Zook's Ladder

It leans against a hay barn,
cracked and bowed the way
an old man might get.

Above the ladder, on the hay barn wall,
just out of reach of most men,
is Emil Zook's last hex sign nailed into place,
created the night he disappeared.

The hex sign itself is one of a kind,
not the standard fertility hex or goodwill hex
or love and marriage hex that Zook was known
for supplying the people of rural Pennsylvania.

His last creation looked more like an eye
than a bright sun burst or sheaves of wheat
or two hearts entwined—a dark, swirling eye,
like the eye of a storm. The eye of God.

Many have tried to scale the ladder
to retrieve the now valuable hex sign,
but each, for one reason or another, have failed,
breaking bones and bruising egos.
Some have even died.

Those who have pulled close
have claimed to have felt a push,
as if by an invisible force
with hands as strong as Zook himself.

Zook's widow doesn't mourn.
She knows in her heart that when her time comes,
she will find the strength to climb her husband's ladder,
where he will be waiting to help her through
to the other side.

~end~

Originally published in Horror Carousel, 2006