FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #2

All the trouble began when my grandfather died and my grandmother - my father's mother - came to live with us. One might question the harm a fragile, old woman like her could do to a household such as mine, but you’d better believe me when I say she was very capable indeed. Granted, her physical shape might not have been what it once was, but mentally she was still the bitter old wench she had always been; and still remained as sharp of tongue as ever. Something that made life miserable for her late husband and continued for us ever since.

Unlike with my grandfather – a great man who possessed an extraordinary patience – I can’t say I’ve ever had a good relationship with the woman. Nevertheless, my girlfriend Kathy, the love of my life ever since high school, insisted we take her into the house. Seeing as how my grandmother tortured us with her presence literally day and night, I doubted I could ever completely forgive my beloved for that mistake. Especially after she first began playing her little mind games on us; but the damage was done and we had to take care of her from then on.

Only a few days after she had moved in she already took control over most of our free time and demanded us to complete various, near impossible tasks regarding her rather peculiar hobbies. She tended to collect rather creepy and morbid things for reasons unknown. The worst of all, however, were the constant insults Kathy and I had to suffer for being two girls in a loving relationship. As if it was something to be ashamed of.

My grandmother was born in a different age; a time in which people like us were shunned or bullied. She clearly had some problems realizing times had changed and things have modernized. While understandable on her part, it remained annoying nonetheless. If she wasn’t joking about that, she was either making under-the-belt comments about Kathy’s short size, or about my weight. While those topics never bothered me, I can’t say it was too pleasing being called fat every single day…

Through it all we just had to deal with it. Therefore most of our days were the same for us from then on: we’d take care of her needs in the morning, leave to our jobs and return home to occupy ourselves with her once again. Yet, no matter what we did, she was never happy. Neither would she ever join in on any of our activities, even if it was something as simple as watching television together; as a family. So it was only obvious things began to build up until it was too much to bear.

What eventually broke it for us was when she lied in order to create an argument between Kathy and I. She had told me she peeked through the entry door and caught sight of my girlfriend bringing home another girl while I was still at the office, working overtime. Apparently, she had told her a similar tale. Obviously we believed nothing of her lies, but the damage was done regardless.

If I remember correctly, that was the evening in which we had our longest argument yet. The first time she managed to break us; reduce us to tears; make us shout back; insult her. Who’d she think she was? She was nothing but an old, miserable woman; and that was exactly how she’d die: alone and unloved, but a shell of the person she once might have been.

After that, we had enough and just stopped caring. We didn’t neglect her needs or anything, but we ignored her every word; she had no one left to listen to her. To listen to her constant insults or remarks, or to listen to anything else she said for that matter (not that she usually did that anyway). Once again the days began to pass. She grew more and more silent almost synchronously with the declining of her health. Near the end, she even apologized for what she had done, but it meant nothing to us anymore. She meant nothing to us. On a cold Wednesday morning she finally passed away; quietly in her sleep, alone and unloved.

Of course, that was just the beginning… The real problems began when she didn’t quite stay dead. It seemed her morbid interests throughout the years had finally come to fruition that moment she came back to life, lusting for the flesh of human beings. I still don’t know if it was because of our lack of empathy near the end of her life or because she really was that much of a cynical, hateful wench; but somehow we ended up being the first on her list of victims, experiencing how sharp that tongue of hers really was.

Turned out this was her master plan all along: taking over the world and reducing humanity to a society of zombies. And she expected us to help us her achieve this incredible goal. Can you believe the gaul of this woman?! But in the end there really was no other way, was there? After all, the process of becoming a zombie was a quick one and very soon we too were standing along her as creatures craving human meat.

I never quite imagined living my life as a zombie, but it didn’t matter. Of course there were a few complications to living if you’re not quite alive; but I was still more than happy together with my dear Kathy. After all, ‘Lesbian Zombies’ has such a nice ring to it. Granted, it’s most likely I now feel like this because I’m an actual zombie, but there was something extremely rewarding about this whole ‘taking over the world’ thing. Soon enough, we had taken over our first city and victory never tasted so sweet or meaty. At the same time it also got us closer to my grandmother; who gradually became a lot more likable; and even a cool person to chill out with.

back to Contest #2