A VISIT FROM THE CREEP DOCTOR

(NOTE: This is not part of “Snakeland”. This is a short piece I wrote a few minutes ago based on a Guided by Voices song and a dream I had last night.)

The creep doctor wears another man’s face. It changes from time to time – those of us who have seen the creep doctor more than once have seen the face change over time. One wonders about those of us who have been allowed to see the creep doctor more than once. Why they have. Been allowed.

You see him. He walks into a restaurant next door. The restaurant is a fast-food type, colorful and bright. The windows are bubbled amber – you can’t see inside but the light penetrates. The person you are with says –There’s the creep doctor. He has another face on.- You look at this person who has been allowed to see the creep doctor more than once but there are no giveaways in the face. The person merely raises their eyebrows when the screaming starts. You look back at the restaurant. The screams continue. The creep doctor leaves the fast-food restaurant smiling. The smile is not perfectly aligned with the face. The stitching is loose around the mouth. Blood is caked around the lips as well as the eyes and the holes in the ears. His long white coat is stained with different blood, new blood.

He starts to come towards where you are, where the person you are with is. He laughs like this –He he he.- When he comes toward where you are he makes these little exaggeratedly mincing steps, as if he is trying not to be heard, to surprise you. He moves like a badman in an old silent movie. He makes you very, very afraid. The person you are with just sighs, as if the creep doctor was just another minor irritation. The creep doctor laughs like this –He he he.- He is closer now. You want to run but the person you are with just sighs.

Then you are in his doctor room, where the creep doctor does his doctor things. You are in his chair but you are watching from another angle at the same time, standing up by the side. You watch the creep doctor mince up to you and pull out the gas mask, to give you the gas. Then there isn’t any more.

When you awaken, you are still in the creep doctor’s doctor room, where the creep doctor does his doctor things. You are in his chair but you are watching from another angle at the same time, standing by the side. The creep doctor is gone. You are sitting in the chair but now there is dried blood caked around the lips as well as the eyes and the holes in the ears. You hear the sound of the person you were with who was allowed to see the creep doctor more than once. The person says –The creep doctor didn’t like how your face fit.- The person’s voice comes out of your mouth. Then the creep doctor laughs like this -He he he.- Then there isn’t anymore.