One of my 8th graders, Renae, took part in a writers group in which the class was asked to continue Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. With Halloween approaching, I have received several impressive concluding chapters to Poe's classic short. The students really enjoy expanding upon the plot, and I would like to send you a few of the Variations on The Tell Tale Heart. The first installment is shared to us by Renae Osborne. Please take a moment to read her rendition. It may inspire a contest or similar submissions.
David Goyette
by Renae Alline Osborne
The two policemen looked at me oddly for a few brief moments and than told me to calm down. I screamed out, "it's getting louder, don't ignore it, you know you can hear his heart beating, there, just there. Next thing I knew I was running out of the door. Unsure of where to go, I kept running until I reached a corner butcher shop on Eli Street.
I walked inside and I looked around for a place to hide. I searched around the market until I found some stairs. The stairs were only about wide enough for one person to walk up. I walked up the stairs and there was a closet door, I opened the door and it was filled with food and cleaning supplies with one small window.
I walked inside and sat down after a few minutes I found myself looking for something comfortable to lay my head on. I found a few clean, cleaning rags and placed them under my head. Soon enough I started to fall asleep and everything was quiet except for the hum of the fans. I stretched out my limbs, then curled up and fell asleep.
Scared awake by an oddly familiar sound I sat up and realized that it was night. The closet was pitch black except for the beam of light from the moon that shone in through the small window. I stood up and heard the noise again and realized that it was the old mans heart beat, somehow he had found me. I walked toward the door, grabbed the knob, turned it and slightly pushed it open.
The beating was clearer now, the sound of his heart made my skin crawl. I walked closer to the stairs and heard the noise again but now I heard two light thumps afterward. The two light thumps were what sounded like foot steps, so I decided to get rid of the man who was taking part in the revenge for the old man.
I jumped out in front of the old man and realized it was a janitor, he was moping the floor and the mop was hitting the walls in a rhythm of a heart beat. The old man grabbed his chest and fell down the stairs. I ran down after and realized he was dead. I thought to my self at least the beating stopped but what to do with the body.
I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and cut the old mans limbs off and then skinned him. I put the skin in to the garbage disposal in the kitchen and filed a glass bowl with acid and one by one watched the acid deteriorate the janitors' bones. I cleaned the white tiles and sink with ammonia to hide the D.N.A. The blood on the floor and in the sink was visible but it was a butcher shop.
I walked over to the stairs and realized I had forgotten to get rid of his clothes. Before I got rid of the acid I put the clothes in, after taking the keys out of his pocket. I walked in to the employee's only room and found his clothes in a cubby like thing. Above it said in capitol letters BUD like it said on his uniform. I took his stuff and walked to the kitchen and put them in the acid.
I checked again to make sure all evidence was deteriorated. Than I grabbed the keys locked the doors, left the keys in the main door and left before the butcher shop opened again. As I was walking I saw the owner he walked passed me and said good morning sir I looked at him and said "is it?" I kept walking and than I ended up back at the apartment I went inside and locked the doors I fell asleep and than at about 8:00 there was a knock on the door.
I got up and walked to the door and I asked who is it and it was the neighbor, the one who called the police. I unlocked the door and opened it, "may I help you?" I asked.
"Yes," she said "I was wondering if everything was alright," Yes everything is alright," I replied and began to shut the door when she said, "what was the noise?"
I looked at her and said I had fallen off my bed and knocked the lamp off my dresser.
I closed the door and I sat down on my sofa, I fell asleep and dreamt that the two old men, the neighbor and the police officers were hunting me down. In my dream they were running after me and we reached my apartment and I ran in side shutting the door after me and I locked it. I was running around trying to pack. I ran into the living room when I was in front of the door they started banging it down.
The door flew open and they walked toward me like zombies, they walked closer and closer until I tripped over the rug. The police officers opened the window and they all picked me up and threw me out. All I could remember was I felt like I was falling forever but finally landed. I had no idea that I had been sleep walking and opened the window and jumped out.
Everything was dark for about 30 seconds witch was really three days and I found my self in a horrible place of torment and torture. All around me there were people screaming and crying out with the sounds of hell. Apologizing to god for the sins they had committed but they were too blind to see that they were talking and their words were landing on deaf ears. My torturement for eternity was watching over and over again what had been done from day one up until now and then acting it out like it had been done the first time.
After over 20,000 years of torment I decided to take over hell and I gathered everyone to fight beside me against the Devil and we tried to conquer him and we did just that. I became the leader and brought a plan among everyone to bring hell to the surface of earth. We did so but not without a fight. For 1000 years we fought and conquered.
For another 5 years there were still a few hundred people fighting but eventually taken down. Not a soul on earth was resting in peace and I my self was never happier and comfortable with the world. I was so victorious for once in my life, well in this case my after life, and all was horrible. All though it was quite an awful long time ago it seems as if that vulture eye was troubling me just yesterday.
Still now in the year of 30,007 I am the ruler. I have come and conquered but still now something troubles me. What is that? You ask, well it is the fact that I know deep inside that I am not the ruler and that is still God. Shall, I try to conquer God, is like asking me to conquer love, hope and faith. Will I, sometime in my time, that's insane, it's absurd why we will see.
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