Short Horror Stories

Eat Your Vegetables

THIS IS NOT MINE. TAKEN FROM A SONG AND ADAPTED INTO STORY WITH ADDED DETAILS.
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"Eat your vegetables, honey, it will make you big and strong." Mom said as she put another huge pile of broccoli on my plate when I could barely finish the last pile. "Ugh." I muttered softly and reluctantly stuck my fork into another one.

Surprisingly, I was able to finish the horrible dinner under my parents' glare. "Thanks for the food." I muttered as I push my plate away and climbed down the high kitchen stool. I ran as fast my 7 year old legs would carry me to the living room, where I could watch TV with Granny. I took my place on my favorite blue couch and turned on the TV.

Ten minutes into the show, I was rather curious as to why Granny was so quiet. On any usual day she would have told me to turn down the volume, even though it barely reaches 5. I looked over to her, and obviously it wasn't a usual day, as I found her slouching on her purple sofa, not moving.

"Granny?" I touched her cheek. It was cold.

"Granny." I tried to shake her, and her body fell onto the carpet with a dull thud. As I stared at her dying body, I was startled by my Mom's shrill voice, "Thomas! What have you done?!" She carefully put the bundle of freshly washed blankets on a nearby chair and went over to me. She pressed Granny's neck and immediately called the ambulance. I watched the men in black uniforms took her away on a thin, portable bed. One of them talked to my parents and Mom immediately went upstairs afterwards. "Wait for me, I'm gonna change." She yelled down to Dad who only replied with an uninterested "Hm."

I looked outside at the bright flashing colors and thought that Granny would be lonely traveling alone so I sneaked into the big trunk of the ambulance. Fortunately, no one noticed.

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The men in black uniforms were surprised to find me in the trunk but ushered me into the waiting room anyway. They left me alone as they wheeled Granny into a room where I wasn't allowed in. They told me to wait and behave in the waiting room but it was so deserted, so white and felt so slow that I decided to explore instead. My footsteps echoed in the suspiciously empty hallway. I passed a lot of rooms and was about to go back when a door caught my eye, a purple, 'Staff Only' door.

Curious, I went inside and saw crates, crates, and more crates stacked up high until it almost reached the cracked ceiling. A crate was open and on the floor, alone, and I took a peek inside. There were vegetables: carrots, garlics, chards, cabagges, pumpkins, lettuce and peas! Why were there crates of vegetables hidden in a staff room? A chill ran up my spine as I sensed that there were something wrong with this hospital.

But before I could do anything, I heard footsteps growing louder and saw the shadow of Dr. Rabbit on the wall. I immediately hid behind a tower of crates, hoping that he wouldn't noticed me. He looked around the room suspiciously and approached the crate tower next to mine. While he was fixated on it, I quickly ran out of the room and down the hallway, but this time, the doors of the rooms were all wide open. I saw glimpses of each dying patient as I ran. What I saw was like a horror show: like the Kafkan metamorphosis, I saw each one of them slowly turning into vegetables. Like, literally.

I ran into Granny's room and saw her slowly turning into a broccoli on her bed. She - or should I say, it - had finally completed her 'metamorphosis' and now was as small as a regular broccoli. "What's wrong, boy?" The unfamiliar voice scared me, and I looked up to find Dr. Rabbit looming over me, smiling too widely. "No-nothing." I mumbled. Still smiling, he took Granny Broccoli from the bed and placed it on my hands. "I've called the taxi for you. Have a safe trip home!" He ushered me out of the building and into the car.

During the trip home, I kept staring at Granny Broccoli, wide-eyed and disturbed, dreading tonight's salad dinner.  My mind swooped back to the hospital's halls. If I hadn't been such a curious boy, I wouldn't be in this mess! I looked closer and swore that I could almost see Granny's peaceful sleeping face on the broccoli.

The taxi slowly stopped.

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In tears, I told my parents what happened but they just laughed and pat my head. "You've always had such a big imagination." Mom then took Granny Broccoli to the kitchen. A few minutes later, during dinner, Mom served me broccoli yet again.

"Eat up." She slid the plate to me and I looked at the top broccoli.

"I don't want to eat Granny."

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The ending is kinda weird lol. I couldn't think of anything else.

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