Free A Penny Down the Well: A Short Story Collection of Horrifying Events by J. A. Crook

focus
on the transport and the procession, alright? Don’t bother yourself
with anything else. People may want to come and talk to you, but
you’re not expected to do anything other than what we’ve outlined,
alright?” Marie continued with what appeared to be her normal,
reassuring tone.
    Clint debated the idea for
a moment again in his mind and resolved to a quick, affirming nod.
“Alright. Yeah, it was interesting. Thanks for the opportunity,
Marie.” And he stepped back, preparing to leave.
    Marie called out with a
wave of her hand to catch his attention. “Clint! You’re forgetting
something.” And she lifted an envelope with his name on
it.
    Clint walked back in and
accepted the envelope, donning a perplexed look upon his face.
“What’s this?”
    “ Your payment! You did
well. I’m sure you’ll be happy with it. So, two days from now we’ll
need you again. This one won’t be a military affair, so things will
likely be a little less tense.” And she sat and smiled his
way.
    Clint looked down to the
envelope, then back to her. Despite being a little spooked, the
paycheck in hand, especially one given right after the job, enticed
him. “Thanks. I’ll be here.” And he smiled in return before turning
and stepping out the door of the office.
    That night Clint and
Kaylie met at the library, as they often did. Each one perused the
internet, though Kaylie was much more interested in what it had to
offer than Clint was. Clint, despite the mindless navigation
through the electronic madness, was especially thoughtful
concerning what had happened during the funeral procession. It was
Kaylie that would finally strike up the conversation concerning it.
It was odd to Clint that she had waited even that long to talk
about his new job.
    “ So?” She asked,
ambiguously.
    Clint looked her way for a
moment, then back to the screen. His eyes finally focused on the
page in front of him. Nutritional information on a McDonald’s Big
Mac. “You know a Big Mac has 590 calories?” He shot back, knowing
it wasn’t what she was asking.
    “ Wonderful.” She
responded, both unamused and sarcastic. “How did today go? You’re
still alive. I guess that means the guy you were transporting
around wasn’t a brain-eating zombie.” And she chuckled to that,
swinging the mouse off to the right on the desk.
    Clint thought about what
she said. He agreed. He was happy, at least, he wasn’t transporting
a brain-eating zombie. But, what exactly happened still was a
mystery to him and it was a troubling one. He was quiet.
    Kaylie stopped with the
browsing and turned to face him, showing an ounce of concern. “Is
everything alright?” Unsure about what she had said now.
    Clint nodded. “Yeah.”
Trying to seem composed. “Yeah, it was alright.”
    Kaylie cocked her head
slightly to the side. “It was alright? Is that it?”
Persistently.
    Clint began to look a bit
annoyed. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. It was nothing
glamorous. I put a dead body in my car, drove it to a funeral and
dropped it off.”
    Kaylie nodded slowly, her
eyes wide with curiosity. It was obvious to her, having been a
friend of Clint’s for so long, that there was more to the story
than he was letting on. So, despite his annoyance and for the
taming of her curiosity, she continued to push.
    “ Did you have to talk with
anyone?” Which she would have thought would have been the most
nerve-racking possibility. And, with her guess, she had managed to
draw a look from Clint so condemning that now, regardless of what
had happened, the tale would be shared, and in the vivid detail
Kaylie often pursued.
    “ Well...” Clint delayed.
He thought of how to say it without sounding ridiculous. “I was
pulling into the cemetery with the body loaded in the
back.”
    To the “body in the back”
statement, Kaylie shuddered, already creeped out by the idea of
having to do such a thing. At the same time, as people often were,
she was fascinated by