Welcome to micro Terrors, scary stories for kids where it's always the spooky season,
full of chills, thrills, and spine tingling spooks. Micro Terrors are
family friendly frights for those ages eight and up, and while our stories are
for younger years, we are still talking about things that go bump in the
night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can.
Parental consent is recommended now for tonights micro terror. The Snowman by Scott Donnelly.
Danny woke up quickly, a chill rushing through his body, but it
wasn't one of fear or excitement. It was one of anxious anticipation. When
he had gone to sleep the night before, he knew there was a chance
of snow overnight, the weather man made it seem like it might have even
been enough to cause some school delays or even closings. Danny leaped out of
bed and yanked his curtains apart to reveal the outside world to himself, and
just as he had hoped, the world was covered by a thick, white
blanket of snow. A smile broke free on Danny's face. He rushed downstairs
to check with his parents, to make sure these schools were canceled, and
if they weren't for some reason, he'd find a way to convince them.
It wasn't a good idea to be traveling in such messy conditions, but there
was no need for convincing school's closed. Buddy. Danny's dad, Doug,
said he was still in his pajamas and sipping on a hot cup of coffee
with hazel nut creamer. Yes, Danny exclaimed, popping up on to the
table and doing a dance that made Doug cringe and move his bowl of cereal
out of the way. Danny get off the table, his mom said,
also moving aside a flickering peppermint candle. How many times do I have to
tell you this? Do you want to start a fire? Danny hopped off,
Sorry, he said, I'm just excited. I'm gonna make a snowman
today. Well, you'd better get moving then, you're a little friend across
the street. It has already started one. Doug said, He's not my
friend, Danny exclaimed, rushing through the house and to the front window.
Through the frosted glass, he saw Onyx Barlow, dressed to the nines and
the most expensive and state of the art winter gear available. He was out
front with his dad building a snowman in their front yard. Dad Danny called
out, will you help me build one? Doug joined his son, his
hot coffee fogging up the window. He wiped away the fogginess and squinted.
Danny knew how competitive his dad could get, and he could feel it festering
within him. After Doug received a bow and arrow for a Christmas a week
earlier, jax Onyx dad made it a point show off his state of the
art crossbow. When Doug was excited to meet the local weatherman, Slick Rains,
at the market, Jax made sure to mention how he had played a
crucial role in helping Slick overcome his fear of lightning back in the third grade,
which led him down the path of becoming a meteorologist in the first place.
He just kind of got me to thank for his career, Jax would
say. Doug didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Let's
build a better snowman than they ever good, he said to Danny. Determination
and relentless neighborly rage festering in his voice. Over the next hour, Danny
and his dad braved the cold weather and heavy snow outside, trying desperately to
build a snowman. Their skills, however, weren't on par with Jackson Onyxes.
The larger the Barlow's snowman got, the more crumbly and lopsided. Danny
and Dougs looked. After another twenty minutes of trying to fix portions that kept
breaking apart, Danny stepped back inside. Maybe it's time we give up Dad.
Danny's Dad's side as well. He stepped back and gawked at their messy
creation. The bottom of the snowman was flatter than it was a spear,
the middle wasn't even there, and the top was slowly sliding off centimeters at
a time. This thing is an abomination, Doug said. Together. They
looked back across the street Jackson Onyx. But the finishing touches on their snowman.
It was perfect in every single way. The three body segments were perfectly
round and smoothed all over. The eyes and mouth were made from pieces of
top quality coal expertly dug from a coal mine. Jacks had the honor of
visiting over the fall. Its nose was a freshly grown organic award winning carrot
and the top hat upon its head once belonged to the royal family in England,
who Jax had once shared an evening of tea and crumpets with. We
can't beat that, Danny, Doug said, Let's go have some hot chocolate
mix. Danny and his dad went inside, defeated once again by the Barlows.
For the rest of the day, Danny stayed in his room and played
video games. The failed snowman barely crossed his mind, but his dad stirred
down in the living room. He sat in his rocking chairking back and forth,
drinking one hot chocolate after another, while the fireplace crackled beside him.
He stared out the front windows all day, focusing his attention on the perfect
snowman across the street, and eventually what remained of their snowman completely collapsed and
blended back in with the several feet of snow in the yard. Again,
that was the last straw. Daddy's dad downed the last of his fifteenth hot
chocolate, grabbed a fire poker, and wandered outside and across the street.
He stared at the Barlow's snowman in the face. You think you're so great,
don't you, he said to the frozen, inanimate eyesore. He looked
it up and down one last time, and then at least a berserker style
fire poker assault on the snowman. He was done. The coal, the
carrot, and the hat were laying atop of the small mound of disheveled snow.
After dinner, the sun set and the snow began to fall again.
Danny was tucked in for the night, and his parents retired to their bedroom
as well. His mother, unaware of the snow assault that had taken place
shortly before dinner, had fallen asleep quickly. Doug, more than satisfied with
the assault, was asleep even quicker. Danny, however, lay wide awake
in bed now thinking of the snowman he and his dad tried to build earlier
in the day. It was a complete failure, falling apart at the seams
as the Barlow's snowman stood tall and proud, like a perfect winter specimen that
summed up the Barlows. Though perfect specimens, Danny just had to accept the
fact that he and his family weren't on the same level as the higher level
humans across the street. Danny rolled to his side and closed his eyes.
He tried to drift away to sleep, but was suddenly interrupted by a scratching
sound. He opened his eyes and listened for it again. It was coming
from downstairs. Danny crept out of his room quietly, tossing on his robe
and slippers. He softly descended the stairs and into the living room, where
the Christmas decorations still hung on the walls and the tree still stood in the
corner. He was surprised to see his mother had left one of her peppermint
candles lit on the mantel. She was usually good about blowing them out before
bed. He stopped in the middle of the room and waited to hear it
again. The living room, cast in dark shadows, was cold and quiet.
Danny tightened the belt on his robe and rubbed his hands together to generate
heat. Then he heard the scratching again. He looked at the front window.
Standing on the other side of the frosted glass, he saw the Barlows
snowman scratching its branchy arms and twiggy fingers against the outside of it. The
coal on its face was re arranged to display a look of anger, of
rage and revenge. Shocked, Danny backed up and collided with the rack of
fire pokers. He knocked them down, creating a loud clatter. Frantically,
he picked one up. It just so happened to be the same one his
dad used to obliterate the Snowman only hours earlier. Unbeknownst to him, the
Snowman, noticing this detail, wasn't happy about Danny's choice of weapon and quickly
conjured up a supernatural force to crash through the glass window. The Snowman flopped
into the living room, stood straight up, and began to roll toward Danny,
the angry look now permanently embeded on his face. Danny held up the
fire poker, trying to threaten the Snowman, but it didn't FaZe him in
the least. He only charged Danny faster. Danny just dropped to his knees,
now willing to just accept another defeat at the hands of Jackson Onyx Barlow.
He let the fire poker fall to the floor as the hulking shadow of
the Snowman grew over top of him with its cold confines. Danny closed his
eyes. Then a thwip, followed by another thwip and a whoosh. Danny
opened his eyes as a third thwip and whoosh happened. This time, Danny
watched a flaming arrow hit the snowman in the head. The first two it
had hit him in the base and then the middle. The snowman stopped where
it was is Bonnie, quickly melting from the inside out from the flaming arrows.
After Danny watched the evil wintery manifestation melt and slosh into a slushy puddle
on the carpet before him, he turned around and saw his dad standing by
the peppermint candle holding the bow and arrow he'd gotten for Christmas. Without saying
a word, Doug walked over, stepped into the slushy puddle, and piece
by piece tossed the coal into the fireplace. He then picked up the top
hat, once worn by a member of the royal family and placed it upon
his head. Then he let the carrot limply dangle from his mouth. I'll
be right back, son, he said to Danny outside. As the snow
fell in heavy flakes. Doug crossed the street barefoot, wearing worn out flannel
pajamas, a royal top hat upon his head, carrying a bow and arrow
and letting a high class carrot dangle from between his teeth. He knocked loudly
at Barlow's front door. A light upstairs turned on. The living room light
was next then Jax Barlow opened the door in a pair of silk pajamas and
wearing a nightcap. Onyx, wearing an identical get up, appeared next to
him. Jax just stared at his neighbor with wide eyes. Doug took a
big bite of the carrot, shoot it for a moment, and then spit
its misty orange contents all over the welcome mat in front of the door,
and then, in an arrogantly calm, yet subtle and threatening tone, he
said, I know we have this unspoken neighborly battle, this silent dogfight of
fatherly one upping jackson. Onyx just looked at Doug, confused, almost like
from their side of things, they had no idea what he was referring to.
Doug took another bite of the carrot, chewed it up, and spit
it out man He tossed what remained into the snow capped bushes to his left.
The Barlows watched the snowy shrubs shake as the carrot fell all the way
through into the ground, So whatever that was, Doug continued, pointing over
his shoulder, referring to the supernatural snowman that attacked his son. Expect some
same level retaliation. What are you talking about, Jax asked, genuinely confused,
possibly even concerned for Doug. Doug just smirked and turned around. Danny
had been standing next to him the whole time, large snowflakes gathering on top
of his moppy head of hair. Let's go, son, he said,
grabbing Danny's hand and walking him back across the street. Same level retaliation,
Danny asked, same level as a mutant supernatural snowman. How are you going
to do that? Doug didn't respond. He just kept walking, stewing and
a growing annoyance. He wasn't thinking rationally. He was thinking like a suburban
dad caught up in a one sided war with a neighbor, which meant he
hadn't the slightest clue as to what he was going to do next. Deep
down, he hoped it would somehow involve a supernatural ice monster. But what
were the chances of that happening? Again? Thank you for listening to micro
Terrors join us each Saturday for another scary story. For more fun, visit
our website at microterrors dot com, where we will also have spooky games you
can print out and play like Wicked word searches, mysterious mazes, and more.
Microterrors dot com is also where you can find us on your favorite social
media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus,
you'll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors
for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon for micro
Terrors scary stories for kids