Every night at 1:09 the power flickers and then goes off, it struggles to come back but then fails again and stays off until 1:11… It was curious the first couple of times. Tonight was the seventh night in a row it has happened.
Maybe it’s something more, maybe, just maybe, every night at 1:09 there is a force at work, struggling to break through, to gain entry.
Imagine masses of hungry, beady eyed monsters, snouts slick with hunger and nostrils flaring as they push and strain, crushing the smaller ones in their surge. Hate rising like steam from their scaled flesh as their cries slip passed the barrier, filling the night with terrible sounds. The birds burst silently from their nests within the trees and disappear into the folds of night, the insects all fall silent in fear, waiting with abated breath. The neighbors sleep unaware as I stand at my window, waiting for the dam to break, for the lost battle to begin, as I cautiously stare into the darkness.
For two minutes I wait, alone…
Then the lights come back, the fridge hums to life, the clocks begin their flashing alerts, and I alone breathe a sigh of relief…
In the end they'll all be dancin'--all them ones that didn't die.... Dance with me in the shadows amidst the lightning and the thunder, and all that nu-cu-lar debris. See the big bang from the other side, and then open that cellar door. Go down into
WEIRD RHODY is a short story collection featuring five strange tales all set in Rhode Island and written by five Rhode Island authors. The anthology is a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft, the Ocean State's famed author of pulp horror.
