“Wow man! Great colors!”
“Yeah, well, I had to prepare the temple.”
“How did your parents react when you painted your room like that?”
“Dad was puzzled. Mom was happy, of course, that the walls and ceiling were no longer black. She thinks I’m in love and that ocean green is the color of my love. Or that my girlfriend has green eyes or that she love green.” .Something like that.”
“But you do not have a girlfriend”.
“Yes Tom, I know, but Mom doesn’t. She just thinks what she wants to think.”
“Mom. I bet he keeps asking to meet her. To take her out to dinner or something,” Harry laughed.
“Yes. Have you brought the candles?”
“Sure. Seven of them, our lucky number. I searched half the town to find the right color.”
“The search will be worth it if we succeed. Hand them over here.”
“Umm, are you sure this will work? I mean, we don’t know of any real spells,” Tom asked hesitantly.
“Of course I’m not sure. But I talked to this witch girl, you know, the Wiccan? I asked her if she knew of any spells that might work. She said she wasn’t really interested in summoning and stuff, but I should just make up my own spells.” , anyway. That’s how it works, you have to figure out what works best for you.”
“Tom, you already explained that to us. Even if she was interested and knew some cool spells that worked well for her, they might not work for us. Like we’re trying to use her clothes.”
“Yuk! I’d rather die!”
Harry smiled to himself as he watched the three dressed in green robes. The ocean-scented bath oil, which he had stolen from his sister, made the room smell so good. He sure hoped this would work, it would be a lot of fun to rule the world.
“Okay, everything is ready. Have you memorized the words?”
“Sure.”
“Yes. Are you sure your parents won’t be coming soon?”
“Of course I’m sure. They won’t be home until morning. Don’t worry, no one will interrupt us. Oh, and guys, please remember, we’re learning by trial and error. If this doesn’t work, we’ll try to find something that will.” .
“Oh no.”
“Shut up, Tom. We’ll investigate further. Until we succeed. If it was really easy to summon Cthulhu, everyone would be doing it, right? We’re only sixteen, none of us will die of old age tomorrow, so we have plenty of time. Come in Whatever happens, we don’t give up.
“Sure.”
“Yeah, we’re not sissies to give in to.”
“Very well, let’s begin then. Harry, give the signal.”
Harry waved his hand and the boys began to sing.
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
Their voices kept rising until it hurt, but the boys never stopped, they just sang faster and faster.
Something moved. The flames flickered. The boys stopped for a moment, exchanged meaningful glances, and continued singing.
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
The flames were extinguished, but not the light in the room. There was no obvious source of light. The walls seem to emanate a sickly green light, but that wasn’t possible, was it? The summoners exchanged puzzled glances and continued chanting.
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
Something started to appear in the middle of the room. Something huge. The room was big, but no room built by human hands could be big enough for it.
Still singing, the boys stood up and headed for the window. Harry opened it, his eyes still on the thing that was materializing in his friend’s room. Good thing the room was on the ground floor, not the fifth floor.
Tom went out first, then the others. The singing no longer seemed necessary. The boys watched in amazement as the creature materialized, crushing the walls and eventually the house. The creature as big as a mountain. The flabby claws. At the top, a hideous squid head with wriggling tentacles. With a trembling voice, the first child spoke:
“We have summoned you, oh mighty Cthulhu.”
It seemed impossible that the thing could hear such a faint voice, but somehow it did. Or she looked at them for some other reason; the boys would never know. He leaned down and reached for them, picking them up carefully with one clawed hand.
“We did it,” the first boy whispered. Now we are his masters.
“Then we can order him to take us down, right?” Tom whispered back.
“Relax, he probably just wants to hear us better,” Harry replied, though he wasn’t sure about that. God, it was so big!
Cthulhu gulped them down in one gulp and strode off into the night.
This story appears on Art-Anima, a website that promotes science fiction, horror, and all genres of fantasy literature.
