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    The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8
    The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8
    The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8
    Ebook57 pages51 minutes

    The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8

    By Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace

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    About this ebook

    The Dark is a quarterly magazine co-edited by Jack Fisher and Sean Wallace, with the eighth issue featuring all-original short fiction by Kevin McNeil, Cassandra Khaw, Lisa L. Hannett, and Eric Schwitzgebel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrime Books
    Release dateMay 1, 2015
    ISBN9781513039596
    The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8

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      Book preview

      The Dark Issue 8 - Jack Fisher

      THE DARK

      Issue 8, May 2015

      The Ghost of You Lingers by Kevin McNeil

      An Ocean of Eyes by Cassandra Khaw

      A Shot of Salt Water by Lisa L. Hannett

      Momentary Sage by Eric Schwitzgebel

      Cover Art: Clown by Angus Li

      ISSN 2332-4392.

      Edited by Jack Fisher & Sean Wallace.

      Cover design by Garry Nurrish.

      Ebook design by Neil Clarke.

      Copyright © 2015 by TDM Press.

      www.thedarkmagazine.com

      The Ghost of You Lingers

      by Kevin McNeil

      The Victorian House in Old Town

      The first house the real estate agent shows you will not work. It reminds you too much of the house you grew up in—old, dark, cluttered. A musty odor hangs in the air, the sort of smell that has become as much a part of the house as its foundation.

      You shuffle around an ottoman that has seen better days, its cushion warped from use. Each step you take across the hardwood floor elicits a creak, bringing up random childhood memories . . . Creeping down the stairs in bare feet, trying not to wake your parents, desperately hoping a pile of presents would be waiting under the Christmas Tree. Another step and another memory . . . You are older and you have been drinking, sneaking up the stairs, trying not to wake your parents, desperately hoping you can make it to the bathroom before you get sick.

      All of these memories—the good and the bad—are from some before time. Before you turned down the path you did. Before now. It is a time you would return to if you could, a time of innocence, without the guilt you wear like an unshedable skin. You need to change, but you know you cannot go back. What would the innocent child you were think of the adult you’ve become? What would the child you were think of the things you’ve done?

      The real estate agent has your fiancé’s full attention as she explains that the furniture stays with the house. It’s obvious this pleases your fiancé, but you are less enthused. Every piece seems antique and overly ornate and much too fragile. You cannot imagine being comfortable here, never mind the damage a child would inflict. Something to consider since your fiancé constantly talks of wanting children.

      Getting married, buying a house, children . . . The whole point is change and a fresh start—to become anyone except the person you are. But the impression in the couch is worn from someone else’s weight. The Turkish throw rug is frayed in the pattern of someone else’s stride. How do you start over if you are surrounded by someone else’s stuff?

      When you press further about the furniture the real estate agent smiles as if she’s been waiting all day for this moment. "It’s the ghost, she tells you. According to the story, this house is haunted, and the ghost is attached to something here. Remove the object, the item of furniture, whatever it might be, and you take the ghost with you. The furniture must stay because if you lose the furniture, you lose the ghost." She places a china saucer with a floral design in her purse while she speaks.

      Your fiancé is impressed by the real estate agent’s assurances that you’ll be the envy of the neighborhood—the only house on the block with an actual ghost. Apparently, the neighbors will stop by for tea and leave with a spoon or deck of cards or a coaster, hoping to take the ghost with them. That’s why there are no hand towels in the guest bath, the real estate agent tells you. Too easy to carry away.

      The ghost is a deal-breaker for you. How can you move forward if you will be haunted by a ghost? A ghost is invisible and it can go wherever it wants. It’s able to see you when you cannot see it. What if the ghost will be able to see the things you don’t want to show it? What if it is able to see the real you?

      You move back toward the front door, not wanting to venture too deep into the house. A framed picture hanging on the

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