Nightmare Magazine, Issue 123 (December 2022) by Wendy N. Wagner

Author:Wendy N. Wagner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Adamant Press
Published: 2022-11-25T16:27:39+00:00

* * *

Chapter One

There was something strange, mysterious even, about the White Horse tonight. Normally, it was merely an Indian bar.

My Indian bar. But there was a milky, dreamy quality to the red lights swinging over the pool tables, like the wind from the open doors was bringing them something new, something I’d pushed away for as long as I could remember.

“Debby, do we have to talk about her again?” I took another swig of my beer and slammed it back down, eyeing my cousin as I did.

She would never let this subject go, no matter how much I rebuffed her. I sighed, taking in the dank, wet-wood smell of the bar, the harsh laughter of the bikers in the booth behind me.

“The thing is, I found—” I interrupted her with a brush of my hand.

I hoped Nick, the bartender, would come by and ask if I needed a refill, but all I could see was the mirror in front of me, the words Miller High Life emblazoned in gold cursive on the front. Right next to it a sign read, first fight. last drink. permanent 86. Besides us, the bartender, and the bikers, the White Horse was empty. It was always empty, but I loved it. I loved the long wooden bar, the cats wandering in and out; the mangy orange one was my favorite. She liked to sit on top of the bar and let me pet her while she closed her cloudy eyes and purred.

Debby shifted her weight on the stool, the plastic crackling as she did, the bar stirring around me like a bad dream.

“All I’m saying is that you don’t know your mom’s story.” “Yeah, okay, Debby. That’s great,” I said.

I signaled Nick when he came out of the bathroom. “Two more,” I said, hoping he’d remember.

A couple of Diné came through the doors, quiet the way they were, and made their way to a pool table in the back. One of them saw me when he came over to order a beer, and he gave me the friendly nod, his black hair glistening red in the faint bar light. I nodded back and that strange feeling I’d had earlier flooded back into me.

“The thing is,” Debby said, “you know how we check in on your dad?”

I hung my head. “Yeah, so?”

“I went over there the other day to do that, and some cleaning, because I know the nurse is great and everything, but I like to see how he is, and I’d just come home from work, and was dropping the kids off—” “Jesus, Debby, if you’re not going to let it go, spit it out.” “Okay, okay,” she said, starting again. “So, Mom had been pushing me to clear some of the boxes in the attic. And like, we were going to haul them out and throw them in the dumpster, but Mom seemed to want to look through them. And mainly they were full of old toys, and papers and rusting appliances, but then, we found something.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.