Lazy Lion
Used Books & More
146 South Main Street
Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
(919) 552-9639
info@lazylionbooks.com
Monday 10 to 3
Tues -
Wed 10 to 5
Thu - Fri 10 to 8
Saturday 10 to 5
Closed Sunday
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First Annual Fuquay
Fright Fest Short Story Contest Winners
Third Prize Winner!
Gathering Shadows by Luna
Black
A wolf spider ran hell-bent-for-leather across
the living room carpet. Madeline shot it a resentful look over the top of
her book. The storm had started two hours ago and already her home was a
refuge for crawly things. She pulled her feet away from the dark space under
the couch and tucked them under a pillow.
A moth detached itself from the gyrating constellation around the hurricane
lantern and smacked into the page, leaving a gray streak. Madeline snapped
the book shut and looked around the room. The lantern had become an oasis of
light. A childhood fear possessed her, trapping her on the couch the way
she’d been trapped on her bed when she was young, certain that a cold,
shadowy hand waited for its chance to grip her ankle. She would lay awake at
night, listening, as the feeling that something was in the room with her
grew until she could stand it no longer. Then she would leap from the bed,
land like a cat and skitter to the door, her heart pounding.
I’m a grown woman, she thought. This is stupid. She jumped off
the couch, hating the little leap that she made, and stalked into the
kitchen with a flashlight. She’d had sugar cookies and sandwiches for most
of the day and a craving for chicken soup grew until she could taste the
salty broth just shy of scalding hot. She dug in the pantry and found a
thick Pyrex measuring cup big enough to hold a can of undiluted soup. The
light danced across the wire shelves, up, down, into the corners, behind the
recycling bin. Of course. The Sterno was in the emergency supply box in the
garage. Something feathery crawled over her foot and she screamed. The
flashlight clattered to the floor, bounced, and went out. Coldness crept from
her stomach and spread through her chest. Just a spider, she told
herself. Maybe a cockroach. Or a beetle. Yes, a beetle. She knelt,
feeling around the floor, flinching every time her fingertips brushed
against something. She named the things to herself as she touched them:
broom bristles, vacuum cleaner cord, candy wrapper, piece of cereal.
Flashlight. Her fingernails scrabbled over the cylinder and she pressed
the button. A weak yellow beam oozed into the tiny space. She thumped the
end of the flashlight against her palm until it grew stronger.
She stood up and yanked open the door to the garage, stabbing the light into
the corners. She knelt to peer under the car, and knew that someone was
standing behind her, almost touching the back of her neck. She whirled
around. Her hand cut through empty air and smacked into the shelves.
Madeline swore and cradled her wrist. The flashlight cracked on the concrete
and rolled away.
“Who’s there?” she called.
A firm pressure circled her ankle, and she felt herself becoming weightless,
cold….thin. No longer afraid, she slipped into a dark, comfortable corner
and gathered the shadows to her.
©2003 Luna Black
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