She had been dating David for two months, and she really liked him. Thought he might be the one.

But she had never been to his place, and they never went out anywhere but dark places — the movie theater, an outdoor dance club … good thing it was summer.

Mostly, it was just pizza and movies at her apartment.

She had pressed him on his personal life, but all he would say was that he lived in a room above Elmer’s Bar.

That’s where they had met, or close to it — she had bumped into him when she was trying to catch up to her friends as they left the bar one night, and he was coming in. The street was dark, and David had walked her to the car.

She gave him her number, and he called the next day. From a pay phone, he said.

But now, Charity hadn’t heard from him in almost a week, and she didn’t have a number for him. Her only choice was to go to his apartment and confront him.

She wasn’t sure how to get upstairs at the bar, so she entered through the main door. She would ask the bartender.

She hadn’t expected to see David in the bar itself, but there he was sitting in a dark corner.

Charity took a deep breath and marched his direction. “Where have you been, David?” she demanded, hands on hips.

He looked at her sheepishly. “Keep your voice down, Charity. We can’t be seen together.”

Charity’s blood boiled, and she prepared to lay into him, but a woman’s voiced sounded beside her.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing you.” Charity turned to find a waitress, about sixty years old, staring at her intently. “Did you know my David?”

Across the room, beyond the waitress, a wall-length mirror reflected the entire bar.

Charity cringed to see her own angry face and posture, towering over the old woman. She let her shoulders drop and stood upright, but something still didn’t seem right to her. She turned to gaze back at David, and he shrugged.

Then she looked back to the mirror and and saw it — or, rather, didn’t. David was not in the reflection.

“I still miss him after all these years,” the waitress said. “Could we sit down and talk about him for awhile, dear? I sure would appreciate it.”

The woman gestured toward a chair at the table next to David. He smiled at Charity, then stood and faded into the dark paneled wall.

The post The Elusive Mr. Right appeared first on Scares Me.

Of course, those were the same days most of brought our lunch, because Cook’s Choice usually meant mystery meat and spinach.

But Mr. Carney seemed to love it.

And that led to all sorts of rumors about the man who also ran the local dairy. He had always run the local dairy, to hear the old folks tell it.

That just added to the crazy stories.

The most common and well-developed was that he had some sort of deal with the head cook — free milk with the little cartoon cow on the carton, the cow that looked strangely like Mr. Carney himself.

In exchange for …

The Cook’s Choice meal every few weeks?

Maybe, but the whispers were darker than that.

Less than a thousand people lived in my town, and there were only a couple hundred students in my school. And yet … at least three or four kids went missing every year, never to be heard from again.

At least half of those disappearances happened in the week leading up to Cook’s Choice days.

At least … that was the story. There was even a rumor the cops found some items of clothing from several missing children under a rock on the Carney farm.

Personally, I enjoyed his stories when he subbed for our teacher, so I never put much stock in the gossip.

I’ve long since moved away, started my own family.

I had forgotten all about Mr. Carney until my son came home from school tonight, griping about the Cook’s Choice lunch but raving about his substitute teacher.

“What was her name?” I asked.

“His name,” my boy corrected, “Is Mr. Carney.”

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Here are 22 such one-liners to get you on your way to Shiversville post-haste …

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1. My head itched in the night, so I scratched  it, but then I realized my hands were clasped together in front of me.

2. Gwen was happy that John and Mitch were finally getting along, but she wished they had been alive to  enjoy the peace.

3. There is no sweeter sound than a baby’s giggle, although it’s also a bit creepy when it comes in the middle of the night and you live alone.

4. My girlfriend told always told me my porcelain doll was creepy, and the doll said the same thing about my girlfriend.

5. I was shocked to find I had a headful of gray hair when I woke up this morning, especially considering that I was bald when I wen to sleep.

6. Cold, clear winter nights don’t bother me as long as there is a full moon, but I do wonder why my shadow is on all fours in the snow.

7. Megan was perturbed that Danny had left the toilet seat up again, especially since he’d been dead for four years.

8. I just saw my reflection blink. (from marino1310 on reddit)

9. My house phone rang at midnight last night even though I only have a cell phone.

10. I’m always happy to hear my wife singing, but this morning her voice is coming from the kitchen yet she’s still asleep in the bed beside me.

11. I woke myself up with my snoring, but it continued even after I was awake.

12. We just had a solar eclipse but I could still see the moon in another part of the sky.

13. I fell asleep reading a scary story online and woke up with a bookmark in my lap.

14. I only found out too late that an electronic calendar invite counts for vampires.

15. As the earth exploded beneath him, James was relieved to have made it safely into outer space — at least until there was a knock on the cabin door.

16. Greg awoke with a start, laughed at himself for having believed the zoo nightmare was real, then wiped the sweat from his brow using his … tail.

17. When I was a kid, my mom told me to stop playing with my brother and just push him to the side of the plate so I could eat the rest of my dinner.

18. In my nightly review of our home security video, I was shocked to see my wife stabbing me with a huge knife, but was even more surprised to see that the date on the clip was tomorrow.

19. There was only one set of prints in the snow, heading from the house to the barn — even though I had just returned from the barn.

20. Every night, she kissed me on the cheek before heading up the stairs, but I never knew her name and I lived alone.

21. I was touched that Mrs. Everson showed up for my college graduation party but also a bit unnerved since she died when I was in second grade.

22. If you’ve read this far, it’s already too late.

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