Among my several in-progress novels, I occasionally remember to send a rare short story out into the world.
One arrives this month in Clockwork Wonderland, an anthology inspired by the theme of Alice in Wonderland and clocks. Every author had a different take. Mine was a loopy and dark kids playground of ideas.
Here’s an excerpt:
Frayed Ears
By H.E. Roulo
Rabbit’s ears lay flat to his skull. His mouth hung open, chest fluttering. Cornstalks rustled all around him. He whimpered and nestled his head between his paws, sinking his nose into the rich dark earth of the farmer’s field. Misshapen clawed feet tramped through the mud of the corn row beside him. He studied cracks in the spongy dark clay, afraid to look up and see the Red Queen’s black and red vest-cloaked guards. They hunted him, grunting and shoving pointed staves through the stalks.
When they fell silent, he crept forward, panting through his mouth, tasting crushed green stalks and fertilizer. His heart thudded against the earth, as fast as his feet wanted to move but he froze in place.
The earth heaved like an angry cough and the world went still, but the attack faded and the rabbit was afraid to lift his head.
Shrieks erupted from the guards. They leapt from the ground, heart and club uniforms flapping as their wings burst out. They chattered to each other, throwing clods of dirt and tearing at their hair in frustration. One hovered, eyes searching. Rabbit rolled onto his back. Baring his belly was agony. He lay, vulnerable and helpless, hoping the thick layer of mud acquired while crawling would hide his stark white hide.
Yesterday had been different, and tomorrow would be again. He’d come to accept a sliding scale of reality, but a few things simply weren’t right. He’d been rushing on his way, because he was always behind schedule—no question of that—until the house dropped right out of the sky and into the corn field. Then the guards had come, searching for him. His time was almost over.
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Check out this story and many others at Amazon.com
And for more information, check out the blog tour with samples from many authors. The schedule is on the HorrorAddict.net publisher website.
