I was given the prompt "Write a story or poem about the song 'Purple People Eater'" If you don't know what that is then check out the video
here.
And here is the result.
Three nights. That's how long Timmy had been kept awake at night. Tonight was no different, he lay there staring at the ceiling of his bedroom getting more annoyed and curious than ever. It wasn't rowdy neighbours or insomnia that kept him up. It was a mysterious noise, a noise that sounded like a really bad saxophone player.
Living on the edge of town between the main graveyard and the bordering woods meant that he had his fair share of the strange and bizarre instances. He once had to hunt down a satanic cult that was in taking meetings in the woods. Not because he had anything against Satanism, it was the screaming of the sacrificial cat that was disturbing his movie time.
He had sought them out without thinking about it but here he was, a grown man of 28, sitting wide awake terrified of what? Someone that is so bad at playing the saxophone that his family sends him to the woods to practice? No, that wasn't it. He felt there was something more to it, something much worse.
It wasn't just the noise that kept him awake at night, he already tried using ear plugs. Nope this was something deeper, something that penetrated right to his very core. A primal fear.
"Come on, gather yourself together and fix this thing head on!" Timmy was suddenly on his feet and shouting at himself, "You've dealt with worse than this. Go out and deal with it!"
With this self motivating speech he decided to phone his best friend and try and persuade him to come over and help with whatever it was.
*Ring... Ring...Click* "Hello?" An inquesitive voice comes from the other end of the phone.
"Mick? It's Timmy, I really need your help out here. Can you head over to mine right now?"
"What? It's half three in the morning. Is it not something that can wait till morning?" Mick says groggily.
"No it really can't. I'll explain when you come over but we need to head to the woods to deal with some idiot, so bring your big flash light and baseball bat."
"Fine, I'll be there in five" *Click*
Timmy suddenly gets a surge of adrenaline at the thought of Mick and him going out and sorting this problem out. While thinking about what he's going to do to whomever it is he gets dressed and heads out to wait for Mick.
"Five minutes you said. It's been twenty." Timmy exasperated explains to Mick while pointing to his watch to make sure that he got the point.
"I had to get dressed for the occasion didn't I?" Mick explains while showing that he has kitted himself out with boots, camouflage jacket and of course carrying his trusted baseball bat, "Anyway what's the big hub bub about?"
Timmy explains about the noise while they both start heading into the woods, not really knowing which way to start out and simply following their ears.
"It sounds like it's coming from over there, next to the clearing," Mick whispers.
Timmy, nodding, heads west towards the clearing and signals for Mick to go round the other side. If they were going to get this guy they were making sure that he didn't have an escape Timmy thought to himself.
As he got closer he saw that there a light in the clearing and a shadow moving about. Stepping up to the edge of the clearing gave him a full view and what he saw literally took his breath away.
Up in the branches of the biggest tree sat a massive winged creature with what appeared to be a huge horn on its head. The creature only had one eye but it saw Timmy as soon as he entered the clearing.
Taking up on its huge wings it flew down in an attack on Timmy. There was nothing that he could do, the creature might have been huge but it was quick and it was on him within the time it took for him to take a breath. It landed on the ground directly in front of him but the force that blew from his wings forced Timmy to take cover on the ground.
At this moment Mick came running out the clearing, baseball bat held high to defend Timmy. The creature must have had a sixth sense, thought Timmy, as it grabbed both the baseball bat and Mick's throat in the blink of an eye. Seeing Mick as a threat it pulled his arm clean off, blood sprayed everywhere, hitting Timmy in the process. Mick screamed out in pain as the creature tossed aside the arm, still clutching the baseball bat.
"No! Stop please, don't me" Mick managed to shout during screams of pain. Somehow the creature managed to look disgusted by this and threw him clean across the clearing, knocking Mick out in the process.
Timmy still sat on the edge of the clearing, not knowing what to do. He just sat there clutching at himself while trying to find his voice to scream for help.
"And what of you? Should I not eat you either?" The creature asked Timmy calmly.
Flabbergasted Timmy could only manage to mumble a response, "Well that would be nice. What is it that you want? How can you speak or at least that I understand you?"
"I once used to be like you, human. I was a geneticist and I decided that a project was ready for human trials.. Problem was that it was way too early, I mean look at me. I couldn't return home and I certainly couldn't let my co-workers find out what I had done. If they could have helped me I would then have been arrested for commencing human trials early. So I ran, well flew."
Timmy is still in a state of shock that he is having a conversation with this creature but he managed to regain some of his composure and carried on as best he could, "So was that you that's been making the noises for the past few day?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Is that how you came to find me? To put a stop to my music?"
"Music? Well I perhaps wouldn't have called it that but yes"
"Fine, I've made a decision anyway. I think I will put this ungodly thing that happened to me to use. I'm going to try and stop crime in the city. Sorry about you're friend I hope that he's alright."
Then with a mighty push with his wings he was away into the night sky leaving Timmy there to wonder if everything had actually just happened. It was then that he broke down in tears and lay down, hoping to wake up back in his own bed.
Three weeks had passed since the meeting with the creature. He still didn't sleep much better but for other reasons now and Mick was hopefully getting out of the hospital within the next week.
Turning on the TV Timmy saw the end of a news segment that caught his attention.
"-all found murdered in their home in a vicious manner. It appears that someone has severed their limbs from the rest of the body. It is thought that the victims were the head members of an Italian crime syndicate.
Police have nothing to go on at the moment except that one passerby is said to have heard saxophone playing at the time of the murder..."
