Snips and Snails - #1

         
          Summer Saturday to do list -  1)  Cut grass 2)  Wash Car 3)  Participate in Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday!!!  What better to wallow away a Saturday afternoon than perch up in your favorite hammock with the electronic device of your choosing and write, read, or better yet both some great SciFi/Fan writing with some truly great writers.  I’ve been sharing snippets from a WIP, Myth-In-Law,for the last several weeks but I think it  has ran its course, for now.  Thanks for all the great comments and feedback.  I’m still hacking away at that story but I felt like moving on.  I had an eight page script that I proposed for a comic anthology a few years ago that I decided to turn in a short story.  While some of the visuals may be lost in translation, I’m hoping to convert it and keep it entertaining.  I may even throw in a few of the quick sketches I did along the way.  The story, Snips and Snails, is short tale about fear and what it means in our modern world.  I hope you enjoy.  Please take a few minutes to share a comment or two and, if you like, maybe even follow along on my blog.  Please make sure you jump over to SciFiFanSat.blogspot.com and check out all of the fantastic writing contributed by the vast array of great authors over there.
          The room echoed in the night, a blank expanse of shadows.  Searching and stretching under a blackened pocket of fear, shrouded by the doubts of men and home to the creaks and bumps that kept children from their slumber, he waited.          He was born into darkness, his home and guarded sanctuary since youth.  Nursed on midnight and lullabied by the screech of the owl, the obsidian expanse enveloped him like a security blanket to a babe.            Eyes, devoid of pupils, admired the ebony details of his environment that most chose to avoid.  Holding a hand near his face, he admired the dull reflection cast from his clawed fingers.  Each bloodstained nail held a hundred stories of conquest and glorious rampage, bringing a slight grin as he ran his tongue over his fangs, relishing in his gore-filled memories.
          They had feared him in Bangladesh, cowering at his sight.  He kept them quiet under blood red moons, in the pastures and crude towns, his existence giving birth to the lantern.