Tip Tap

While I was walking home one evening I passed by a homeless man on the street. This might have been an everyday occurrence to some but the way in which the man was just sitting there without ever looking up or even moving from the position he was in would make one think he was dead if it was not for the low whisper a repetition of two words over and over. Tip Tap was all the man said without any care in the world. The homeless man just set there saying them over and over. His face was hidden by the raincoat he wore and by the fact that his arms were wrap around his legs much like one would see a child if they were sent to a corner for a time out.

The repeating words Tip Tap stuck in my head for the rest of the day and as I start back home I decided to look one more time to see if I could catch a glimpse at the homeless man because of an uneasy feeling I had, when I looked back at the spot where he was sitting he was not there but in the spot on the wall of the building as you turn the corner to go downtown past the sidewalk were the man was sitting the words TIP TAP were painted in black ink on the wall.

I kept an uneasy feeling for the rest of the day not sure why the man and words made me spooked it was not the first time I saw a homeless person and it was not the first time they had done something odd, but it was the first time that I had not been able to see their face or any physical features other than the clothes they wore. The man and the words stuck in my mind for the rest of the day, every time a heard the words Tip or Tap Me kept picturing the man in the raincoat but every time the image got clearer.

At first I only remembered the raincoat covering the man’s face in was dark green like one of those old trench coats that went down to the person’s feet, nothing odd about that but the way in which the man was wearing it was he did not have it on the way one would suspect sure his arms were in it but he had the long portion of the coat covering he face as if to avoid anyone seeing it. That in of itself was not out of place as I had seen many strange fashions among the homeless that resided in the city so I paid it no mind thinking he was probably burned or something so it was not at the top of the list on oddities which I thought of. TIP TAP, the image of the man was clearest in my dreams as slowly each night another portion of the image came in clearly. The first night was the shoes or lack thereof which the man had; his feet were dark greyish with long curled toe nails and had a curved look that converged on three toes not five like normal.

I awoke the next morning with the image still clear in my mind, why had I thought it was normal? Why had I looked at it with curiosity? Why could I not get the image or the words out of my mind? As I ran these questions through my mind I turned on the TV thinking I could get my mind off of it with watching something, as I was flipping through the channels I saw a news report about a rise in missing people in and around town.

The news woman said each person that went missing had nothing in common that they could tell as of yet and that each person disappeared without any struggle that they were aware of. For some reason I began to feel a chill down my back then the TV turned off and a strange voice began to say in a low crackling voice:

“Tip tap run and cry you may be the next to die through the cover and your sheets you do so look like tasty meat. As I savor each dish I so think of each I tip once one remembers me and taps upon thy window with glee I will come for thee.”

With that the voice stopped and the TV came back on and I looked around for who could have made the voice but instead my head began to hurt and I fell unconscious it was the same dream yet again only more detailed not only the over coat and feet but the ragged pants that were torn in several places and curled hands were visible this time and the image said more than tip tap as the hands uncurled. The image began to uncurl the greyish flesh that I thought were its hands at my first glance and the skin began peeling back as it reached further towards me and hundreds of tiny mouths began to eat the skin as they formed from nothing into the shape of the out stretched hand, only then did I realize that the mouths were not coming from nowhere but were inside the man devouring him slowly from the inside out as each and every mouth that finished with its piece of flesh began saying the same thing over and over.

“Tip Tap my little snack it is not fun it is a trap I think I ate enough today but soon it will be time to play so wait for me with glee for soon I will come for thee”. I woke up covered with a blanket on the couch, this would normally be a good sign for anyone in there time of need, but I have been living alone since summer began because of my parents leaving for their summer road trip which I decided was going to be a bore and convinced them to let me stay at home.

The situation had me worried as two things were out of place. One was that I passed out meaning I could not have done this myself and two was an odd itch I had on my left arm. The first had me more worried so I checked the house and doors, there were no signs of anyone entering anywhere just then I remembered what the voice said and I rushed to my bedroom window it was locked tight but as I began to turn around to head back to the living room a tapping sound began echoing in my ear. I feared what I would see when I turned around, but I did anyway.

There tapping on the glass was my best friend and he start asking if he could come in so I asked him to come around to the front door then as I opened the door at the first knock I heard a scream at the side of the house looking out at what was in front of the open door was not my friend but a skeleton of a human setting up against my porch wall in a huddled state and I was reminded of the homeless man and the dream of the things that devoured him.

I realized that it knew or they knew where I lived and that it was them who responsible for the missing people; although how they chose their victims I did not know. My friend and I decided to go into the house and call the police about the skeleton but when we went back out on the porch to confirm that it was actually real the skeleton had disappeared.

“Tip Tap a friend and a tasty one at that we always prefer a few good snacks as we are as need we will eat we will feed.” The voices sounds closer and the itching on my arm started getting worse.

I looked at it in the bathroom and put some anti-itch formula on it but it kept getting worse. I decided it would be best for my friend to spend the night and went to sleep. The next morning the itching grew worse and I could not find my friend. I figured he had went home but when his mother called asking if I had seen him I told her about how he stayed the night but left sometime before woke up.

I hung up and began to turn on the TV when I realized that last night was the first night in over a week that the dream had not happened I began feeling happy and then it happened. A munching sound could be heard I looked all around but could not figure out where it was coming from then my arm started itching again so I began to scratch at it only to feel a sharp pain from my hand when I looked at my hand my fingers were bleeding.

I rushed to the mirror and to my horror there on my arm were the mouths I had seen in my dream all aligned into rows slowing nibbling on strands of hair it was then that I realized what had happened to my friend as I began to cry it said.

“Tip Tap Tip Tap. It's time to eat so that’s that I am a patient sort but to be a host you must realize this deserves a toast as long as I am fed I will not devour you instead but remember this and it be well. I will eat and it will be swell nor crumb nor bone will be left so it is time to hunt or be a treat yourself or I am hungry remember that well.”

So I am writing this to seek help will anyone come and talk to me I promise you are in for a treat.