Short Story Excerpt - Brette's Discovery

 

This was one of the first short stories I wrote and it’s not difficult to see that I was inspired to write it after watching Tremors (1990) for the first time. In creating my own story about creatures that arise to threaten all of mankind, I wanted something less obvious. I thought creatures that would have survived for who-knows-how-long would have to be small and less intrusive yet deadly.

I also wanted to make a final girl the focus of the story, picking up her experience in the middle. Brette’s journey prior to arriving on the Lighthouse Point public park bench remains largely unknown. We can only imagine the horrors she endured before making her way back into town.

Take a brief look into Brette’s Discovery:

     Perhaps it was this familial instinct that caused him to take a second look at the girl sitting alone on the park bench not far from the bus stop. Or maybe he glanced back out of simple curiosity. Whatever the reason, he was the only one to pay the child any attention and that second glance begged him to move closer, to look closer. She seemed so familiar, but not so much so that he recognized the face well enough to put a name to it. That wasn’t it at all. It was more like he’d found so many of her features memorable enough that he became convinced he knew the girl. It was difficult to be sure, of course. The way she looked now, how could anyone recognize her? In fact, as he’d passed her with a hesitant perusal, his first impression had been that of an elderly, homeless woman. He knew differently now. Beneath it all, she couldn’t have been more than seventeen.

     It was obvious by the girl’s appearance that she’d been through some kind of hell. Her hair, reaching just past her shoulders, was stiff with mud and oil. Judging by the black clumps clinging to her scalp, he guessed it was machine oil of some type. Her clothes -jeans and a sweater- were coated with that same gunk. Whatever she’d gotten into, she reeked of decrepit earth. That was it, exactly; she smelled of soil that had been poisoned and polluted. Her face was also caked with mud, but a lighter color, as though that soil had come from a separate layer or a different location. The girl’s mouth gaped open, reminding him of the patients he’d once interviewed at the sanitarium. Those patients, residents of the disturbed ward, had shared this girl’s gaping, blank expression. She seemed to see nothing at all. At first, he wondered if she’d died, sitting on that bench. Examining her more closely, however, he saw the rare movement of her pupils. It was so fast, the flittering in her eyes, that it was almost impossible to spot. She didn’t even seem to see John standing only a foot or two in front of her. It was possible, he reminded himself, that she was ignoring him, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He’d been a journalist long enough to know shock when he saw it. Something had definitely traumatized this poor girl.

     But who was she? He was more certain than ever that he knew her. It wasn’t until a chance wind struck the girl’s face, forcing her gunk-encrusted hair to blow away from her face ever so slightly, that he saw the child beneath the filth. He did know her and he’d once known her fairly well. It had only been a week since her disappearance; the police were still scouring the city in search of her. The girl’s parents spent every morning in church and every evening driving the city streets in search of their lost little girl. John had written the article himself, imploring the residents of their town to come forward with any information. The missing posters, donated by the newspaper, were still hanging up on telephone poles, unblocked by anything more recent. The incident had shocked the small community, calling many local business owners to donate time or resources. It was the only case of a missing child in recent memory. There was no doubt in his mind that this was that child.

     Brette Blake sat before him…alive.

 

Experience all nine stories in Whispers From Hell: An Anthology of Horror & the Supernatural.

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