The Be-Loud Glade, Pt. 2
New Fiction
“It had seemed, absurdly, like being invited backstage, not just at a show, but...I don’t know...at life. Like I was going to get a glimpse of how life happened from the people who made it…”
The conclusion of my new story is below. So is the specially commissioned art from Jonas Yip’s Thirty-three + A Third series, which you can (and should) peruse here.
Incidentally, if interested, I’ll be live on The New Panic Room Radio Show this Thursday night. The show kicks off at 10:30 Eastern. I’ll be reading from and talking about Infinity Dreams. The show welcomes call-ins. The excellent Philip Fracassi will also be guesting. Would love to hear from you.
The Be-Loud Glade, Pt. 2
…I dove behind the counter, bumping Carol’s legs back as I crouched, then held tight to the splintery shelf of records underneath, ducking my head to make sure I was completely invisible even though Kevin and Susan had already passed. “Quick. Hide me. Save me. They can’t see me,” I babbled. Half-laughing. Or, laughing but not kidding.
“Who?” Carol snapped, notably not laughing, having backed away toward the wall.
“Kevin.”
“You’re on the run?” asked Stevie Nothing, leaning over the counter to stare down at me. Unlike Carol, he seemed neither alarmed nor even surprised by my headlong dive. “From cops?”
“From Kevin.”
Our Day Will Come, I thought, finally realizing why what I’d done really could have alarmed them. Moving slow—aiming for cartoon caution, Bugs Bunny peering out of his den—I edged my eyes up even with the counter. Peered over it through the rain rilling down the door at the empty street.
“Is there a back way out?” I whispered.