Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

that distance, but the low sun shone thr ough the empty tear -shapes of their eyes.
6.
And he dr ank mor e, and he didn?t stay the evening in that house, and in the
mor ning his hand shook so that he couldn?t shave himself and he joked w ith the
lads about the cr eases in his face, and the next night he?d be in the bar again w ith
his money on the pool table.
When the last of his mates had passed out he?d walk the length of the house,
putting coats at the foot of the door to keep the w ind and the voices out.
Can you imagine that? What if the w ind in our ear s now was w hisper ing names to
us, one by one? Names w e knew. People w e?d lost. What if the w hite str eaks out
ther e over the water w er en?t gulls? What if they w er e scr aps of paper , caught in the
w ind, each one w ith its tor n-out eyes tur ned to the shor e?
7.
It was five year s after his father ?s death: five year s of dr ink and ear ly br eakfasts,
of stopping the dr aughts and closing the cur tains, of his hand shaking and the fear
that came over him w hen he pulled the door shut in the mor ning. He thought of
moving, but that scar ed him mor e. If he left the house, w ould they pur sue him? If
they w er e on the w ind acr oss the ocean, w hat?s to say they w ouldn?t sw eep
themselves over the land to find him, w her ever he w ent?
No. Better to stay her e. To sur r ound himself w ith people, and to hold the house
fr om the w ind and the masks.
But the w ind r ose. As it always does along this coast. Did I tell you, one time a guy
came out after a stor m to find the cor r ugated r oof of his shed r ipped off by the
gales? Did I tell you they found it miles inland, w r apped tight ar ound a lamppost
like it was silver paper ?
204