Other Voices, Other Tombs by John Brhel

Author:John Brhel [Lucia, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

His short fiction has appeared in various places, such as The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror , The Year's Best Weird Fiction , Cemetery Dance , The Dark , and The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu . His debut collection, Greener Pastures , shortlisted for the Crawford Award and a Shirley Jackson Award finalist, is available from Apex Publications. He is at work on his first novel, with a second collection of stories on the way. Visit him at www.michaelwehunt.com.

FLY AWAY, LITTLE FLEDGLING.

Michelle Garza & Melissa Lason

T he coughing was nonstop, rasping and wet. The girl couldn’t sleep for the noise, but she guessed she would soon be getting enough sleep and resigned herself to lying awake. She stared up at the ceiling for a while, counting the minutes and wondering when might be her last.

#

Tranquil Halls Hospice Center was in a large complex but only occupied one two-story building, the rest was left empty. It was old and tucked away on the outskirts of town. Abbie thought it held a charm but at times it felt so separated from the real world. The stairwell leading to the second floor always creaked and moaned. Abbie often held her breath when climbing them and wondered how in the hell the building even passed inspection. She'd worked there only six months, but it already felt as if an eternity had gone by.

People come here to die, why would anyone care if the stairs were safe or not?

It took a special kind of person to give end-of-life care, and when she began her career, she really thought she had what it took, but when Charlotte's bed was being prepared for her, Abbie just wanted to run and never look back. She never got used to caring for children who were terminally ill, it felt so unnatural to watch their little bodies withering away. It sent her mind to a dark place.

They gave her to me, put her on my floor just because I’d done it before. Did they ever think that, just maybe, I promised myself I’d never do it again?

Too many thoughts, too many questions that did her no good to think them at all. It was her job and she couldn't refuse, even if she desperately wanted to.

#

Charlotte’s room was plain; white walls, cream colored curtains over the window and pale green linoleum flooring. Its only extravagance came from a dark wood dresser with a mirror over it. It was meant to look serene, like a glimpse of the heaven awaiting each patient placed there.

Abbie left the top step in a hurry, rushing to bear the gift she brought the girl before heading home. The cage rattled and she stopped to silence it before continuing down the hallway to the last room on the right. Abbie halted at the door, the small voice on the other side told her Charlotte hadn't gone to sleep yet. Abbie knocked gently then opened the door.

“You need to rest.”

“I will soon enough,”

“You'll feel better if you do.

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