Unreal City by A R Meyering

Author:A R Meyering
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: stephen king, dark city, Tim Burton, Fiction, Murder, other worlds, grimm's fairy tales, Spirited Away, Alice In Wonderland, edward scissorhands, Joe Abercrombe, Neil Gaiman, Alfred Hitchcock, Dark Fantasy, George R.R. Martin, strong female leads, sleepy hollow, howl's moving castle, anne rice, Fantasy, dean koontz, dark fairytales
ISBN: 9780692313688
Publisher: Innisfree Press
Published: 2014-10-16T05:00:00+00:00

THE STREETS OF Santa Cruz were fervid with that special feeling of excitement that only comes the week before Halloween. Grinning skulls leered from every shop front, fake purple bats twisted and swung in the wind, and cottony spider webs adorned the walls of every boutique. The air was crisp and the damp, smoky scent of autumn floated into our noses with every blast of wind.

Joy and I meandered through the chattering crowd, our hair thoroughly fluffed by the October gales. Things didn’t seem so dismal in the daytime, especially when I was with her. We passed a shop and I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the window. Large bags had formed under my eyes and I’d lost at least ten pounds since I got to college. It startled me. I looked too much like the artificial Lea that had wasted away before she was reduced to mere bones.

“Here we are!” Joy pulled open the door to one of the Halloween stores that sprung up like weeds before the holiday and were swept away express in order to prepare for Christmas two months early. Blinking lights embedded in the heads of plastic ghouls greeted us as we entered, as did the electronic cackle of some unseen toy. “I’m still not sure which form of ‘sexy such-and-such’ I’d like to be this year. Let’s see what they’ve got left,” Joy said.

She led me through aisles stuffed with decorations, party supplies, and faux weapons. When we reached the row of ladies’ costumes, we set ourselves to digging through the disorganized heaps.

“Skanky cop, slutty kitty, risqué pirate wench…” Joy said with an air of boredom as she moved each costume aside. “Oh boy, here’s a new one: sexy Big Bird. There’s something I didn’t need to see. What are you thinking, Sarah?”

“Hmmm…” I ran my fingers over the options, not really wanting to walk around in any of them. At the end of the aisle, I saw a fallen hat with a pointy tip.

Of course, I thought as I pulled it off the floor, gave it a quick swat, and placed it atop my head. I feel almost obligated at this point. I turned to face Joy.

“I think I’ll go with the ol’ failsafe this time around,” I said. At that moment I began to own the circumstances that had come into my life with a bit of wry humor.

“Somehow that looks really good on you,” Joy agreed.

Please don’t say that, I thought as I went to pick out a costume to match the hat. Joy settled on a nurse’s outfit and we left the store, abuzz with plans for our Halloween night. Back in Joy’s dorm we tried on the costumes, and modeling our new personas, I found I liked the way the cheap witch’s garb looked on me. It gave me a weird feeling of warranted pride.

While Joy sketched figures at her desk, I lay on the floor, catching up on Sociology. If I did well enough on the midterm I might still pass the class, in spite of my zero on the project.

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