Day of the Dark by Kaye George

Author:Kaye George
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, short stories, ecipse, suspense, disaster
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2017-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Cari Dubiel is a librarian and writer in Northeast Ohio. She is finishing a five-year term as Library Liaison to the national board of Sisters in Crime. Her short stories have been published in two anthologies and two online magazines.

AWAITING THE HOUR, by Joseph S. Walker

Although he was awake most of the night, obsessively checking and rechecking weather reports, Monday morning found Matthew feeling wired with energy he couldn’t contain or direct.

How do you behave on the day you’ve waited decades for?

Without really thinking about it he went to the closet in the spare bedroom where he’d hung his old suits when he retired, each sheathed in its plastic dry cleaner bag. It felt right to present himself formally for the occasion. He chose the light blue and adorned it with a yellow tie and matching pocket square. He’d lost weight, and he had to cinch his old belt in two extra notches, but when he looked in the mirror he was satisfied with what he saw. His hands might tremble slightly, but they had not forgotten how to make a neatly executed knot. Matthew nodded to himself. On his way out of the bedroom he raised his hand and briefly touched Alex’s face in the picture hanging near the door. Today was for him.

There were hours yet to fill. He sat on the porch for a time, nursing a cup of coffee and watching the familiar neighborhood stir itself awake. Over the years this had become a sleepy little corner of town. Most of the children had grown and left. Matthew raised his hand politely as the parents left behind passed by on morning walks or drove off to work. He knew their faces, even if he had grown uncertain of names. The truth was that he felt little association with them. When he and Alex had moved in all those years ago, there had been a distinct frostiness. Two men living together was still a novelty in those days, particularly in Kentucky. By the time the neighbors decided that they were, after all, just two more guys mowing the lawn and taking out the garbage, the chance for real connection had passed.

He was in the kitchen rinsing out the coffee cup when he heard his front door open and close. He turned off the water and cocked his head. There was a murmuring voice, the creak of shifting weight. Someone was in the house. Still carrying the dishtowel, Matthew walked around the corner.

There were two of them, standing just inside the front door, hovering like they were trying to decide where to sit. The man was wearing khaki shorts and a white t-shirt, his blond hair hanging shaggily to his shoulders. The woman was in jeans and a halter top with dark hair cut almost to her skull. Both had tattoos on their arms and Matthew was looking at these when he realized the man was holding a gun, a revolver with a two inch barrel.

For a moment they all looked at each other.

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