By Neil Primus
RITA WAS THE ‘beauty and star’ of the small community of Corn Acre. Even though it was a rural and somewhat backward village, Rita refused to let this define her. She always dressed to kill. Glamorous and beautiful, she forced every man to take another look at her as she glided by. Some could not stop staring. This did not bother her in the least. In fact she enjoyed it immensely.

Then she got married.
With typical flare, she hooked a rich middle-aged man who had been married twice. Both wives had died and he was the prize of the village spinsters because he was very rich. The courtship was brief but public. The wedding followed. It was a grand expensive event with one person starring; Rita.

After the wedding, things changed. Instead of wearing costume jewellery, she wore real jewellery. Instead of second hand clothes from family in the city, she wore the latest fashion. She was even more visible now than before. But Mr. Lucas did not care. He showered her with all sorts of expensive gifts. Rita was living a dream.
Then she died suddenly.

The small community was thrown into mourning especially the men. At the wake all the men of the village attended speaking in hushed respect of the woman so many of them admired and secretly lusted. Lucas was inconsolable. His love had been snatched from him again. Their marriage had lasted a mere 18 months after he had resorted to drinks.
Every night at the wake he ensured there were lots to eat and drink. Funeral arrangements were made and family members were contacted.

The day of the funeral was even more of a spectacle than the wedding. A fleet of shiny cars was hired. The hearse was new, modern and grand. The casket was the best that money could buy. And Rita as usual stole the show. She was dressed in an elegant white dress and adorned with her finest jewelry.
It was quite an occasion for the small quiet community. Car after car crawled through the narrow dirt road leading to and from the church then to the cemetery. All those not attending lined the street not out of respect but out of curiosity. This small village had never witnessed anything on this scale except Rita’s wedding of course.

The night after the funeral Mr. Lucas invited the villagers to his home for a final farewell to Rita. He had all sorts of dishes and alcohol available. The villagers accepted the invite with zest. They were all there. Food and drinks were in abundance. Before an hour had gone by Mr. Lucas was so drunk that he could not remember which day of the week it was. No one minded. They had seen him like this ever since his third wife had succumbed. They just kept on enjoying themselves. Everyone knew that this might be the last time they would get so much free booze and food.

Pretty soon a number of the men found Lucas’ liquor was too tempting to refuse so one by one they got drunker and drunker. The women on the other hand were a little more reserved. They ensured that everyone had enough to eat and drink then they helped themselves with quite a few of them packing a bag to take away. In the middle of all this a crisis arose.
One of the highly intoxicated men pointed to an unsteady figure at the door and shouted: “Look! Is Rita coming!”

Everyone froze. Basil, the shouter, fell over and passed out on the floor. Everyone burst out laughing at his silly antics. Then Rita stepped through the open doorway and into the house. Time stood still. Then pandemonium broke out. With screams of terror and horror written all over their faces, the people of Corn Acre made valiant bids to escape.

Windows and doors were crammed with a mass of frightening, pushing and screaming humans. Miraculously they all made it out of there without too many serious injuries. People were seen fleeing the scene limping, hopping and sprinting minus a few of their belongings like jerseys, phones, slippers and false teeth.

Back at the house Basil began to revive. He shook his head which only made things worse. When the room stopped moving he looked around him in surprise. Everyone was gone, except one woman in white. Wait. Oh No! Even in his drunken state he recognized the woman standing in the doorway. With a bellow of pure terror he plunged through an already shattered window and exited the premises in an ungainly zig zag fashion.

Mr. Lucas sat holding his drink. His fuzzy brain was sending him signals rather late. Something was taking place. People had departed. Loud screams had pierced his foggy mind. Then a sound like a werewolf shattered his eardrums and someone plunged through a window. It was then he saw the woman in white.

“Rita baby is dat you?”
“Yes boy.”
“Wa happen to you girl?”
“Boy I can’t remember everything. All I know is I feel someone biting me fingers and I hollow out ‘Oh God.’ And den run away screaming. So I come home.”
Then Lucas’ brain sent him that late signal. He passed out on the floor leaving a very puzzled Rita.