30 Years Ago ...

Im 51 years old. Just thinking about it is an odd feeling. Time really flies by so fast. I'm living on my own now, spending every day pondering what happened all those years ago. I'm constantly reminded of it, and it just won't go away...

It was 1987. I was 21, and I could finally afford my own place from working at a shitty pizza shop. I finished loading my things into my truck, my folks waved me goodbye, and I drove to my new apartment. Living in a small town was so peaceful. It was the place where I was born, where I grew up, and where it all happened. Abertam, Wisconsin.

After driving through through this rural dump of a town, I finally arrived at my new apartment. The building was small, but suitable for my young self. I didn't complain back then, but nowadays I would. I got out of my truck, and began to take my things inside. I didn't bring much. Just what I needed. Furniture, food, a cellphone, a television, and an old refrigerator that barely worked.

After I was finally done with that, I fell asleep on my couch. That's right, no bed. I wasn't exactly living the high life. If I recall correctly, I could barely sleep, and I was nearly awake all night. I only got around 3 hours of sleep. I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. Extremely tired, I lifted myself off the couch and answered it.

In my tired state, I was overjoyed to hear the person on the other end. It was my girlfriend. Let's call her "Becky". Becky was always so optimistic and fun. "Hey Grant, wanna hang at your new place today?", she said. After just a day, I couldn't stand this damn apartment. It was so small, and depressing. I knew that if she came over, I would definitely feel better. I told her it was okay, and we scheduled a date.

She showed up later in the day, and she greeted me at my door. I remember what how she looked that day. She wore bright neon leg warmers, a fanny pack, and her hair draped down to her shoulders. "This place is pretty cool.", she said when she walked in. I knew she was just trying to be nice. "You sure about that?" I said, chuckling. I started giving her a tour of the aparment. Obviously there wasn't much to it.

When I was showing her around, I opened a closet near the kitchen. I almost fell to the ground at what I saw. There was a large burlap sack, and it was full of bones. I looked at Becky, and we both had a look of shock and confusion. She wanted to close the door, but I was still feeling curious. I picked up the bag and looked inside. "Dude, this is probably just some Halloween decora-", at that moment, I completely froze.

I took a closer look, these bones were real. They were not fake. It wasn't cheap Halloween shit. Actual. Real. Bones. I couldn't believe it. "Who the hell lived here before me?", I thought. The whole nearby area was really sketchy, so I figured that a murderer possibly did this. I told Becky I was going to take the bag to the police station down town. She agreed to stay at the apartment. Not how I thought the day would turn out.

After arriving at the station, I went inside with the bag. Imagine having to walk into a police station with a bag of bones. I spoke with the chief, and I was asked to leave the bag there so they could investigate it or something. I got in my truck, and I drove back to the aparment while the sun was setting. Once I walked back in, I was greeted with a horrific sight.

Becky was on the floor, bleeding, with a blank expression on her face. She was dead. At that moment, I was experiencing so many emotions. The strangest thing about this was the bone sticking out of her chest. She was impaled with a bone. Was she stabbed? Did she kill herself? I had no idea. The girl I knew for so many years was dead, and I was absolutely devastated. I kneeled on the floor, completely tearing up. I couldn't believe what was right in front of me.

I got up and called the police. When they came, even they couldn't figure out what the hell happened. After they took her body, I was alone. Completely alone. I couldn't sleep that night. I developed horrible insomnia after that, and I was never the same.

Around one month later, I began to feel slightly better. Mainly because of work. It really helped me distract myself from what happened. I was working the counter that day. People came in, got their pizza, and left. The usual stuff. This day, however, was where things got worse. A man walked in. He was a particularly lanky man, very lanky. His clothes drooped off of his body like they were way too big for him, and he wore gloves and baggy pants as well. He was dressed in all black, and he was wearing a skull mask. Just a bargain bin sort of thing.

Even then, I was a bit uneasy. I just told myself, "Well, Halloween's almost here, so he's probably wearing it because of that." It was still strange, nonetheless. All he ordered was a thin crust cheese pizza. I put in the order to the chef, and he got to work. After the man sat down, I heard the chef yell from the kitchen, "Hey! There's a fuckin' skull in my damn oven!"

I rushed over, and sure enough, there was a skull in one of our ovens. I honestly couldn't believe it. The manager quickly came over. He couldn't believe it either. I remember how angry he was. "I don't care if this is some sick joke, I'm finding the dumbass who did this." he said. I came back over to my post at the counter. I take a look around the shop, and the man with the skull mask is gone. I looked outside the window, and it was like he vanished.

At this point, the cops were coming. I didn't want to be in the way, so I got the hell out of there. Out in the parking lot, I saw the man. He was standing next to my truck, completely still. I stumbled over to him. "Uh... dude?", I said, obviously scared. The man then held up his hands, and pulled off his mask. What I saw almost gave me a heart attack. There was an actual skull under the mask. He wasn't a man, he was a skeleton. This thing took off his gloves, only to reveal his bony, skinless fingers. He was looking at me... somehow, and he smiles. It was like he was made of rubber, becuase his mouth stretched to form a grin. To this day, I have no idea how that's possible.

I started to slowly back away, in a state of utter fear and confusion. The damn thing opened his mouth, "Hello there Grant." It talked. The skeleton talked. I ran like hell out of that parking lot into the nearby woods. Once I ran far enough, I stopped to breathe. What the hell did I just witness? So many thoughts were running through my head. I picked myself up, and that's when I saw it. The bag of bones. I never heard from the police station, and there it was. I was instantly reminded of that day. The day I lost my girlfriend, and the day I began to lose my sanity,

I could hear something approaching me. It was another one of those bony bastards. He walked over to me, and hissed. The way it moved was so unreal, like CGI movement. Then another one appeared. This one smiled and waved at me before walking over. "We know who you are, Grant." he screeched. "Who are you skeletons? What the fuck do you want?" I said. It was so hard for me to believe that I was trying to talk to this thing. "We skeletons would like you to come to our realm." it said. "Whatever the hell is going on, I'm on board." I replied. At this point, my girlfriend was dead, and I was probably going to lose my job. I didn't care what happened.

"Oh, you'll come GLADLY!" the skeleton said, and he opened a large portal. I could feel my body gravitating towards it. I didn't know what was happening, but I went in anyway. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I picked myself up, and I looked around. I was now in another world. The sky was orange, the ground was brown, and the grass was blood red. In the distance, a castle shaped like a skull. This is not how I thought the day would turn out.

Once I regained my balance, I began to run towards the castle. I was still in disbelief about all that had happened, but that wasn't important at the moment. I needed answers. It felt like hours, but I finally made it to the castle. When I walked in, I was greeted by two skeleton guards. "The king has been expecting you." one of them said. Then, a skeleton wearing a grey robe wearing a some sort of helmet showed up. "Greetings Grant. I am King Skelly. Charmed." he said. "What is going on? Why have you been doing this?" I said, clearly pissed off. "Oh, don't be so bitter, dear Grant. I assure you that this has all happened for a reason." he screeched.

I didn't believe him. In my mind, there was no reason. "You better explain yourself. I've lost so much because of your people." I said. "Yes, yes. I'm aware of that girl you were with. You see, that is what happens when you accept the sacred bag of bones." the king explained. Now it started to make sense. Picking up that bag cursed me. I stayed silent to hear these reasons.

"I can't stand humans. My people are proud, yet we've found skeletons in your world. They're buried, or used as decoration. Do you realize how degrading that is? I've used the bag curse in order to finally speak with a human. I want a fight, a battle with your people. Your oppression won't stand."

I was in complete shock. That's what this was for? "I'm not the one you should be fighting. Just let me go back to my world." I said to him. "That won't be happening. Meet me on the battlefield outside the castle in three hours. Get yourself a sword and shield." the king replied.

His guards then escorted me out of the castle. Even though I had just been thrown into all this, I wanted to kill this guy, as revenge for Becky. I walked to the battlefield, completely lost, and not knowing what to do. I sat on the red grass and pondered for a few minutes. Then, a skeleton in full armor showed up. "What is a human doing here, in Skeledonia? Explain yourself" he yelled. "I'm going to kill that king of yours." I said. The skeleton knight pulled out his sword after hearing this. I jumped up, and I grabbed his jaw to pull it from his face. He screamed in agony. I didn't think I had it in me, but the karate lessons totally paid off. Now he was dead, with a suit of armor, and a sword and shield. I knew exactly what to do.

I was finally well equipped, but three hours had passed. King Skelly was coming. He stepped onto the battlefield, with his sword in hand. With nothing to live for, I began to approach him.

"Well, human. It looks like you're prepared for this battle. When I'm done with you, I'll make you into a decoration for Bone Day. Then you'll know how we feel." he said. I wasn't intimidated, so I pulled out my sword. Our blades clashed, with the king showing extra aggression. I did my best to block his attacks, while jumping out of the way as well. We fought for quite a few minutes, with myself on the defensive. I knew he was too much for me, but I had to do this. The king then slashed my arm, which gave me a huge open wound. I lunged at him, and knocked his sword out of his hands. Then I kicked his ribcage, causing him to fall to the ground. I stood over him while he was fallen. He then looked up, and he saw my deep wound.

"Is that... bone?" he said, astonished. "Uh, yeah?" I said, confused. "So that means humans and skeletons aren't so different after all?" he said. We finally came to a truce, and realized that inside, we're all the same. King Skelly agreed to bring peace between our two kinds. He allowed me to come back to my world, and him and I have been best friends ever since.

So, that was all 30 years ago. Ever since then, I've thought so much about what happened. A couple weeks ago, a box came to my door. It said "From King Skelly". I opened it up, and a very special skeleton popped out.