The Milkman

SOMETHING strange was happening to the small town of
Pleasantville. Once a happy community where people greeted each
other on the street, it had now become a town of suspicion. With a
poor police presence it was the ideal area for Michael Murphy to start
his job as the local milkman. Michael became adored by the local
women, who christened him "Big Mick". Michael didn't walk – he
strutted along, with his hairy chest protruding and his wide collared
shirt overlapped by a large gold medallion. Mick was a real "cool"
kinda guy and nearly all the local men detested him. This was a
problem he would have to fix!

A year had passed and Father Maguire had realised the
surprising decline in the number of men at mass. When he
inquired as to a man's whereabouts,the wife would say that he
had gone abroad and that he would be back soon. When he
inquired as to why Michael Murphy did not attend his mass
nobody seemed to know anything, and Father Murphy tried in
vain to discover his history. No one seemed to know anything
about the town's latest milkman.

Father Maguire spent a Monday afternoon going through
photographs when he came upon recent christening photos.
Suddenly it dawned on him. All the recently born children
resembled "Big Mick". Father Maguire realised what was going
on.

He confronted Murphy, who denied everything and called
Maguire a senile old goat. This enraged Murphy, who realised
the game was up. Raising a shovel, as Father Maguire turned
to walk away, Murphy struck down upon his head only to leave
him sprawled across the ground.

When the defenceless priest came to, he was not alone. He
was surrounded by other people,but they were all unconscious
. . . no, wait . . . they were all dead. Murphy had put Maguire
into a large bath-like container,for the milk. That's why there
were no men left in the town - they were all slain at Murphy's
hand. Now it was Maguire's time to die.

Suddenly milk poured from above, filling the watery grave.
Maguire was left to die, bound and gagged - no one could save
him now. Three days had passed before the bodies of the
missing men were discovered, including Father Maguire's.
Michael Murphy was never seen again, but it was believed he
was an escaped mental patient who sought revenge on other
men, like those who were in control in the institution. He
sought his revenge by taking their women and then their lives,
even though he didn't kill anyone except Father Maguire.
Murphy had such control over the women that he succeeded in
getting them to kill their own husbands while they lay in bed
asleep and defenceless.

"Big Mick" was never captured and is still at large, so you can't
be too careful. How well do you know your milkman? To
women I say, "How does he look at you?", and to husbands I
say, "How does he look at your wife?"

by William O'Keeffe

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