“The Eggman Falleth”
Copyright 2017 by Jeff Strand
Humptin Dumptin, who hated being called “Humpty Dumpty,” sat on a stone wall, gazing out at the land beyond the kingdom. It was a very high wall, and he’d heard the whispers of those who suggested that an egg-man should consider a different sitting spot. He didn’t care. He knew the risk and accepted it. There were few pleasures in the life of a giant egg, and Humptin would not let fear take away this marvelous view.
He was born to human parents. When his mother laid an egg, his father accused her of infidelity and bestiality, then left in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. His mother cradled the egg to her bosom and promised her unconditional love to whatever creature might hatch from it. When the egg did not hatch, but rather grew arms and legs and developed a face, she too left in the middle of the night.
The king, a stern but fair ruler, declared Humptin to be a child of everyone in the kingdom, which meant that nobody had to help raise him for more than seven hours. He grew from a small egg to a medium-sized egg to a very large egg. He couldn’t contribute much, being an egg, but since he did not eat nor drink nor produce waste, he was not a drain on society.
The wind was beginning to pick up. Humptin reluctantly decided that it was time to leave his perch and find something else to do. Perhaps he could watch cows being milked. Or perhaps he could watch hay being baled. Or he could just walk the cobblestone streets, pretending that nobody was staring at him.
But they always stared at him. He knew they did. Even in his stylish hat, his custom-made shirt, and his delightful pants, everybody stared at the giant egg-man. How could they not? If somebody else in the kingdom had been born with the misfortune of being a walking, talking egg, Humptin knew he would gape at them, too.
A sudden gust of wind blew him off the wall!
He plummeted four stories, shrieking in terror.
“Noooooooooo!” he wailed, as the ground seemed to rush toward him with hostile intent.
Impact.
His white shell broke into dozens of pieces. Yellow, glistening yolk sprayed from the wounds as if in slow motion.
Humptin gaped at his insides in horror. The pain was worse than he could ever have imagined. The pieces of shell with his arms and legs were gone, as was his left eye. His mouth had a horrific crack down the center.
“Help me…” he gasped. “Please help me…”
He’d been warned that he could have a great fall. Why hadn’t he listened? Oh, God, why hadn’t he listened?’
He just lay there, oozing.
They’d fix him. They had to fix him.
An eternity later, he heard a voice from above: “Humpty Dumpty has fallen from the wall! Open the gates!”
An eternity after that, the gates to the kingdom opened. People began to run outside, soon forming a tight circle around the shattered egg.
“So he does have yolk inside!” said one man. “I’d always wondered!”
“Scrambled or over easy?” said another man, who was glared at by the others and told that it was too soon for such wit.
“I’m dying…” said Humptin. It didn’t even sound like his own voice anymore.
“Don’t you worry, lad,” said a young woman with three teeth. “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men are on their way. You’ll be right as rain in no time.”
Humptin stared at her with his remaining eye. What the hell were the king’s horses going to do to help him? And why did he need all of the king’s men? He only needed the ones with proper medical training.
Moments later, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, which was a significant number, emerged from the gate.
Humptin screamed in agony.
“Fools! The horses have trodden upon Mr. Dumpty!” somebody shouted. “He was a lost cause before, but now he’s even worse!”
Humptin watched egg white drip off hooves, unable to believe this nightmare was real.
Men and horses continued to accidentally step on his shell exoskeleton. Crack. Crack. Crack. The sound of each crack sent a horrified shiver down Humptin’s crushed back.
“That horse is licking up his insides!” said the woman with three teeth. “Make it stop before there’s nothing left!”
A knight leaned down and placed an armored hand on Humptin’s face. “Humpty, can you hear me?”
“Yes…”
“You’re going to be all right. Just stay with us. We’ve got the best men here, and we’ll put you back together, better than ever.”
Was it nighttime already, or was his vision going dark?
“So cold…” he said. “So sleepy…”
“Don’t you give up!” the knight said. “I don’t care how much you want to close your eyes, don’t you do it! Don’t you dare do it, Humpty Dumpty! We can fix you!”
A horse picked up a large piece of shell in its mouth and wandered off, happily crunching away.
“Get these goddamned horses out of here!” shouted the knight. “Somebody get me some glue! If there’s none available, make one of the horses into glue! We’re not going to let Humpty Dumpty die!”
But Humptin looked up at the knight. “It’s all right,” he said, voice barely a whisper. “The pain has already faded. Everything is numb. I’m ready to let go.”
“No!”
“Even if you put me back together, I’ll never be the same. I’ll be horribly disfigured. I’ll be a burden on the kingdom. I don’t want to live like that.”
“You’re speaking madness! I vow to all of the gods that we will not let you die!”
“Please,” said Humptin. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready.”
The crowd gasped and parted as King Tiberius himself walked through the front gate and over to the carnage. The King placed his hand on the knight’s shoulder. “It’s time to let him go,” he said, softly.
The knight nodded. He tried to wipe a tear from his eye, but couldn’t get at it through the helmet, so instead he stood up. “You are a brave egg-man, Humpty Dumpty. You die with honor and will be forever remembered.”
“Thank you.”
And then the darkness overtook Humptin Dumptin, and he was no more.
Though he was dead, all the king’s men tried to put him back together again, so his shell could be placed in the kingdom’s library as a glorious, if macabre, reminder of the very odd citizen they’d lost.
But they couldn’t do it, so they settled for a nursery rhyme in his honor instead.
He will be forever remembered.
R.I.P.
(If you liked the price of this story, remember that every issue of my free newsletter contains a brand-new flash fiction story!)
January 8, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Just wanted to drop a quick note and thank you for sharing your story. I really enjoyed it. Also thanks again for reading my story on writing.com.
take care.
By the way I also enjoyed your book ‘pressure’. I see you have another book coming out soon by Leisure as well. I can’t wait.
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January 20, 2010 at 3:13 pm
thanks! a “real” short story and it made a bemused grin come upon me
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March 3, 2010 at 10:52 am
Interesting story – wonder what my thoughts would be
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March 5, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Thanks, Lisa. My thoughts would be “AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!” which would probably make for less interesting literature.
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April 1, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Thanks for the story. Loved Pressure, can not wait to read more from you.
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April 1, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Thanks, Chris! Why, if you loved Pressure and can’t wait to read more, there’s this new book called Dweller…
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June 30, 2012 at 11:27 am
Dweller was my first read by you and I could NOT put it down. Was awesome!!!
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July 6, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Thanks, Tracy!!!
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April 1, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Nicely done Jeff…I am sure that your original ending is best. I haven’t been to your site in a while.
Glad to know that Gleefully Macabre Tales is available in paperback now, and Dweller is on my list to buy next.
You and Des were very entertaining on Dread Media!
Bette
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April 2, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Dweller will be in my mail box soon. I do the Dochester Horror Book Club, on of the highlights of every month.
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April 21, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Just one question.WTF WTF WTF??????!!! U r twisted freak with an even more twisted sense of humor!!!u know that??? Well I must be too cause I was sitting laughing the whole time. can’t wait to read more
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May 15, 2010 at 6:25 am
Too funny… I actually met someone who survived a failed parachute when I lived in Hawaii… they weren’t too willing to relive their own thought process though… I guess I can understand why a little better now!
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June 4, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Was that person really, really short?
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November 10, 2018 at 5:31 pm
i worked with a girl once who had been in the military. she jumped out of an airplane as well and her parachute decided not to work. she said sh lost 4 inches in height.
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January 13, 2011 at 5:55 pm
That was great! See, this is exactly why I will never have a mid-life crisis that leads me to skydiving. I’m afraid of heights, so it makes sense to avoid such reckless adventures, though.
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January 14, 2011 at 12:05 am
Thanks, Carl! This story was meant to be a cautionary tale against midlife crises that lead to skydiving, and if it prevents even one person from plummeting to their death, my work has had meaning.
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November 14, 2011 at 9:03 pm
[…] LINK […]
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September 4, 2013 at 5:31 am
Loved “The Drop”. Ur a bit of a freak u know? But I’m quite sure that’s not the 1st time someone’s tagged u with that label. BTW, I mean it in the most complimentary way 🙂 I also want to let u know how much I absolutely LOVED the story Kutter. I’ve read a lot of your material, but I have to say Kutter is my favorite! U keep writing ’em Jeff, and I’ll keep buying ’em!
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September 9, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Thanks, Deborah! I happily accept your “bit of a freak” compliment.
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September 10, 2013 at 4:25 am
As I was sure you would Jeff. As I was quite sure you would:)
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September 8, 2014 at 4:28 pm
i love this story even better second time round,just hurry up an give us wolf hunt 2
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September 8, 2014 at 4:30 pm
WOLF HUNT 2 is so close you can taste it…
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December 22, 2014 at 10:15 am
loved reading some more Andrew Mayhem and always like a good Christmas horror. Is there any more Andrew Mayhem novels expected in the future?
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December 22, 2014 at 3:26 pm
There will definitely be a fifth Andrew Mayhem novel, but I don’t know when…
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February 7, 2016 at 1:26 pm
[…] P.S.: Auf Jeff Strands trefflich benanntem Blog Gleefully Macabre findet sich eine weihnachtliche Kurzgeschichte mit Andrew Mayhem, in der er es mit gleich drei axtschwingenden Santas zu tun bekommt. Nicht ansatzweise so horribel blutig wie die Romane, aber ein ganz guter Einblick in den verpeilten Alltag des Protagonisten: A Bit of Christmas Mayhem […]
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December 27, 2016 at 11:41 am
[…] Source: FREE STORY […]
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October 3, 2017 at 11:47 am
[…] FREE STORY […]
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January 21, 2020 at 11:24 am
[…] via FREE STORY […]
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November 23, 2020 at 10:34 am
[…] “The Eggman Falleth” a FREE short story only available on Gleefully […]
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