To celebrate Halloween, here is an excerpt from “Ghosts of Sorrow”.
This is a book I wrote quite a while ago, and I still consider it one of
my finest stories. I hope to one day have the free time to go back and
edit the whole thing. For now, enjoy this little tease. I hope you get
to read the rest someday!
*******
The storage unit was
very cluttered. There were stacks of boxes in disorganized piles.
Furniture covered in either sheets or dust was strewn about. She could
see a number of old, and likely broken, appliances. The arrangement felt
like a claustrophobic maze.
Miki navigated slowly, and the whispers began once more. This
time they were jumbled and busy. Saying more than they could manage,
speaking all at once, none of the voices distinguishable from the
others. It was impossible to find the exact words being said, and so it
all drowned into an odd white noise.
Something caught Miki’s eye, a particular suitcase. It was a very
large green suitcase covered in stickers. When she moved over to it for
a closer look, they were all bumper stickers representing various
countries. Dozens of languages and designs from everywhere a person
could imagine were laid out colorfully. Miki reached forward and
unclasped the case. She felt a moment of intense unease. A part of her, a
dark survival instinct in the back of her head, screamed for her not to
look. The whispers all urged her onwards. She slowly pulled the
suitcase open.
Inside were four prisms made of crystal, one in each corner. At
the center was a single bundle of white cloth wrapped around something.
Miki hesitated as her hand hovered above the bundle of fabric.
But the voices kept lingering along her ear and she had to
continue. She began to slowly unravel the fabric. It was woven both
intricately and tightly, making this a much longer process than one
might have expected. Every new layer brought a faint and unique odor
into the air. Ages of particles found themselves freed after an untold
amount of time. The musty scent brought a roil to her stomach. The
bundle grew smaller and smaller, with the pile of fabric gathering at
her feet becoming larger in comparison, until finally she reached what
was hidden inside.
Miki had no idea what it was at first. The object was small,
maybe the size of a tumb. It looked like a piece of dried fruit. She
held it in her hand and stared at it, puzzled. Clarity came when she
turned it around in her palm, and instantly the shape took on an
entirely different significance. Eyes and a mouth on one end. This was a
very old, very small, fetus. One which had been left in here for a long
time…
To Be Continued
*******
Official Author Page - http://www.facebook.com/julliangmortimer
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