© 2008 by Lauren Renée Hotchkiss

Johnny was a gentle lad, a mild mannered boy
He did everything his parents said to do
The neighbors thought him so polite, an example to their kids
But then he changed - he became deranged

All the neighbors' cats and dogs began to disappear
Strange sounds began to come from Johnny's basement
He became withdrawn, he hardly talked to anyone
As he labored day and night on his strange machine

And how Johnny loved to play with his beautiful machine
Every day he'd scrub it down to keep it's grinders clean
He loved to turn the crank and hear the meshing of the gears
His victims cries of pain and fear were music to his ears

He'd go crunch, crunch, crunch
He'd go grind, grind, grind
It brought a smile to his face
And madness to his mind

No one thought that Johnny could be doing something wrong
But before long they began to grow suspicious
Soon parents would not let their kids play at Johnny's house
Because some of them would not be seen again.

Late one night Johnny snuck downstairs to play with his machine
But there was something wrong, the machine it wouldn't work
Johnny thought he knew exactly what the problem was
So he climbed inside to see if he could fix it

Meanwhile Johnny's mother was walking in her sleep
Her silent footsteps moving down the stairs
She moved toward the machine, and gave the crank a mighty turn
And with a scream her son Johnny was burger
 

 

Have you ever had a nightmare so frightening that you wonder if you’ll survive it, and yet knowing somewhere in the back of your mind that if you can just make it till morning you’ll be all right? Or will you?