Story Contest 2017 #1 - Outstanding Stories » Story of Tobiaz of Eton

“Story of Tobiaz of Eton” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Sanil Mittal, India.

Story of Tobiaz of Eton

‘It was a cold winter morning, I was walking down the road; Alone. Wherever I went, people ran away from me. I was famished and looking for food. I turned around the corner. The busy street was suddenly empty. All the people were afraid of me. They tried to get away from me as soon as possible. I was beginning to enjoy this attention. Suddenly a hooded figure came out of the shadows and stood in the center of the street. I growled. He did not flinch.

I sprinted towards him. He yelled, “Stop. Killian, just stop”.

I stopped. Nobody had called me that in ages. Nowadays, they like to address me as Tobiaz of Eton. The infamous serial killer. I don’t know why they call me that, as far as I know, I just killed one person, TOBY; he was an Eton graduate. The husband of my best friend, Bletheny.

I killed him because he was an ecologist. He came from a whole family of ecologists. And other reasons.

I despise people who talk about nature. I laugh at those who try to save it. They fail miserably at this job. I kill those who destroy it.

Anyway, the hooded figure spoke, “Follow me. Any funny movement and I will kill you.” I simply smiled. But I followed. I sensed a command in his voice.

He wore a simple black jacket, and rough blue jeans. Red sneakers and a pistol in his holster. Left hand in his pocket and in the other he held a dagger. He was well built.

He led me to an old dilapidated building in the outskirts of the city. The board read “BLETHENTY SUMMERS”.

I stopped in my tracks. Seeing the building brought back memories. I remember stopping here every day to say hi to her and stayed here every winter. But last time I was here, I was in a good mood. I had a nice day and wanted to see Bletheny. As soon as I entered, I saw her lying in a pool of blood on her carpet; Toby crouched beside her, dagger in his hand, blade covered in blood. My blood froze. I was shocked. I was suddenly filled with rage and charged towards Toby, tearing him apart with my bare hands. Then I felt a pang of guilt. I was overcome by sadness. I started to cry and I wept like a baby.

“Hey, come here.” I followed the hooded figure inside the house. The stained carpet, still lying there, I could remember the sight.

I smelt something and turned my head and saw a goat. I was so overwhelmed, and my stomach overcame my feelings. I darted towards it, and started devouring it. Suddenly I felt something strange and turned around. The hooded man was gone and Bletheny was standing in his place.

I was in shock. She spoke, “You never learn Killian. Never run after tied goats, they are there to form a trap. Enjoy your last supper here, for from tomorrow, you will be in the wild.” She paused. “Where you belong, Tiger.”

And she shot me, straight on the paw, and I howled. I ran straight out, never even once looking back, my eyes clouded and everything went black.’

“Wow!”

He closed the book with a thud and replaced it back in his bag, where it belonged. The bus stopped to a halt. He got down and started walking home.

“Was it not a good story?”, He turned around, “Hi Stephanie. How did you find me here?”

They started walking again, “Simple, Stan, I got down from the bus at your stop and followed you. You didn’t even notice me eating your chocolate, you were deep in thought. You were obviously thinking about the book you just finished.”

“Hey! Give my chocolate back!”

“First answer my question Stan. How was it?”

He could sense concern on her face, “It was splendid”

“Means it was rubbish.”

“How is your daughter-Bletheny” asked Stan.

“She is fine. How was your day? The Bull scolded me for not submitting the report on time. He cut my salary by half for two months!! TWO!! I want to burn him alive.”

“Whoa. Calm down Stephanie, Mr. Mckenxe is not that bad. He gave me a promotion! Can you believe it?”

“No, I can’t believe how indifferently he treats me.”

“Ok bye. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

She walked slowly, picking up some flowers on the way. She was thinking about how to kill The Bull. She thought of torturing him, then burning his home, tormenting his family in front of his eyes. Then finally she will kill him by putting a bullet in his head. But she decided against it, sighting she was being too evil. Even for an ecologist.

She entered her house, “Hi Killian. How did your day go, my tiger?” The little tiger cub rushed to greet her. Her own pet tiger! She still remembered the day vividly. The day when she rescued Killian from the poachers.

Stan entered his house,

“Hey Toby.”

“Hi Stan.”

“When will you start calling me dad?”

“When I want to, Stan.”

“How was Eton?”