Matthew Garrett
Matthew Garrett’s mouth formed an “O,” but nothing came out. It looked like he was singing, but he was frozen and silent. Officer Johnson put his hand on Matt’s shoulder and said, “It’s all over now, mister. You’re out of danger.” Turning to his partner, the officer whispered, “Ever seen anything like it?” “No, never. I’ve been in the force for over 20 years, and this one tops them all.” Matthew sat on the curb and stared at the wreck. “Good thing I was alone,” he thought. “So, Mr. Garrett, may I ask you some questions about what happened?” Matthew shrugged his shoulders. “Can you speak, Mr. Garrett?” When Officer Johnson received no response, he went to his squad car and came back with a pad and a pen. “Here you go. Now, what is the last thing you remember before it all happened?” “S L E E P Y,” he wrote. “So, you were falling asleep?” Matt nodded. “What woke you up?” “S C R E A M S.” “What did you see?” |
“D E A D D E E R. D E A D B A B Y.” Matthew put down the pen and looked up at the sky, tears streaming down his cheeks. His eyes were filled with terror, and he was shaking. The policeman walked a few steps away and called his precinct. “This is Car 45 on Lake County Road. Officer Johnson. We need a clean-up crew for a deer. We have one infant fatality and one adult female with life- threatening injuries. We have one male adult survivor who seems to have no physical wounds, but he is verbally uncommunicative and appears to be in shock. Over.” “Roger that. On the way. Over and out.” Matthew heard the walkie-talkie, but it sounded like the voices were coming from inside a cave. He looked at the other car window and saw a woman slumped in the front seat. The windshield was smashed, and glass was everywhere. She wasn’t moving. Matthew’s car had hit the back of her car, which was straddling both lanes. He didn’t see the car until it was too late. Several feet in front of the woman’s car, a dead deer lay in the road. Matthew’s wife had often warned him about the many deer on this dark road and made him promise to be careful. Matt also saw a baby girl lying across the deer’s belly. At first, he didn’t understand what he was looking at, but soon it became clear. He imagined the baby’s last, horrifying thoughts. He thought about the woman who was unaware of the tragedy that awaited her. Matthew heard the sirens approaching. He just wanted to go home. From Carpet Creatures: Tales from the Deep Pile To join the Carpet Creatures project, please visit our TAE Gallery website. |
