“Under the Sun” by Jeannine Burkholder
I watch them as I watch everything here in town.
They skip, scamper, and shout at one another — little “boos” in training. They’re nothing like their parents, who were nothing like their parents, who were nothing like their parents, who were… Well, you get the idea.
There’s nothing real behind their masks. At best, I could find a few half-breeds I’m sure, but most of them don’t even have the tiniest drop of bloodless in them. Too many “immigrants” to town in recent generations.
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“Zombie” by Daniel Meyer
We continue and conclude Zombie-Month-Tober with a change of pace: A poem from Daniel Meyer.
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“Carly Vs. The Horde” by Jeff Burkholder
Darting around a huge boulder, Carly saw a hole in the roots of an ancient, gnarled tree. Knowing that was her best bet, she squeezed in, burying herself in the detritus of dead leaves, mud, and rocks.
It wasn’t long – maybe seconds – before she heard them coming. Shambling, shuffling footsteps on the forest floor. Entombed in her root sanctuary, she couldn’t see anything, but she heard them. Just one at first, unsteady, but inexorably moving onward, onward down the forest path. The one was joined by another, and another, yet another. All stumbling together over fallen logs and roots; struggling through the mud and slippery leaves. The sound of their feet almost had a rhythm to it. It could have put Carly to sleep, had she not been so terrified.
But then, all at once, they stopped.
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“Cold Feet” by Kirsten Deeds
Rachel peered out the window to gaze upon the orange and green balloons marking the entrance to the Gloaming Gap Fire Department parking lot. In neon orange letters, “Rachel and Frank’s wedding” were scrawled across the plywood sign in spray paint.
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“Fairy Tales” by Andrea Cumbo
“I’m so done,” Flora said. “I just can’t handle it anymore.”
“I know,” Cassie said, flipping a blonde lock out of her eyes.
“What are you saying, guys? What do you think we should do?” Caroline asked.
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