Silver Pen Winner: BENEATH THE SHADOW DARK by WildFaerieCaps
Huge congrats to wildfaeriecaps, who hit Silver Pen status on day three of Nano!! We have loved her enthusiasm on the discord and can’t wait to give her the next shout-out.
You can shower her with congratulations on Instagram or Twitter @wildfaeriecaps.
Smalltown nobody summons forgotten gods to save family in ‘weird west’/eldritch/sci-fi tale of betrayal and acceptance.
Her eyes are on me again, straining to make me face her. But I won’t give her the satisfaction. My jaw clenches and I watch the shadows caper on the whitewashed walls. Nothing she says will change my mind. I’ve heard this story before. I know what comes next.
“We thank them, yes, and revile them. For their folly had consequences that they did not live to see. The darkness they feared was not left on their dying world. The seeds of that wickedness had been laid in the heart of each who escaped on that doomed flight. Deep in the mountains, in the bowels of the ancients, those seeds have taken root.”
She pauses, her eyes still burning holes in my skin like coals. The little ones are rapt, clustered around my sister. They wait for Gran to go on, consumed with the delicious thrill of being scared when there’s no real danger. The moment stretches and the kids shift, the rustle of fabric and baby soft skin.
“Just because Pa got sick in the mines don’t mean-” the words burst from my lips before I get myself under control. I bite my tongue so hard I can taste blood, sharp and metallic. I silently count and will my fists to unclench. Knowing my temper could throw the reins at any moment, I turn my head and look her dead in the eyes. “I’m taking the job, Gran. There ain’t no demons nor old gods in the mines.”
Keep up the good work!
~AbigailFair