Eerie, Indiana fanfiction: Downturn

[froodle]

Half a dozen dirty white tents clustered together amidst a piebald sea of withered grass and bare dry dirt. An air-leaking rubber bounce house stood a little way off, collapsing in upon itself with the melancholic whistling sigh of a slow puncture. Within it's faded yellow and red walls wallowed several small children, already regretting their decision to venture past the wilting clown mouth and lopsided turrets in search of adventure. A lopsided stage had been haphazardly nailed together from milk crates too old and splintery for the Eerie Dairy to re-use, and one of Eerie's interchangeable high-school bands mumbled discordantly into a microphone duct-taped to the stand to prevent theft.

"Wow," said Marshall, who had free-wheeled his bike past the unmanned ticket booth a few seconds before. He dismounted and walked it over to a long row of wall-mounted bicycle stands, all of them empty. He padlocked his trusty JH772347 to the stand farthest from the bleak huddle of tents just as Simon skidded to a halt beside him, the bald and patchy tyres of Simon's own bike spluttering sadly on the hard-packed earth.

"This is the big annual Eerie Farmer's Market?" Marshall whispered to his most trusted associate. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"

Simon looked around. His face fell.

"I don't get it," he whispered back, producing a glossy leaflet showing a verdant field lined in stalls groaning under the weight of colourful produce and holding it before him like a shield against encroaching disappointment. "It wasn't like this last year."

Marshall looked at his friends' crestfallen expression. He looked back at the grimy tents with their darkened doorways, at the off-centre bandstand with uneven gaps in the slatted wooden stage floor, and at the bouncy castle that was currently suffocating a bunch of kids he recognised from Harley's end-of-year class plays. He shrugged.

"We're here now, we might as well check it out," he said. "Maybe it's too early?"

By mutual and unspoken agreement, the two boys pressed close together as they moved through the narrow path between the covered stalls, the crunch of their feet in the dead grass and the flapping of the canvas awnings the only sounds. Even the tinny whine of the live music had died away.

The stall holders regarded them with narrow-eyed opprobrium, huddled behind their sparsely-covered tables of fly-spotted vegetables. Several of them bared yellowing teeth in a threatening grimace as the boys passed. One, a shrivelled husk of a man swathed in a vast woollen jumper that swamped him much like the jumping jamboree was swamping Eerie's elementary school population, even spat at them.

"Oh, I get it," said Marshall, having an epiphany somewhere between the eggplant and the rutabaga. "This is a Harvest King thing, isn't it?"

"Wow," said Simon, catching on. "It all makes sense now."

He looked around at the mildew-smelling tents, at the stalls with their meagre and rotting wares, and for a moment he seemed conflicted, as though it was Marshall's fault that Eerie's farming community turned into dour-faced extras right out of the Slaughtered Lamb over a little thing like a thwarted human sacrifice.

"D'you want to go get ice-cream at the World o' Stuff?" he said instead, and Marshall let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Sure," he said, cutting a wide arc around the market traders and their hungry eyes, and heading back the way they'd come in.

Simon hung back for a moment, shaking his head at Eerie's assembled artisanal food growers.

"You guys," he said. "You can't throw a sulk every time the new guy doesn't get eaten by a werewolf. Grow up."

Then he was gone, hurrying after Marshall, his ragged Sky Monsters slapping on the baked summer soil.





Trusted Associates, Inc.

Halloween by froodle, in which Mars and Simon celebrate a Von Orloff-free All Hallows Eve

Surprise by froodle, in which Mars tries to make sure Simon's birthday goes a little better this year

The Glade by froodle, in which Simon and Mars visit a place that only exists on February 29th

Egg Hunt by froodle, in which Simon and Mars partake of some traditional Easter activities

Boardwalk by froodle, in which Simon and Mars are swayed by radio advertising

Lady in Red by froodle, in which Simon experiments on the old-fashioned radio in the Secret Spot, and horror ensues

Waiting In by froodle, in which there is an ice-storm and a handyman does not arrive

Seafoam by froodle, in which Simon and Marshall go to the seaside

A Night at the Circus by froodle, in which a carnivale comes to town, and Marshall and Simon do not enjoy themselves

Taking a Break by froodle, in which Simon and Marshall enjoy some much-needed R&R

Model Railway by froodle, in which a new business prepares to open in Eerie

Shoreline by froodle, in which Simon and Marshall investigate strange happenings on the shores of Lake Eerie

Parade by froodle, in which Mars takes issue with the Eerie Beekeepers Association's choice of mascot

Homestead by froodle, in which Marshall finally gets something useful out of shop class

Hound by froodle, in which Simon makes a friend

Errands by froodle, in which Simon has a to-do list

Slyboots by froodle, in which a certain corporal of the infernal regions comes to Eerie. Crossover with Johannes Cabal the Necromancer.

Waterlogged by froodle, in which Eerie experiences heavy rainfall

Festival by froodle, in which Eerie's local businesses celebrate the summer

Strawberry by froodle, in which there is unauthorised hubbub in Eerie

Wildlife by froodle, in which Simon and Marshall go to the beach

Facilities by froodle, in which the Eerie Bus Station and Supper Club has a problem with the men's toilet

Anticipation by froodle, in which Simon and Harley look forward to the Equinox

Castle by froodle, in which there is unexpected architecture in Eerie

Visitor in which Marshall's grandma comes to stay

Euclid by froodle, in which Marshall and Simon investigate strange events at the Eerie Cemetery

The Hut by froodle, in which Simon takes on the forces of Eerie solo