Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 2: A Barbecue to Remember by Scott Donnelly. As the school
day came to an end, I kept an eye on
my best friend, Rico Alejandra. He was sitting a few
seats up from me, and I saw him glancing at
the clock in the wall every couple of minutes. As
soon as the time changed to two point fifty nine pm,
Rico hung his head and I felt a flush of
sorrow along with him. It was at this time on
the dot, exactly one year ago, when the principal came
into the classroom and pulled him out of class. That
was the moment he received the devastating news about his mother.
The bell rang a minute later, and while all the
other kids stood up from their seats and rushed out
of the classroom. Rigo remained seated with his head down.
I approached him and placed my hand gently on his shoulder. Okay,
I said, in a soft, consoling voice. Rico looked up
at me, tears and his eyes. He nodded.
Speaker 1: I smiled.
Speaker 2: Want me to walk you home. Rico wiped a dripping
tear and stood up. Now let's see it's okay, he said,
thanks though sure, I said, respecting his request but desperately
wanting to comfort him more. I note Rico since we
were four, our parents were friends, and we met at
a Halloween party. Rico was dressed as Batman and I
was some dollar store iteration of Supergirl. We pretended to
save the party from evil villains, and that's how our
friendship was born. But the day Rico's mother was legally
declared dead after having been missing for a week, he changed.
He became a quiet, distant, and lately strangely obsessed with stargazing. Okay,
I shyly said, shuffling my feet. Well, i'll see you tomorrow.
Tell your dad. I said, hi, okay, and then I'm
thinking to you guys. Rico nodded but didn't verbally respond.
I started to walk out of the classroom, and that's
when Rico called out to me, Lexi. I turned around.
Would you want to come to a barbecue tonight? It's
just me and my dad, but it would mean a
lot if you were there too, I smiled. I'd love to.
We're going to honor my mom. He added, I wouldn't
miss it for the world, I said. My parents dropped
me off at Rico's house around five PM. I brought
homemade cupcakes. Rico answered the door when I knocked, Lexi,
he said, wrapping me up in a welcoming hug. So
glad you made it.
Speaker 1: Let me take those.
Speaker 2: Rico took the cupcakes from me and walked me into
the house. He sat them down on the counter next
to a fresh picture of lemonade. Through the open back
door of the house, an enticing scent blew in. He
was smoky, tangy. Whatever mister Alejandro was cooking up on
the grill smelled absolutely amazing. What are we eating, I asked,
My dad is cooking burgers and hotdugs. Rico said, I
hope you're hungry. I'm starving, I said. Rico led me
out the back door next and I saw mister Alejandro
helming the grill. His back was to us as he
flipped burgers and turned over hotdugs. Smoke billowed up from
the grill in front of him, carrying that savory, charred
aroma that was making my taste buds water. Hi am,
mister Alejandro, I said, thanks for having me over. He
turned around with a metal spatula in one hand and
apparent tongs in the other. He barely smiled. Glad you
could come, Lexy, he said, you've done our family for
so long, it only felt right to have you here
tonight to help celebrate. He looked at Rico and they
nodded at one another, as if both shared that same
exact sentiment. Well, the food smells delicious, I said, I'm
really looking forward to it. Mister Alejandro hardly reacted to
my compliment. He just turned back toward the grill and
said foods should be ready shortly. Rico and I I
sat down at the patio table and drank some lemonade
and snacked on chips while his father put the burger
patties and hot dogs on buns. When he brought the
food to the table, he asked what each of us
wanted I'll take one of each, I said, with a
grateful smile. He sat a burger dripping with cheese and
a hot dog down on my plate, dig In Rico
said to me. He barely waited for his food to
hit the plate before taking a bite. I picked up
the burger with both hands and sank my teeth into it.
It was hot, melty, and delicious. I couldn't tell. It
didn't taste like anny burger I'd ever eaten before. The
meat was tough, but didn't look over cooked. It didn't
taste like beef or ground turkey. I honestly couldn't place
the flavor. I looked at Rico, who was almost done
eating his burger. I looked up at mister Alejandro, who
was still standing and taking a bite of his hot dog.
I looked down on my head, Doug. It didn't look right.
It wasn't slender and smooth like a normal hot dog.
It was textured, almost like what ground beef would look like.
I swallowed the bite of burger in my mouth to
be respectful, and then set the rest of it down.
Oh what kind of burgers are these, mister Alejandro, I asked,
curious and a little uneasy. I'm glad you asked Lexi,
mister Alejandro said. He set his hot dog down, took
a sip of his lemonade, and cleared his throat before
continuing hottering. Someone's memories usually about letting things out, whether
that be feelings, emotions, or anything else. But tonight, I
ask of you, of us to keep it all in,
no matter how hard or impossible it feels.
Speaker 1: Keep it in.
Speaker 2: That's how we honor Isabella. Tonight, we keep it in.
I felt my face scrunch up. What an odd speech.
Just over a year ago, he continued, Isabella disappeared in
the mountains the Grayfall Nature Preserve while on a job assignment.
A week later, without a single sign of her, she
was declared legally dead. I didn't have any answers, just
a lot of questions and a broken heart. In the
past month, an anonymous person from her work, a whistleblower,
reached out to me to tell me the truth behind
her disappearance and death. I was never privy to know
much about the specifics of Isabella's job. Lots of government
jobs are secretive. I never pushed her for answers, and
I never pride I respected her job, the job that
put food on our table and a roof over our heads.
This whistleblower I spoke with told me that Isabella was
on a specific assignment to study the presence of an
extraterrestrial being that would show up in that part of
the Grayfall Nature Preserve every year around the same time.
Last year, that extraterrestrial got wised up to the work
being done and devoured my poor, poor Isabella. Mister Alejandro's
eyes began to swell with tears and his lips trembled
as he spoke. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
I looked at Rico, my face locked in a state
of shunk. Did you know any of that? I asked him.
He nodded, but never once looked at me. He picked
up his hot dog and took a bite as his
father continued his haunting and unnerving speech. That disgusting creature
ate my wife, the mother of my only son, and
vacated our planet like we were nothing but just a
quick fast food pit stop. Mister A Lejandro's words were
becoming more and more angry as he spoke. Last week,
I went out to Grayfall myself. I spent night after
night there waiting, watching and searching. Then I found it,
the creature that ate my wife, and it was back,
and it was just as disgusting and revolting as I
conjured in my head. I shot it, I killed it,
and now I can't think of a better way to
honor Isabella than to eat the monster that ate her.
Vomit surged in my throat as I looked down at
the bumpy texture hot dog and melty burger that didn't
taste right. I covered my mouth and looked at Rico,
who was finishing his hot dog with a fulfilled smile.
Mister Alejandro held his hot dog up into the air.
Two Isabella, he announced. Rico stood to his feet and
clapped as he chewed and swallowed the rest of his
alien meatburger. I gagged vomit, threatening dispute at any moment.
Keep it in LEXI, mister Alejandro demanded of me, reiterating
part of his speech. The alien did, so, we will too.
I couldn't contain it any longer. I threw up everywhere.
I stood up from the patio table and ran as
fast as I could through the house and out the
front door. I screamed and let it all out. Coming
up next week on micro Terrorists Scary Stories for Kids,
we have a brand new listener Terrorist episode featuring your
spooky stories. Also big news, the first micro Terrorists short film,
The Dire More Phantom, will premiere this July. The movie
will be available exclusively through the micro Terrorist Fan Club,
so be sure to get signed up so you can
watch it when it drops. In the meantime, head on
over to micro terrorist dot com to check out our
merch store and become one of the terrified by joining
the fan club and unlocking tons of cool perks, including
free access to the monthly newsletter, getting your very own
copy of the fan Club exclusive book Swarm of Corn,
participate in the upcoming live Q and A with micro
Terrorist writer and creator Scott Donnelly, and so much more.
Thank you all for being such dedicated micro Terrorist listeners.
We'll see you next week. You know, I was going
to go to a barbecue tonight, but now yeah, I
think I'll just.
Speaker 1: Order a pizza. Thank you for listening to micro Terrors.
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