WEDNESDAY: No Trade Backs

HALLOWEEN WEEK 2024 CONTEST
Honourable Mention

BY ERIC ALLEC

Copyright is held by the author.

COHEN STOMPED up the stairs from his lair in the basement to answer the front door. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but it was summer; his friends came by unannounced all the time. As he spied around the corner, he saw a blonde tuff of hair bobbing up and down in the door’s window.

Crap, it’s Keifer again. he thought. The condensation from his Slurpee cup dripped over the back of his hand as he sipped from the lumps of slush that were left inside it. Cohen took a deep breath prior to opening the door. As he pulled it open, He could feel the heat of summer embrace him like the musky slobber of a blood hound.

Cohen towered over the second grader as he looked straight down at Keifer; the rays of the afternoon sun cooked the back of the little one’s neck.

“I told you Keifer, no trade backs.”

Cohen continued to maneuver his straw in his mouth, slurping up any slushy residue. Keifer’s lip began to quiver; his eyes held back salty tears. He tried to hide his distress by pretending to wipe the sweat off his brow. He looked up at Cohen like a rat in a trap, pleading for his life.

“Cohen, my sister told me my Silt-shrew is worth more than the Chicki-oto you gave me.”

It’s always about Metamon cards, Cohen thought. It’s because of kids like Keifer, we aren’t allowed to bring cards to school any more. He may be young, but there are rules to follow!

“Look Kiefer, quit being a turd. I said no trade backs. That was final. Next time, don’t be stupid. And don’t you think about getting your sister involved.”

Keifer slowly walked to his scooter lying on the lawn, picked it up and then glided away along the fresh hot asphalt with a cloud of defeat over his head.

When Cohen closed the door, he lifted his arms up, embracing the cold miasma of the air conditioner. The sweat on his arms cooled him instantly, making him shiver. He went back down to his room and pulled out his binder. He began to look through all his Metamon cards.

Metamon was a trading card game. He had gotten into it last year when he was in grade three. There were so many cards to collect. At first, he only had a starter pack he received from his aunt for his eighth birthday. From there, he began trading doubles he had in his collection to gain the other cards he lacked. Eventually, trading duplicates was not enough. The supply of naïve kids in his grade had already lost their desirable cards. Cohen had already spent too much on booster packs, so he couldn’t just buy more either. One day at recess, he came to realize that the younger kids at school provided a whole new demographic just waiting to be exploited. Most kids his age felt they were above anyone below their grade level, but he was able to put aside his pride so long as it meant his collection would soon be complete. Sure, he made a few enemies at school, but the ends justified the means; Keifer provided the last card he needed to complete his collection; finally, he now had a full set. Or so he thought.

“Ding, dong, Ding, dooooong, ding, ding, ding, dooong!”

The doorbell rang again. Cohen prayed it wasn’t Keifer’s sister at the door; she knew judo. Cohen had witnessed multiple times of her grabbing kids from the collars of their shirts and throwing them over her shoulder onto the dusty pebbled surface of the play structure; their shirts forever stretched out.

Cohen climbed up the basement steps to answer the front door again. He was relieved to see it was his friend Sam.

 “Oh man, it’s just you.”

Cohen said with peace of mind.

“What’s up?”

 Sam adjusted his baggy shorts, so his underwear wasn’t showing.

“The Emerald Cosmolopp.” Sam whispered. “The rumors are true!”

Cohen looked both ways to make sure no one else was around.

“Get in.”

The two boys ran down to his room in the basement. Cohen pulled out his Metamon price guide and flipped to the page he had dog-eared. There was a picture of a unique trading card; a one of a kind. It shone with a divinity like that of a giant stained-glass window in a cathedral or of Arora Borealis. The artwork on the card showed an adorable rabbit with floppy ears gliding through outer space with angelic wings; its fur shone an emerald green. The Cosmolopp card was very common; much like bread on a sandwich. There was, however, three of these defected Cosmolopps in existence that were painted an emerald green colour by accident. The price of these cards have bunch of zeros in them, he thought. Cohen had a complete collection, but he’d trade it all for just one Emerald Cosmolopp.

“So who has the card?” Cohen asked.

“Her name’s Sara,” Sam replied.

“Does she go to our school?” Cohen inquired.

“Not exactly,” Sam explained. “My big brother’s friend Nate brought us to her. She lives in the woods behind the outlet mall.

Cohen was confused but it didn’t matter. He was about to get his hands on the rarest Metamon card in existence.  

“You ready to go then?” Sam asked.

Cohen could feel a fire in his belly.

“You bet your ass I am!” He responded.

Cohen packed his binder of Metamon cards into his knapsack, locked the door and hopped onto his grey CCM mountain bike his dad got him for his birthday.

They biked to the outlet mall near the busy street a few blocks north of the playground. They biked behind the buildings; all that was there were dandelions growing through the cracks of the pavement, and cigarette buds decorating the ground. Sam pointed to the patch of trees beyond the paved area. “She’s in there.”

The forest behind the outlet mall had many different names: the older kids called it “The Bush,” the younger ones called it “The Wilds”, Kids Cohen’s age referred to it as “The Vacant Lot”. The boys got off and walked their bikes into the forest of wild ash and birch trees; burs and ticks stuck to their pants as they trudged through the long grass. They came to an opening under a canopy of trees. Ahead of them was a small hut made from twigs and cardboard boxes.

“She lives in there,” Sam said. The two boys carefully approached the hut. The entrance looked like the opening to a cave; it was pitch-black inside.

“Hi Sarah, it’s Sam, the boy from the other day? I brought you a Coke just like you asked.” No one responded.

“Maybe she’s not here?” Cohen picked a burr off his pants. He began to feel clammy. Although it was the middle of summer, Cohen felt a chill in the air. “Maybe we should go,” He suggested.

“Ya, she’s probably, ahh!” Sam screamed.

A long skinny arm appeared from the abyss grasping for something. Sam quickly unzipped his backpack and pulled out a warm can of Coca Cola. The arm snatched it out of his hands. More of Sarah’s body crawled out of the darkness. she had a long neck like a brontosaurus. Her grey tangled hair covered all but her long crooked nose. She wore an old dirty parka; it was impossible to tell what the original colour was. With the single tooth in her mouth, she opened the can of cola, followed by a big slurp. “Are you alone?” The woman asked.

Sam cleared his throat. “No Sarah, I brought my friend with me. He’s interested in seeing your special Metamon card.”

“Is he now?” Sarah grinned. Her gums were black and rotting. She brought the rest of her torso out of her makeshift home, but that was it. Her legs were nowhere in sight. She pulled a small little box out of a hidden pocket inside her parka. She opened it to reveal the special card; it glowed an emerald green, it was the defected Cosmolopp. Cohen could feel the power of temptation take over his body.

“Oh how I wish I still had eyes to look at it.” Sarah moved the hair away from where her eyes used to be. “I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore, so I scratched my eyes out, tee, hee.” She laughed.

Cohen tried to pay no attention to the dark abyss of Sarah’s eye sockets and pulled a binder out of his backpack.

“I’ll trade you my entire collection for that card.” Cohen offered. Sarah grinned much bigger, “You’ll need to do better than that my boy. Don’t you have anything else to offer?” she took another swig of coke and swished it in her mouth.

Cohen thought for a moment, “What if I give you all of my money I’ve saved this summer?”

Sarah cackled. “Oh, my boy, do you have any idea what I gave up for this card?”

Cohen felt a chill go down his spine. “What did you trade?” he asked.

“Everything! Hehehehe!” Sarah laughed. “How old do I look to you?” Sarah asked.

“I dunno, like 80?” Cohen answered.

“Hehehehe! I’m only 17 years old.”

Cohen looked at his friend Sam; his face went pale. “What happened to you?” Sam asked.

“All I had to offer for this card was my youth. The morning after I acquired this card I woke up and looked in the mirror; When I looked at the hag staring back at me, I screamed to the top of my lungs. Then my parents walked into my room to see what all the commotion was about, ‘What did you do to our daughter?!’ They demanded. Before I could explain myself, they kicked me out of the house. Sure, I was sad at first, but at least I had my precious Emerald Cosmolopp! Since I have no more eyes to look at it anymore though, I feel like I am ready to part with it, but I can’t trade it for just anything! What else do you have to offer?” She took another swig of her coke, swishing it around like mouth wash. She tilted her long neck down and began to smell around Cohen.

“Ohhhh . . . Hehe. I think you may have something in your pocket that might suffice.” Cohen took his house key out of his pocket.

“My key? Why?” He asked.

“The key or the card, what’ll it be, child?” Sarah awaited his response.

Cohen really wanted that card. It was as if it were calling out for him. Without thinking, he handed Sarah his key. After Sarah placed the Cosmolopp in his hand she began to lick the key and held it near her heart. Without a word she crawled back into her lair. As the boys walked away, they could hear the echoes of Sarah’s cackle from behind the trees.

When they reached the cement behind the strip mall, the boys jumped back on their bikes.

“I told you she had it.” Sam smirked.

“I just can’t believe I got it, and all I had to trade was my house key.”

“What are you going to tell your dad?” Sam asked.

“I’ll just tell him I lost it. I’ll get in trouble but at least I have one of the rarest Metamon cards in existence.” Cohen felt the cool evening breeze on his forehead. He noticed storm clouds ahead of them.

“We should get home quick,” Cohen suggested. He didn’t want his new card to be ruined by the rain.

“What’re you going to do if Sarah finds out where you live?” Inquired Sam.

“I dunno, maybe I’ll see if my dad can change the locks.”

As Sam and Cohen parted ways, the wind from the storm ahead was picking up. Luckily, he was almost home. After he parked his bike in the driveway, he walked up to open the door. It was locked. Both cars were in the driveway, so he knew both his parents were home. Nervously, he pressed the doorbell. A minute passed with no answer.

“Is anybody home?” he thought. Rain began to trickle down from the sky. Then he heard small footsteps from behind the front door. When it opened, behind it was not his mom or his dad. It was a girl around his age.

“Who are you?” He asked.

The girl smiled. She only had one tooth. Cohen wasn’t sure what was going on.

“Sarah, who is it?” It was the voice of his father calling.

Cohen’s heart sank when it hit him. The girl continued to grin that toothless smile.

“No trade backs.” She whispered and closed the door. When the door shut, all Cohen could see was a sad old man staring back at him through the front window.

***

Image of Eric Allec

Eric Allec is a school teacher in the frosty Canadian heartland of Winterpeg (Winnipeg, Manitoba). Tabletop and videogames are sources of inspiration for Eric’s writing, along with campfire ghost stories. Eric is currently writing a collection of short fiction with a novel in the works. You can learn more about Eric at: ericallec.wordpress.com