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PaulA
Since: Jan, 2010
2012-10-31 20:06:51
"Sredni Vashtar", by Saki.
(Sredni Vashtar is the name the boy gives the ferret-god.)
Edited by PaulA
LayLay
Since: Nov, 2010
marasmus
Since: Nov, 2010
LayLay
Since: Nov, 2010

I remember reading short story in an anthology of sci-fi/ horror stories. The book was from the 80s, but how old the story itself is, I cant tell. Id guess that its from the latter half of the 20th century, though.
The story is told from the point of view of a boy who lives either with his aunt or in a foster family. The aunt/ foster mother is very strict and religious. Its also implied she emotionally abuses him and also beats him (though the latter not that often). I might remember this part from another story, but I think her husband is not absent, but simply does not interfere, because he does not care for the boy.
The boy is emotionally very distant (the aunt/ foster mother is only ever referred to as "the woman") and over the time gets psychological problems. He starts associating religion and God with the abuse, because the woman often uses threats about hell or judgement day to scare him into obedience (after a while that stops working). The boy often seeks shelter in a secluded part of the garden. One day he catches a ferret (or the woman catchest it and he finds it)and keeps it in a self-made compound as a pet.
Now the freaky part: After a while he starts worshipping the ferret as his god. He gives an awesome fictional name to it (hich unfortunately I forgot, but its also the name of the story) and "sacrifices" mice and other animals to it. He is convinced that his "god" will one day free him and take cruel revenge on the woman. These fantasies of violence are described very vividly and get more cruel over the course of the story. In the end the boy does not only want revenge on the woman, but on everybody.
The woman finds out about the ferret (but not the worshipping) and when she notices the boy getting even more strange and distant, she suspects the ferret has something to do with it. I think, first she tries to free it a few times, but the boy always gets it back. In the end she kills it and the boy completely freaks out. The story is concluded in an open end, but it is implied that he killed her after that.
If anyone knows the name of this very weird story... Id be glad for your help!