day. It was green, faded from years in the Sun. A scar crossed out a letter haphazardly. The words scrambled and unscrambled themselves as I read what was on his hand again, and again.


I        Believe        In                    Freedom

I                   Believe                  In                          Freedom

I                          Believe                        In                                    Freedom


I                                  Believe                                In                                           Freedom.


And there he was, that very man, digging into my skirt. Hands outstretched. A grin on his face. Glasses perched gently on that nose. And a small child looked back once again, in absolute terror.

That lollipop was one I never wanted in me.

The monster hiding within the cobwebs of my broken psyche all these years.

It was him, the Mickey Mouse Man.
He looked friendly. Almost welcoming.

And today here he was, the monster I now welcome into my home.

But this time, I am ready. With a fiery passion, I rip off his briefs. We kiss passionately, and then I take him in. It isn’t enough for me. We gyrate on the sofa and there, at the corner of my eye, I see the fruits get knocked over.

Apples.

Peaches.

Pears.

And at that moment I knew what to do, to make him truly mine.

With a quick shove, I knock him off my hips. With a swift hand, I then pick up the fruit knife from the table. With a swift turn of my wrist, he buckles onto the sofa like a dead sack of potatoes, neck lolling to one side, forever.

Hunched back in silence, he seems almost like a baby in his cot, peaceful and with nary a movement. I can see no blood, for all I see is the fiery passion in me.

But in his eyes, I almost saw myself running away, free, an 8-year-old child shaking herself free from the grasp of the Mickey Mouse Man.

It was an 8-year-old child who would never be.

And then with another swift twist of my knife I claim his sword. He will never be able to imprison another child, ever again.

I rearrange the fruits on the table and place his sword in the midst of the colours. A shining artifice worthy of worship in a holy temple that was my home. I then went to my drawer and took out a small lollipop. His hand was open, still warm, as if it would move any moment. I clasp his hand over the lollipop.

It’s a pity he’ll never get to eat it, too.

There was something sweeter than that lollipop, and I could feel it growing, a sugar lump expanding at the back of my tongue. That lump was justice, and I swirled it in my mouth, savouring the almost sickly-sweet goodness blending with the scent of blood in the air.

I gaze into the shiny red sheen that slowly envelops the pastel greens and pinks of the uneaten fruits. The house is silent, save for the constant ticking of the clock in the living room. After what seems like an eternity, I pick the phone up, fingers dancing furtively in the air, before my hand came to a decisive rest over the keypad.

9. 9. 9.

As the call connects, all I can hear now is the sound of my own voice, in a proud proclamation:

“I believe in freedom! I believe in freedom!”

But in his eyes was a deep black, staring into the distance, with no glimmer of recognition in sight. In his eyes now reflected my own, now shimmering with a release.

In a while the police will come, and I can almost hear the faint blare of police sirens in the distance, increasing in volume with each second passing. But nothing can take away the freedom that is now mine.

Nothing.

Not even the Mickey Mouse Man. //

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