Happy Holidays 

The rain fell relentlessly – the type of heavy rain that soaked right through your clothes within a  minute. The grey denseness of the sky contradicted the crisp whiteness and shiny glass exterior of the reception building, with pops of the red company logo dotted about, and the entrance path lined with decorative cacti and twisting olive trees.

After handing over their passports, Esther and Dan hurried along the row of numbered chalets. B42. That’s us. Keys ready, Dan opened the door to a large bright scandi styled room, the bed inviting with a soft puffy quilt and huge pillows, sofas and table, and even more sofas on the covered balcony, thankfully looking dry despite the rain.

“This is nice. Let’s get the kettle on,” Esther sighed. Typical English, they required a cup of coffee or tea after a long day of travelling. Esther began to rummage for the jar of coffee they’d packed among the socks.

“Don’t bother. It looks like there’s no kettle,” Dan noted, disappointment in his voice. “Nice big telly though. But look at this station list, nothing in English!”

The two of them prepared to check out the facilities. Dan realised he’d left his rain jacket at home  on the kitchen door handle where he wouldn’t forget it.

“Not like you at all then,” Esther laughed.

The holiday was all inclusive, so after a good meal they noted the restaurant opening times and  went to find the bar. The only bars were outside by the pool or in a sheltered area where it looked like activities were held. With the weather too wet to walk around and explore, at least with full tummies, Esther and Dan went back to the chalet to drink water from the tap and watch some German TV. Neither of  them could speak German.

And neither of them noticed the delicate red light flashing of the microphone from under the  shelving.

***

Three smiling women walked into the operations room, still in their receptionist uniforms. “Perfect. A good start. Everyone’s happy, optimistic, feeling good,” said the taller one. “Little do they know this rain’s here to stay. Oh, their weather apps will tell them otherwise, but they don’t understand our little unique cloud structure and they definitely don’t know who’s boss around here!”

“I do feel sorry for them though,” replied the younger one. “They’ve been looking forward to their holidays and only bought summer clothes with them. And now they have nowhere to go and nothing to do.”

The other woman shrugged. Mr. Variano had told her to check that the recording equipment was  running smoothly and to make sure that the staff had all signed the confidentiality forms.

“I know, but It has to be done. How else can we gather the information we need? We have to  make this the best holiday resort there is in order to attract more visitors. Everyone’s on board. Every single member of staff has been instructed to have their eyes and ears open.’”

***

In their late sixties, though still in their twenties in their heads, Molly and Jake were in B24. After pulling two heavy cases up the staircase to their first floor flat, Jake flung himself backwards onto the inviting bed.

“We’ll have some fun on this beauty!” he laughed.

“You fancy your chances then?” Molly scoffed. “Where’s the kettle?”

“According to this, there isn’t one, but there’s a shop. We’ll have to buy one. I know you need your cuppa in the  morning,” Jake grinned as he scanned the information booklet left on the coffee table  “Let’s see if there’s beer in the fridge.” The fridge was empty.

Molly, all suntanned leather skin and crimson nail polish, loved nothing more than draping herself  over a sun lounger by the pool with a Martini at her side and a crisp new Edna O’Brian novel to  read.

Jake, too, was a sun worshipper, but preferred to spend his time in the pool, honing his biceps  and showing off his crawl while admiring the bathing beauties from behind his sunglasses. This  particular holiday package promised beefburgers and hot dogs from the pool bar between three and five pm, he was definitely looking forward to that.

But the rain kept pouring. Thunder rumbled from behind the mountains and you couldn’t see where the land ended and the sky began. 

The next morning, after a quiet read before the sun came out, Jake left the room before Molly awakened and went off in search of the shop. He meant to buy a little kettle, some milk and tea bags, and some cola and crisps for the  evenings.

Breakfast wasn’t available until nine. Disappointingly, the tiny shop was closed for repairs. There was a notice saying that coffee, tea, and beer were available from the pool bars but only after midday. 

He grumbled about the lack of kettles to a chalet maid as he passed, but he knew he was being  unfair – it wasn’t her fault. 

The food was great. Jake had his cooked egg, bacon, and baked beans while Molly enjoyed a dainty fruit salad and muesli. There was one coffee machine, behind which a line was formed across the side of the restaurant. In the end it was quicker to get fruit juice. Jake eventually braved the queue and was rewarded with a tiny paper cup of coffee. 

“I don’t know how I can get by without my coffee!” Molly complained loudly as a waitress passed. 

There was nothing to do for the rest of the day except eat at the dictated times and read. It was too wet to walk out without wet weather gear. Even the sofas were all right angles and thinly cushioned.

Not normally one to complain, Jake found his back soon became uncomfortable, so he had to lay down on the bed to rest it, and consequently fell asleep. A disappointed Molly sat alone with her book for the afternoon.

***

At the end of their shift, Magda and Anna removed their tiny microphones from behind their  name tags and deposited them in the basket to be assessed. Each member of staff had a  questionnaire to complete and a few were instructed to reset the cameras from the manhole  covers and street posts ready for the next twenty-four hours.

The rain kept coming. They heard a rumble in the distance, beyond the mountains. “Someone’s not happy”, said Magda dolefully.

“No, Mr. Variano says she’s  hungry”, Anna said. “We need to get some meat to her soon or the floods will start.”

***

Harry and Alice were in C16 with their mum and dad. Excited for the first day of their holibobs in  the sun, the swimwear was out with the suntan lotion and flip flops ready for the morning. They’d  slept well after the long day of travelling.

Bored of waiting in line and sitting nicely, they were both ready to stretch their legs, blow up their floating toys, and annoy all the grown ups by splashing about in the water while screaming at the top of their lungs. Mum and Dad had assured them that  the sun would be out soon and they’d be able to go for a swim. 

No luck. It was still raining, and it looked as if they were stuck indoors for the day. 

“I know!” Dad said. “We can still go to the indoor pool for the morning.”  

They soon saw that everyone else had had the same idea. The small pool was packed and the sound of little wailing voices filled the air when they spotted the sign saying “No toys in the pool.”

“There isn’t even a slide or a paddling end for the kids,” moaned Mum.

The lifeguard looked  embarrassed when he had to answer, “No, there isn’t anywhere to get an ice cream.”

It was back to the apartment to watch some German speaking cartoon characters on TV. “But Daaad, I want Peppa Piiiig!”

Dad punched in Youtube on his ipad and set them up with some English kids programmes.

“We could’ve done this at home,” he grunted, “And been able to give them some fizzy drinks and treats. This place really doesn’t cater for kids at all if the weather is bad. If it’s raining like this tomorrow we’ll have to see if we can hire a car for the day. The ad didn’t say we’d be miles from  anywhere with no shop.” 

“You should have checked it out more before you booked,” Mum growled. 

***

At the end of the week there was a notice up on the staff noticeboard.  

There was to be a meeting with Mr. Variano to discuss the week’s findings, regard complaints,  and hold a brainstorming session for suggestions on how to improve the quality of the service they provide for their holidaymaker clients.

“We need to attract more visitors.” They all nodded in agreement. “More visitors mean bigger meals and a wider variety of flavours.” He signalled for the room to take their places and sit.

Anxious to get on with it, the catering staff, domestics, HR, groundskeepers and entertainment staff had many ideas and opinions to offer up.

They waited for Mr. Variano to take the stand. 

Then, each looked up in surprise as they recognised the last week’s holidaymakers slowly filing  in through the door and taking up seats in rows down the left side of the room. There sat Esther  and Dan, Molly and Jake, the Wilson family, and all the other familiar faces that they’d been  accustomed to seeing miserable, bored and exhausted from keeping their children occupied. 

Now their faces were blank and devoid of all emotion as they shuffled into their seats and looked  ahead into the waiting, now confused, group of staff.

Mr. Variano took his place at the front and began to speak in an authoritative voice, “This last week your task has been to watch and observe your holidaymakers for complaints and come up with recommendations for better service. You did that well and I now have a list of  improvements to implement. So thank you for that. Then he paused.

“Unfortunately, while you were watching them, they were watching you.” 

A collective intake of breath filled the room.

“What’s going on?” gasped Magda to her friend.

Mr. Variano turned to Mr. Wilson. “Mr. Wilson, I ask you to speak for the group, have you  come to a decision?” he asked. 

“We have,” Mr. Wilson replied. “Throughout this week your staff have been nothing but kind and helpful, and we have seen their embarrassment at our discomfort. They do not deserve this. Therefore, Mr. Varianio, for putting us in this hideous predicament in the first place, we choose you.”

Mouths open in shock and horror, the doomed Manager immediately looked around the room for  support. Finding none, and realising his fate, he turned and began to dash for the fire exit.  “Noooooooo!”

His voice was only just heard among the cacophony of shoving, scraping of chairs and shouts of “Get him!” 

Then, silence fell across the room whilst Mr. Variano was, at last, thrown, shouting and kicking into the back of a secure van. His screams could be heard as he was driven up to the mountain to be prepared for dinner.

“She won’t be hungry tonight,” Magda nodded.

---

Need more dark fiction reads? Check out these other short stories by the MockingOwl Roost contributors and staff.

• The Doll
• Chorus of the Waiting
• Beware the Hungry Child and Its Mother
• Graveyard in the Attic
• When Things Are Not As They Seem
• Selling Books
• The Gun From the Unicorn
• Meatloaf for One
• A Saturday in Paris
• Murderer’s Creek
• Order Up
• Prize
• A Day of Four Suns