ISN Anchor Desk - Original Short Stories

The darkness clung to the air like a magnet to an iron ship. It enveloped everything, letting only trace amounts of light pour in from lamps and stars and fireflies.

Clouds lined the sky, seemingly in concert with the darkness, blotting out the overwhelming majority of stars.

It was in this atmosphere that Walter Brennan traversed the narrow path cut through the woods outside his parent’s farm. He was certain that his footprints were now part of the forest’s underground, he’d traveled it so much.

A cool breeze hit his backside, and he shivered, wearing only the gray Navy T-shirt his older brother had given him last Christmas.

Walter was travelling to spend time with the young girl who had so recently captured his heart in her delicate pale hand.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he avoided the swinging branches; from leading his mother to believe he was playing baseball with friends, to what the girl would wear when they married.

It was a logical conclusion, wasn’t it? Somehow, it felt right to think of spending the rest of his life with Carol. It had never been like this before, with Sheila, or Merrill, or Amanda, or even with his experiments with Travis.

But this, now this was a great feeling. Even thinking her name filled his heart - no, his entire body - with a sensation of pure joy. Was this what it meant to be in love?

He was only moments away from her house when the first bit of lightning struck. It lit up the sky, a broken beam of light turning everything bright before the darkness once again won the battle.

Walter felt a drop of moisture fall on his forehead, joined soon after by several others. It was beginning to rain, but he would be inside before it got too bad out.

He saw the simple farmhouse ahead of him. There were two stories, with her parents’ and sisters’ bedrooms upstairs, and Carol’s downstairs near the back.

He continued walking along the dampening dirt, nearly falling twice.

Finally, he stood outside her bedroom window, looking in. He saw the poster on the wall that he’d given her - the overstuffed bear she’d wanted so much at the county fair, and the picture frame he’d made for her in metal shop. It now held her parents’ picture; her father’s gray hair matched the silver of the frame perfectly.

But he didn’t see Carol. This was very unusual ... she was always in her room, waiting for him, at this time.

At exactly that moment, the salmon-colored door opened, bringing Carol inside. With another boy.

Walter vaguely recognized him as a Senior from their school.

He was full of confusion ... Carol loved him. Right? Then why was she here, in her own bedroom, kissing another boy? It didn’t make any sense!

Carol looked out the window and saw him standing there. She laughed and went back to kissing the Senior.

Walter didn’t understand - couldn’t understand - what she’d just done. He turned away, face wet with a mixture of rain and tears, then let himself fall in the fresh mud, his shorts and T-shirt now caked in the brown liquid.

As the shock overtook him, he swore he heard the Darkness laughing at him.

Perhaps it was.