Steven D. Jackson's Blog, page 4

The Strange Confession of Doctor Arzt

++Transcript begins++
‘What was that all about?’ my colleague asked me, her lip curling in a sneer. Her eyes followed the doctor’s unhurried departure. I could feel her willing him to say something. Anything. A comment that would let her lock him up again on some charge. Obstruction or something. He did not oblige. ‘He wasn’t going to give me anything,’ I said, telling a half-truth at best. The other half I had decided to keep to myself. ‘He doesn’t have anything,’ I amended. ‘Waste of time.’M...

An Open Mind

You saw her, I presume? The young girl, with the ancient eyes. The beautiful face with the haunted look. A shawl of shabby grey spread carelessly across her slender shoulders. She just left, shuffling away into the night clutching at her shapeless skirts. Had she been here long? You don’t remember. No, I don’t imagine you would. A tragic figure, wrapped in herself, the aura of the lost and alone shrouding her like a fog. You poured her a drink though, I’m sure. But like the many thousands of...

Night Terror

The darkness around him was almost total, an impenetrable black void suffocating all light and stifling all rational thought. His eyes strained to adjust; in his mind he saw his pupils dilating until they were nothing but black orbs, gaping holes in his face linking his trembling mind to the surrounding ocean of hidden terrors. But then, out of the gloom, a shape resolved itself. Familiarity in the form of a barely glimpsed door-frame, the pure white of the wood surrounding the bathroom door...

It's Your Turn

I am writing this because I have no choice. I'd like to say it is a warning to others, but I have far more selfish reasons. Even if I did warn you, I doubt you would heed it, as I did not heed the warning left for me. I must not waste time, as time is wasting me, in a way that defies the medical science I once believed I knew. My joints ache as I write, and soon I know I will be unable to continue. Yet this must be told and so I write on.I am a doctor here at Rosewood Lodge, and I am twenty-s...

Run, piggy

Andy stared at her shoes, trying to gauge their weight whilst keeping her expression casual. It seemed she could feel the eyes of every person in the circle watching her, though of course that was absurd. Everyone there was intensely focused on themselves; the week they’d had, the food they’d consumed at the weekend. Not a single one would be thinking about anything but the scales. For the millionth time, Andy cursed the day she’d first heard of the government’s newest reward scheme to combat...

The Candle and The Cabin

The moonlit trail faded into shadow a few feet before him, overgrown bushes and unseen underbrush obscuring his path through the woods. Reluctantly, Mike uncrossed his arms and held them gingerly out in front of him as he made his tentative way along, the chill night air freezing his chest through the flimsy t-shirt he wore. The silence around him was eerie, as though the forest was holding its breath, watching him stumbling like an ungainly intruder through its domain.

‘Merry Christmas Mikee,...

Graveworm

The bird squalled pitifully as the worm tightened around its leg, the larvae’s rubbery skin bulging obscenely with strain. The bird flapped its wings and screeched, its desperate call unheard as more worms heaved and pulsated at its feet, crawling up its body in an ever growing tide of writhing forms. It tried to peck at the filthy creatures, stabbing at them with its sharp beak, but succeeded only in tossing three worms into the air. The bird shook its head in frantic revulsion as the worms...

Connection Lost

Drew Goffrey, AKA the Community Crusader, moaned as his vision cleared and the last vestiges of darkness slipped away like mist in the wind. Sleep vanished, and he grudgingly opened his eyes. As the room in which he sat came into focus, a congealed, icy feeling settled into his stomach. ‘Where am I?’ he asked aloud, not much caring for the waver in his voice as it echoed around the large room, off the dull surfaces of what appeared to be washing machines and refrigerators turned on their side...

Carrots and Whiskey

The alarm was horribly loud in his left ear, a persistent high pitched beep forcing him from his dreamless, alcohol-soaked slumber into a hangover-heavy wakefulness. Jim groaned, rolling away from the insistent machine and negligently silencing it with a lucky swipe of his arm. His head felt thick and fuzzy, his tongue dry and his stomach on the verge of rebellion.Jim opened his eyes and peered at the sliver of cold morning light showing through the curtains as half-recalled memories danced a...

The Tarot Tells

The security guard disappeared back into the officials’ tent, shaking his head, leaving Josh standing alone under the brightly flashing lights of the Ferris-wheel. He stood for a moment, staring after the old man, hearing the muted sound of the repetitive carnival music and the scream of kids on the rollercoasters. His cheeks felt hot, flushed with that impotent indignation he’d come to know so well from run-ins with adults in authority, but at least the dark would hide the redness on his fac...