The squeal of the backhoe teeth on stone always gave him shivers. He’d hit a rock again. Horace Underwood climbed out of the cab and walked to the front, knelt by the almost finished grave. He’d planned on being done by ten so he could eat the other half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And to make things worse, a yellow bus was pulling up the long cemetery drive, which meant invaders of the miniature kind—always a distraction.
The streets of London had seen a tumult of activity tonight, particularly, Meredith noticed, in the corsetry on Maiden Lane, where women caressed the silks and laces with unrestrained delight. Fiddle music played in the distance, and carolers strolled past bundled in cloaks and fur muffs. From across the alley, Meredith watched through the corsetry’s back window with one eye and placed her last tarot card on the tiny table between her and her fifteenth customer.
Here lies a modern patch of farmland with a recalcitrant pond, a dwindling puddle in America’s heartland that cries out like a canary in a coal mine. And only the fretful wife of this farm’s somewhat dense overseer seems able to divine the pond’s signals.
"Water Witch" appears in Flame Tree Publishing's American Gothic Short Stories anthology alongside the work of classic authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Shirley Jackson, Herman Melville, Flannery O'Connor, and Edgar Allan Poe.
http://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/american-gothic-author-qa-story-inspirations
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Our troupe of authors and storytellers appear semi-annually to perform readings from their work. Our most special event, four years running, is the annual Winter Solstice show. As the days grow shorter, and the nights grow longer, join us around the fire for stories that will warm you to your cockles.
The Salt Lake City Public Library's "Author in the House" series brings local poets and writers to the Sweet Branch.
In the month of October, in celebration of All Hallow's Eve, enjoy spooky stories written and read by local authors.