Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

closed his eyes against the sun, w hich was angling into his car r iage and tur ning it a
cur ious yellow ; and behind his eyelids the sunlight became r ed and veiny, flashing
and pulsing. In betw een those flashes, his memor y began to gr asp at r agged tatter s
of his dr eams w hich w er e still flapping at the back of his mind.
? Running?
The sun war med his face and the tr ain r ocked him gently.
? Running thr ough plush gar dens, the shar p smell of gr ass, dew cooling his feet.
Impossible fr uits hanging heavy upon tr ees, their sw eet juices spilling dow n his
chin as he bit into their flesh. A str ange sun above him sending dow n war mth and
love in hot, r egular waves. The long gr ass tr ipping him. Soft falling. Rolling thr ough
the under gr ow th; his hear t beating in time w ith the pulsing heat above. Someone
was ther e w ith him?
The tr ain lur ched and slow ed, br eaking his r ever ie. Br icks and buildings had built
up again outside the w indow and the tr ain was coasting now , gliding towar ds his
stop. He pushed himself up fr om his seat and made his way to the end of the
car r iage.
Once the tr ain had judder ed to a standstill he opened the door and hopped dow n,
one of only a few other people w ho w er e disembar king. He headed for the br idge
that w ould take him acr oss to the other side of the tr acks and out into the
after noon. Outside the station a w oman was selling flow er s fr om a small stall.
Adam paused, decided, then str olled towar ds her. The flow er seller looked up fr om
her paper and smiled at him, folded the paper in half and tucked it out of sight
beneath her seat.
?Yes, love?? she asked, r ubbing her hands against a pr etend chill.
?Uh,? he sur veyed the bouquets on offer. ?What can I get for a fiver ?? he asked.
?For a gir lfr iend??
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