thee oh sees - mutilator defeated at last

label: castle face records
released: 2015

on the table before him sat 3 circles and a hammer.
they all had names.
the one on the left was known as PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN.
the one in the middle was known as YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME.
the one on the right was known as SONGS FOR THE DEAF.
the hammer was affectionately known as steven.

he placed a pair of gloves that weren't given names onto his hands.
and with his gloved hands he placed the 3 circles carefully on top of one another.
he then pulled a notebook from out of a drawer.
he opened it and looked over the schematics once again.
everything had to be perfect.
but he was also on a schedule.
he was told to never remove any of the tools from the garage.
and it would take him approximately 25 seconds to leave the room and then to bound up the stairs and then into the garage entrance which was immediately in front of him as the basement door was opened.
his father had left to go to the store for a gallon of milk.
that was 10 years ago.
but he could come back any minute now.
any second now.
but he didn't want to rush into the delicate process.
he'd done it before.
the adjacent room was full of rushings.
but the time was right.
the time was now.
he picked up steven with his right hand and brought him over the pile of 3.
it hung there.
and hung there.
and hung there.
and then the thoughts of doubt began to come over him.
what if the homeless guy was lying?
what is he was lying and only made up the story about the notebook because he was hungry and wanted the half-eaten candy bar.
what if.
there was no time for what ifs now.
steven was becoming very heavy in his hand.
and then it happened before he had a moment to think about what was going on.
smash.
smash.
smash.
and the 3 became a scattered mess on the table top.
he placed steven onto the table and then took his gloved hands and brought all of the fragments together into a pile in front of him.
he stood there gazing upon what he'd done.
"good job once again,steven."
he then scraped all of the scraps into a metal bowl he'd found in a box in the neighbor's basement.
he then looked over at the notebook.
the last of the instructions instructed him to place the notebook into the bowl and to then light it on fire.
luckily he'd found a partially used book of matches in the top drawer of the dresser in his mother's room.
he placed the notebook into the bowl and opened it.
it would catch fire easier that way.
and he wanted to cover as much of what was left over of the smashed circles as possible.
he removed a match and used it to light the book and the remaining 4 matches.
the flare happened as soon as the flames touched the stained pages of the notebook.
he stood there.
and he stood there.
and he stood there.
and then a noxious smell entered his nostrils.
it burned.
and then the smoke happened.
his eyes began to water.
he was finding it hard to catch his breath.
the room didn't have a window that was able to be opened.
and then he noticed that the bowl began to shake.
was he actually seeing this?
was the black mass forming an actual form?
is this it?
is this happening?
he picked up steven and raised it into the air as he looked on in horror.
was this supposed to happen?
he frantically tried to think back to all of the words that he'd read in the notebook and everything the homeless person had told him.
all he could do was stand there frozen.
the black mass had formed what looked like arms and hands.
and the hands we stretching towards his neck.
and there were eyes looking back at him.
it was moving towards him.
lovecraftian.
he wanted to run from the room and to get as far away as he could from this thing.
this thing.
and then he brought steven down onto the mass.
again and again and again and again.
the gelatinous muck everywhere.
and then he was satisfied.
he'd expected more to happen.
it had been built up.
the anticlimax angered him.
and then there was a ringing.
it was the phone the homeless man had given him.
he let out a deep breath and removed it from his pocket.
"yes. it's done. yes. i understand. no one would believe me anyway. no. everything was done properly. no deviation. yes. the mutilator has been defeated at last. i'm on my way now. the alley behind the bowling alley,yeah? ok. yes. i'll bring you a sandwich."

DL