© Ayr/Gray
Barksley refused to believe his unnatural proclivities were his fault. Having been sent away to Saint Percival Boarding School at age nine, he was predated upon in every fashion by everyone who was stronger than he was, and everyone was stronger. Nuns rapped his knuckles with the metal edges of rulers for not speaking loudly; same-age peers swapped their urine-soaked sheets out with his; young teens with voracious hunger stole his food and laughed at him in the showers; older teens pummeled and kicked him; and priests gained his trust, raped him, and took pictures.
In his adulthood the single carryover from those days were the pictures. He never took them, but he bought them in dark alley doorways. He told himself he could be so much worse, that he never committed any cruel or depraved acts on others, and all things considered, he was fairly well-adjusted.
Barksley happened upon the stone shed by chance on his family’s rambling property. At that time, the path was overgrown with blackberry brambles. A secret place to indulge in his only vice was like manna from heaven.
Over the years, the path became well-worn. Barksley set up a small cot, a camping stove, kerosene lamps, and a lockbox for his treasures. After awhile, his wife stopped asking him if he’d be home for dinner.
One night a Biblical storm planted itself over the shed. Torrents of rain washed tons of mud down, entombing Barkley. GPS on his phone led excavators to his body.
[250 words]
Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr are the hosts of The Unicorn Challenge.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt above.
That’s it.
Tao Talk 
wow Lisa! this was so good! :-) you packed a lot into a few words!
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Thank you, Carol Anne.
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Wow, that’s definitely not a happy story. It’s quite horrible how sadistic kids and adults can be to a young child who cannot defend themselves, and how that stays with them for the rest of their life!
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Well-said, Christian. As Pink Floyd sings, “there’s a lot of it about.”
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Hmmm. Not sure about a Biblical storm entombing someone sinned against by those claiming to follow the Bible’s teachings. Would have preferred such a fate befell the homes of the priests and the nuns. ;-)
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If we all got what we deserved there would be nobody left. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts on the story, Doug.
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Poor Barksley. What a miserable life and death.
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Thank you for reading and your thoughts, Suzanne. Abuse, neglect, and exploitation trauma can and often is a life sentence. There seems to be little to no urgency to hold abusers responsible in this man’s world.
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Interestingly I was just thinking about the same thing when I came online. Not about fictional characters but about the abuse and neglect that is currently being experienced over here in Australia by many low income earners renting houses. So many have been evicted in the past couple of years. Many have bought caravans with their savings and moved into caravan parks (I think you call them trailer parks over there). Now stories are emerging of people being evicted from the parks. Others, including myself, are paying $100-$200 more rent than a year ago and living in sub-standard housing. As you put it there is little action to hold the abusers (i.e. landlords) accountable.
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Suzanne, the rental situation here is also absurd. They continue to build new housing complexes, but the rent is so outrageous only high income people can afford them. They kept jacking my son’s rent up in Grand Rapids, and after his girlfriend moved out he couldn’t afford to live there anymore. He moved back to our small town but still is paying an outrageous amount for rent. So many of these new apartments are along the waterfront that used to offer “we the people” at least a view of the water but that is quickly shrinking. The low income housing is overpriced for what are falling apart dwellings, the guts of the place (heating/air/electric/plumbing) doesn’t work right, and either things don’t get fixed or it takes forever to get them fixed. Where my son is at he is in a bldg with 6 other apartments with a shared laundry room of TWO washers and ONE dryer. All of them work like sh*t and when he put in a “work order” someone canceled it and did nothing. Where is the accountability is right!
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A similar situation here. I took this place on last October when I got evicted from my long term rental because it was sold. There wasn’t much available so I took this place on knowing it was a shoddy deal. Two days in the neighbour told me it was going to be pulled down in a year. Sure enough, I got an email from the Real Estate this week clarifying what I intended to do in October. Getting out is the best option for me given this place smells musty and I’m forever vigilant that it doesn’t go mouldy. So come October I’ll be on the move again. The way things are looking I’ll be paying $100 a week more than I was a year ago! I wonder what will happen to everyone affected by this global housing crisis. (might have to write about this week just to air my thoughts. :) )
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p.s. Getting to what you said, forcing people to live in their vans/cars is about as close to homeless as a person can get. And then evicting them from places where they might find some measure of safety in numbers is criminal negligence on the part of the government. I have heard horror stories about the homeless here, where their “camps” are busted up.
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It’s the same over here!
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A horrific story, Lisa. Your matter=of-facy way of telling it makes the darkness so much more awful. The biblical frame round the story is thought-provoking: the horror began with his treatment in a religious school and ends with a biblical punishment. Hm…
NB: From next week, and for the following few weeks, the Unicorn Challenge will be published on Saturdays, since all true Scots will be flying home for the annual Unicorn Games and Nessie Spotting.
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Jenne, thank you for your insightful comment on the insanity of it all. I am not against organized religion, per se, but I’m definitely not a fan, especially of those who seem to ordain abuse as part of its god-given right. I think he was dead inside long before the punishment got him :( Annual Unicorn Games and Nessie Spotting sounds like a reason to fly home. Thanks for the heads-up.
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Sounds about right to me.
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Thank you, ladysighs.
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Not sure ‘Like’ is appropriate here, Li. A bleak tale with no redeeming characters, powerfully told.
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Thanks much, CE. I know I skipped the glimmer of light at the end in this story.
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You’ve painted quite a picture here, Lisa.
There are some vile goings on in this seemingly innocuous shack.
Well played.
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TSS, the moment I saw that shack my mind went dark. Thank you very much.
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Oh my! 😳
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A very hard life and a sad end.
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Sadje, I feel for the guy, and in some respects his death was a mercy :(
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I agree with that.
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Damn!*
Ok, so I wasn’t the only one to venture down path where shadows rule the day and any sounds you might hear are but echoes of torment.
*A compliment on an engaging story.
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Clark, thank you for your compliment and engaging comment!
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Fantastic 👏👏👏
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Thank you very much.
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A dreadful end to an unfulfilled life. I can’t help but think he may have welcomed it.
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Keith, I can’t help but think the same thing. Thank you for reading and your thoughtful comment.
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A sad wasted life…
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Indeed :(
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prayers to the poor guy.. 🙏🏼✨
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Thanks for reading, Cindy. He’s a sad case isn’t he.
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Yes of course and yes, he is!!
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