The Dark Issue 81 by Kristi DeMeester

Author:Kristi DeMeester
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dark fantasy, fantasy, horror, magazine
Publisher: Sean Wallace
Published: 2022-01-30T18:46:57+00:00

L Chan hails from Singapore. He spends most of his time wrangling a team of two dogs, Mr Luka and Mr Telly. His work has appeared in places like Clarkesworld, Translunar Travellers Lounge, Podcastle, The Dark, and he was a finalist for the 2020 Eugie Foster Memorial Award. He tweets occasionally @lchanwrites.

The Snickersnacks

by Tony Richards

A whimper came from Davey’s room and it woke Ella up abruptly. She had always been a tentative light sleeper and that problem had got even worse since they had moved out here into the countryside. A sudden violent blast of wind or a car going by on the narrow lane outside their house? Her eyelids would come snapping open; it would take her whole ages to get them closed again.

Greg—of course—was fast asleep beside her and he didn’t make the slightest move. A second sound emerged from Davey’s bedroom, louder and more plaintive than the first.

She loved her youngest son with all her heart, but she had to admit he was the fragile type. Not too social. Nervous around strangers. The bark of a nearby dog would make him jump. And during the dark hours that got even worse, his structureless imagination running riot.

What is it this time? she thought, hauling herself out of bed and pulling on her dressing gown. She couldn’t find her slippers in the dark.

The door to Davey’s room was partially ajar. She tapped on it gently then she reached inside, switched on the light.

He was blinking at her as she came in. And staring back into his big damp green eyes, Ella felt an aching start up in her chest that swelled and swelled till it encompassed her. He was fragile, yes, but so immensely beautiful. His curly tousled hair was blond and his face—at five years old—was just a delicate as any girl’s. How long would he stay this way? Forever, was her fervent hope.

He was sat stock upright in the bed with his duvet pulled up to his chin. And Ella could see that he had gone stiff as a board, except that he was shaking too.

“Sweetheart?” she asked.

She got no response.

“What is it, Davey? A nightmare again?”

His head gave a brisk spasmodic shake, a curl of blond hair dropping to his brow. And then his low hushed voice came wheezing out

“Mummy, there are things in here.”

She made her way slowly across and sat down gently on the edge of Davey’s mattress, reaching out to push his hair back into place.

“And what is it you thought you saw?”

“I didn’t see. I only heard. Noises, quick, like scuttling.”

And now Ella began to grow concerned, because the sounds he was describing could be mice. There’d been a few of them when they’d moved in, but only in the kitchen and the hall. She scanned the carpet and the skirting boards but couldn’t see a sign that they’d returned.

“Maybe you were dreaming them?”

“No, I was awake. The sounds were real. And there was something else. These things I heard . . .

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