Dinner with Derleth
The house is in the nicest part of town, the historic part, set well back away from the street under old-growth trees. The doorbell is discreet, musical. In a few moments, the impressive oaken door opens, and Daniel is looking …
Temporary Strangers (Swamp Trio Five)
The Long and Winding Road
Teo is a long way from Detroit, but that’s fine. Detroit hadn’t been home, either, just a place he’d been for a while. He stares out the window of the truck cab, into the wilderness, so different from the urban …
Look Who the Cat Dragged In
The huge discount store is doing a brisk business, even for a weekday. The overcast sky has a weird greenish tint — not the dangerous color that presages a bad storm, just a thick humidity that tints everything a strange …
The Errand
Keisha cursed under her breath as the steering wheel fought her grip. An entire day of rain followed by an entire day of sunshine had turned Rainette Road into something treacherous, baked ruts like the swell of a riptide. It …
Vehemence
“…or the people with flippers instead of feet,” Grace snarls. “Or the people that are bug-bit and don’t have two brain cells to rub together, or have diminished capacity because they’re animals some of the time, or have tails protruding …
Tiny Bugs Can Be Bad, Too
Teo coughs himself awake, kicks off the light cotton blanket, and pads barefoot to the floating clinic’s bathroom. Even through the disorientation of waking suddenly in the dark, he isn’t disoriented. Barefoot in the bathroom in the middle of the …