Cherry floated in a green haze. Her eyes stung and her body screamed for air, but where was the surface? She couldn’t see far in the murky water. It was cloudier on her left side; that must be silt she’d stirred up from the bottom. In the distance on her right, the haze was brighter. She needed to swim that way. Read more »
The mud sucked at Cherry’s feet as she slipped through the thicket of willow and alder. Did she lose the wight that had been calling out her name? If so, it wouldn’t stay lost for long. Somehow, the creature had known she’d taken the old trail south. Surely it would hunt her down again. Read more »
Cherry walked, alternating between being lost in thought, panicking at her lack of awareness, jumping at every hint of movement, and then calming down enough to get lost in thought again. Read more »
Cherry ran, covering fifty feet, then one hundred, then two hundred, a thick mat of clover cushioning her footfalls. If the wights had found her burrow, they could have spotted her through the trees or heard her push through the brush surrounding the trail. More wights would converge on her from all directions. Read more »
Somewhere past Cherry’s ivy-laced window, the wights beckoned. She scanned the thick ferns and pale alder trunks out back, but the hillside held no vibrant colors or alluring shapes. The wind’s rustling didn’t carry bubbling laughter or a hint of melody. If only that meant the wights had left. Read more »
My dearest brother, I know you miss me, but I can’t cure you by telling stories at your bedside. Though you’ve faced the fainting spells and sudden shivers bravely, these symptoms are too stubborn to be soothed with herbal tonics and a strong will. Read more »
Haru Rake paced the length of her porch as snow drifted down, covering the corral in a soft white blanket. Ten minutes since the clock struck nine, and her farmhands still hadn’t shown. That wasn’t like them. No help for it, she’d have to seek them out in town. A town that welcomed Haru Rake like it welcomed a typhoid outbreak. Read more »
Bethany stared at the vacant eyes of her grimy reflection. The windows of her foster home were dark; the shared house key had been taken. While she shivered in her greasy apron and jacket, her classmates were probably piling into their limos. In moments they’d be circling the dance floor, while she was exiled from her own bedroom. Read more »
Before you, the road forks in two wrong directions. One side bores through a tangle of trees, and the other heads off a cliff into the ocean. Neither fits your destination: a masquerade ball with a gushing fountain of melting chocolate. At this rate, you won’t get there before running out of gas again. You take the third direction – backwards – toward what looks like a station. Read more »
Moonlit snow blew into Red’s face, nearly obliterating the paw prints before her. The other Woodsmen had deemed it suicide to track such a beast in the dead of night and the driving snow. The creature’s eyes would be unhindered by the darkness, and snow would muffle the sound of approaching paws. Read more »
