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14.
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2021-09-06 16:19:38Related chapters
Things Slip Through 1.
August5:00 PMClifton Heights, New YorkIt’s Poker Tuesday. My daughter Meg is at the sitter’s and my friends and I are relaxing on my front porch, enjoying a few quiet drinks after we wind down from our respective afternoons. Father Ward stands beside me, Fitzy leans against the railing at the porch’s end and Gavin sits on the railing across from me. I’m sitting in my favorite Adirondack lounge chair.The warm summer air is quiet and still, save for the distant buzz of cars easing their way down Henry Street. Usually, this is my favorite night of the week; an evening of carefree leisure, when the world’s troubles are held at bay by camaraderie and friendship, and beer and pizza, too.But tonight is different. Tonight, everything may fall apart because the things I’ve ignored for so long can no longer be dismissed and I must speak, risking at the very least our friendships, at the very worst this place I’ve come to call home.And the others se
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through 2.
The Skylark Diner5:30 PMSomehow I’m not surprised when Gavin walks into The Skylark alone. No one said much as we left my place, but I sensed—through body language, maybe—that this was Gavin’s job, telling me the truth or whatever passes for it in this town.A nice town, dammit, in spite all of this. Picturesque, a postcard-beautiful Adirondack town as charming as Inlet or Eagle Bay but not as touristy as Lake George. And the people here have been nothing but accommodating and pleasant. Word of the new Sheriff in town (also new widower with an only daughter) has paved the way for fruit baskets, pies, homemade bread, frozen venison and casseroles galore, all this past year.But as time has passed and the town’s strangeness has bloomed, it’s dawned upon me that maybe this town is too accommodating, because someoneshould’ve petitioned the Town Board for my immediate resignation a long time ago, especially considering all the odd cases I haven’t been able to s
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through Lament
She swings the hammer down again and again. Bone crunches, blood splatters. Her stomach churns as she raises the hammer to swing it down once more . . .But she stops and squeezes the hammer’s slick rubber grip. Blood oozes between her fingers. The hammer shakes in her hand.And then she drops it to the pavement where it hits with a dull ring and she looks at what she’s done to his face, and realizes . . . she likes it.And wants to do it some more.She kneels and sobs.Then vomits.MondayGavin Patchett glared at the stack of essays sitting on his desk, then glanced at the first one before him. He tapped it with his red pen, leaving clusters of smeary crimson dots near its heading. He read the first paragraph, squinted and read it again, hoping it would make more sense the second time.It didn’t. Just made him feel tired was all.He closed his eyes, sighed and rubbed his warm forehead. Maybe he’d call in sick tomorrow, sta
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through 3.
3.I lean back against the booth’s thin leather cushions and pull my hands away from the journal, staring for a moment at Gavin’s elegant script. The words themselves seem to shiver and twitch across the page.I look up at Gavin, who’s nonchalantly devouring the stack of blueberry pancakes he ordered while I was reading.My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.Fortunately, Gavin speaks for both of us, after swallowing a forkful of syrup-drenched pancakes. “That whole thing was horrible, and I feel awful that it took a tragedy like that to sober me up. But after everything died down, when I finally dried out . . . I knew things had to change. I haven’t had a drink since.”I reach toward the journal but don’t touch its pages. It’s as if I’m afraid of something happening to me if I touch it, which is ridiculous. It’s only a journal. Paper bound by a leather cover.That’s all.“You wrote this. After it happened?”He reaches for his glass of orange juice, compliments of the waitress,
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through Way Station
WAY STATIONIt was QuestCon, New Hampshire’s largest SpecFic convention. Attendees packed the main lounge of Portsmouth’s Holiday Inn, bunching up in clots around tables and chairs and the bar, chatting with old friends, hitting up new ones. Con veterans worked the scene, happy to be among colleagues and friends. Younger, more inexperienced folks bounced nervously about, balancing between worshipful awe and their overwhelming desire to be “noticed” by peers and role models, and amongst them drifted fans asking for signatures, wondering respectfully (most of the time) when their next book or comic book would hit the stores.It was a full house, everyone busily engaged and enjoying themselves and, Jim Goersky couldn’t help but feel, glancing at him and Gavin Patchett from the corner of their eyes.“Listen, Franklin,” Gavin snapped into his cell phone, “the distribution sucks and you know it. Why the hell weren’t there more copies of Forever War at the Barnes & Noble here in Portsm
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through 4.
4.Gavin has finished his pancakes and is now sipping from his coffee, watching me with a neutral expression. I again push the book away from me, as if prolonged contact with it could hurt me, somehow.Which is ridiculous.It’s just a journal full of stories, that’s all. So what if Gavin’s story about the Pital girl was eerily accurate? Gavin wrote fiction for a living, he made stuff up. That’s what writers do, right? Make stuff up.Right?I meet Gavin’s calm gaze and speak carefully. “So. This story’s . . . a . . . what do you call it? A metaphor. Symbolic. Of how you realized there was more to life than your writing career.”Gavin raises his eyebrows and says, “Is that what you think it is?”I clasp my hands together on the booth’s tabletop so hard my knuckles ache. “I don’t really know what to think, Gavin. You brought me here with cryptic allusions to a Truth, then have me read these stories . . . ”I wave at the book and I swear Gavin’s flowing script wavers and trembles,
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through The Water God of Clarke Street
THE WATER GOD OF CLARKE STREETIt was a cold winter day and Carolyn O’Neil was pissed off at her imaginary friend Bob the Water Sprite.“I hate you Bob,” she rasped, trudging through powdery snowdrifts, “I hate you! Adam Stillman thinks I’m a freak, and it’s all your fault!”“I hate you.”Her angry footsteps scraped the frozen sidewalk and her ponytail swished against the back of her neck as she recalled today’s disaster in sixth period study hall. It had been the most humiliating experience ever and she had Bob to thank for it.Adam Stillman was the most popular boy her age. Athletic and graceful, with brown hair teased into a skater cut, his bright blue eyes made her knees buckle. She tutored him in Math every sixth period but they might as well live on separate planets. He was a basketball god that all the cheerleaders worshiped. She was the kinda-chubby smart girl everyone ignored. He only tolerated her because she helped him keep his grades up so he was eligible to play ball.
Last Updated : 2021-09-06Things Slip Through 5.
5.Our waitress (whose tag reads Cassie Tillman) refills Gavin’s coffee. She offers me some, I politely decline, and as she walks away a startling realization hits me: our waitress, Cassie Tillman.JennyJenny Tillmanyou know . . . the senior who wears the purple eye shadowand the short skirts all the boys likeThe implication sends ice down my spine.If all these stories are true, or, as Gavin puts it, have Truth in them . . . how many are about folks I know?For example, Jenny Tillman. Cassie Tillman’s younger sister, a high school senior. She disappeared back in March. Got into a big blowout with her mother and stormed out of their trailer in the Commons Trailer Park on the edge of town. She was last seen hitching along Bassler Road, toward the interstate.Will I read a story about her next? Or maybe a twisted tale about how my next door neighbor—a gentle, seventy year-old retired nurse named Maude—is really a dedicated Satan-worshiper who dines on the flesh of cooked bab
Last Updated : 2021-09-06
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Things Slip Through 14.
14.“By the time I arrived on the scene that night you were nearly inconsolable, hysterical at Timmy’s disappearance, insisting something had taken him away. But then you called us three days later and changed your story, telling us to end our search because Timmy was ‘safe and in a better place.’”I lean forward, hands clasped before me, trying to be gentle because I can see that recounting her ordeal is hard for her, can see it in her wet and glimmering eyes. “Why did you tell us that, Mrs. Danvers? What was that . . . thing you saw? Where is this ‘better place?’ I can’t report any of this, can’t ever speak of it to anyone. But I need to know.”so the Guardian may protect the ThresholdShe nods, sniffing, and wipes both eyes with the heels of her palms. Composing herself, running a hand through her hair, she whispers, “I . . . I wasn’t in a good place after that. I’d lost Timmy, lost everything. With Timmy gone there was nothing left to live for and I almost . . . ”She sucks do
Things Slip Through Mr. Nobody
MR. NOBODY“Mommy! Noooo!”Laughter echoed through Ellen Danvers’ small kitchen as she knelt and bent her son Timmy backward over her knee. He giggled while she pretended to lose her grip.“Jeez, you’re heavy! What’ve you been eating? Hippos?”His face split into a toothy grin. “N-no! Just p-puppies!”“PUPPIES!” She shook him in mock fury. “That’s it! You’re gonna get it!”His blue eyes widened in anticipation. “No!”“Too late!”She raised clenched fingers, her fake scowl threatening to break into a grin. “Now. You. Die!”“Noooo!”With an exaggerated downward thrust, she planted her hand into his belly and tickled him. He laughed and jerked, and alarm shivered through her as her grasp slipped. Timmy was only six, but he was so big for his age. If she wasn’t careful, he could squirm free, hit the floor . . .Worry crept in, spoiling the moment and she stopped, gently grasping his shirt, tipping him up. She hugged him tight, closed her eyes, breathing deep. His speeding heart
Things Slip Through 13.
13.The Commons Trailer ParkEllen Danvers opens her trailer’s screen door and smiles sadly, as if she’s expected me this whole time and has been wondering what’s taken me so long.“Evening, Sheriff,” she whispers. “What can I do for you?”For a moment, the absurdity of my intentions strikes me speechless. We’ve gotten everything we can from Ellen. She’s got no more information to give, past her wild tale.So why am I here?In Gavin’s mind, I’m here so Ellen Danvers can tell me what really happened to her son. In mine . . . well, at this point I really can’t say. But I can’t stand here on the porch forever so I smile and lie. “Just stopping by to see how you’re doing, Ellen, let you know the State Police and my men are still searching for Timmy.”The last part is true, at least. Even though Ellen now claims there’s no need to search for Timmy, the initial report of a missing child set off a chain reaction that can’t be called back so easily. With the wheels turning on a missing
Things Slip Through 12.
12.Ambiguities. Shadowy, surreal ghosts seen out of the corner of the eye, like hallucinations dreamed during a fever, things that can neither be confirmed nor denied. These are the things I’ve been reading about.Though Webb Community College is ten miles out of town, between Clifton Heights and Old Forge, Bradley Sanders lives here in town. I’ve seen him around a few times, been introduced to him twice. And he does have an impressive train layout in his basement. Every Christmas he opens his home to the neighborhood for tours. I had night patrol this Christmas and missed it but luckily Meg convinced Grace—our sitter—to take her. She gushed for days about its meticulous detail in copying nearly every facet of Clifton Heights. I’d hated missing that and had vowed to make sure I was free next year to go see Bradley’s layout with Meg.Not so sure I’ll be doing that, now.A resigned weariness settles over my shoulders. “I suppose if I called Web Community College, asking after Ned Si
Things Slip Through On A Midnight Black Chessie
ON A MIDNIGHT BLACK CHESSIENowBradley again turns onto the strange road bathed in the moon’s phosphorescent glow. He understands this place now. Understands what it is, where it came from, and how it came to be.Ned sits on the passenger side, still drunk, forehead pressing the window as he gazes at the glowing scenery. “Wow. Am I awake or dreamin?”“Neither,” Bradley whispers. “Or maybe both.”Toward Ned he feels a resolved sadness. Bradley no longer hates him so much but rather pities him, for he’s caught up in something much larger than himself, much larger than Bradley or anything else, and is completely helpless in the face of it.As Bradley is.And as they drive down this softly glowing road, Ned continues to stare. “Geez. Don’ recognize this at all. You lost?”“No,” Bradley says as he slowly pulls up to the glowing church at the road’s end. “Not at all.“I’m home.”Three Days AgoFriday afternoonBradley Sanders had just pulled shut his office door at Webb County C
Things Slip Through 11.
11.Gavin is talking about researching Wendigoes and old Native American myths, something along those lines but I’m not listening too closely, not really. I can hear the words coming from his mouth, can recognize them as English but I can’t distinguish one word from the other as they flow along into a steady stream of babble . . .Because I’m too busy staring at this damn book open before me, at its script—Gavin’s flowing script—which still seems to quiver and tremble and even undulate across the page. I’m starting to wonder what will happen if I keep staring at these words, what will happen if I keep reading them, what will happen to them, to me? Will they slide off the page, down onto the dull and scuffed Formica tabletop, slither over to my hand, melt into my skin, ride my blood to my brain and burn themselves forever there?Okay.Hell.That’s enough of that.So I close my eyes, hold a hand up to pause Gavin’s talk as I try to sort things out in my head, too many things, stran
Things Slip Through Lonely Places
LONELY PLACESMusky air from the fireplace clouded the small hunting cabin. From across a wooden table, green eyes burned into Derek Barton’s soul. He didn’t want to be here, but he’d nowhere else left to go.“What’s happening to me?”A leathery voice creaked. “Somethin powerful, boy. Old Magic powerful.”Fear slithered in his guts as he stared at this . . . man. Rumors called Clive Hartley many things—brujo, shaman, zombie, the walking dead, even—but Derek had never believed them, always figuring they were bullshit stories and nothing else.Now, however? He desperately hoped the stories were true, because if not . . . he was fucked. “People say you know about this kinda shit. Ya gotta help me.”Clive Hartley leaned into hissing lantern light, bright green eyes narrowed, deep lines creasing his thick skin. “Somethin’s growin inside ya. Ken see it in yer eyes.”“Please.”A pause. Hartley folded his hands on the wooden table. “Tell me how.”Derek shuddered as pieces of himself f
Things Slip Through 10.
10.“Okay . . . that’s . . . that’s just . . . ”I straighten and cover my mouth, which tastes a little like bile. Honestly, it’s touch and go. But I swallow and manage to say without stuttering, “I hope Cassie Tillman doesn’t come back, ask if I want anything more to eat or drink. She does . . . I’m puking. Definitely.”Gavin sips from his coffee (even THAT’S enough to twist my guts a little) and says, “I imagine. I didn’t have much of an appetite for several days after that one.”I force myself to breathe evenly and say, “I’m guessing that ‘Buddy Hartley’ is no longer at Clifton Heights General? That he’s . . . ”“ . . . been ‘transferred downstate to a special burn-care facility’? You’d be guessing right. At least, that’s what they told me when I called. They didn’t say WHERE, of course. ‘Doctor/Patient Confidentiality’ and all that. I found ‘Craig’ Hartley’s number using Directory Assistance, but no one ever answers. Of course, ‘Craig’ is also now mute, so maybe he just doesn’
Things Slip Through A Brother’s Keeper
A BROTHER’S KEEPERCraig Hartley stood at the tiny hospital room window, sweating. It was summer and eighty degrees and here he was, stuck in a room with an ancient air conditioner that grinded and wheezed and grumbled but had very little effect. Nothing he could do about it, of course, but stand and sweat and hate hospitals in general, especially small town, backwoods hospitals like this one.He watched townspeople scuttle along the sidewalks outside and smirked. Look at them, running around in the shadow of the place that’ll kill them someday. Idiots. That’s why he’d left, of course. So he wouldn’t become one of them.His smirk faded. He’d carved out a good life for himself, dammit—but now it felt like he’d never left. He still felt nineteen: still defiant, reckless, insecure, still scared of his father’s bullshit, still haunted by . . .No. Didn’t believe then, won’t believe now.A dry spot on his scalp itched.He turned to inspect the room, avoiding the burnt thing lying in i
