Contents
I am the Cane Toad Just a five-page appetizer
Vodka and Poultry and Pi in the Sky
Boris disappeared. He did not crash, or shut down, or anything even remotely understandable. There are no words to describe what he did and no way to figure out where the hell he was. They would just have to wait until he got back, and ask him. In the meantime, Vladi was trying very hard not to look at Attila, who was trying very hard not to turn.
Mozzie Blue
Conner takes the wheel, I take shotgun, Kimmy curls up in the backseat and we hit the road with less than two hours to Fitzroy Crossing and that amazing raging river. I take a few videos for the YouTube intro, which we have been doing since we left Boston, and make some notes in the log. We’re about half way there now and Conner and I are so totally stoked that we… “Conner!”, hollers Kimmy, but it’s too late.
The Window
Hands shaking, palms sweaty, I finally got the door open and closed it quickly. I could hardly breathe and was quite sure that I was about to throw up. A weird vibration passed through the back of my neck, my head was swirling and this strange gurgling sound was coming up from deep in my throat. It was like wet purring but with a spooky edge to it.
Ouachita
There is a slight rustling sound as the undergrowth parts and an old man comes forward to greet them. He places both hands on the shoulders of his son and they touch foreheads in a prolonged embrace. No words are spoken. As they part and beckon her forward, the entire family watches in near ecstasy from the darkness. They have waited generations for this moment. Soon, there will be feasting and chanting, ancestral rage tempered, if only briefly, by immeasurable joy. The waiting is over.
Harvey Goes to Heaven
At half past one in the morning in Vatican City, Italy, Cardinal Paul Kovacs wakes with a start from his cot by the window, the stench of scorched human flesh still clinging to his nostrils. ‘The demons are upon us’, Paul wants desperately to shout, but thinks better of it. Father John will be back in the morning and all will be well again.
