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    Strange Eight
    Strange Eight
    Strange Eight
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Strange Eight

    By K.L. Nappier

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    About this ebook

    Showcasing K.L. Nappier's virtuosity and range, Strange Eight is a rich infusion of grimdark: inspiring, haunting, uplifting, disturbing, funny and -as usual with best-selling author K.L. Nappier- thought provoking.
    Eight curious concepts in speculative fiction are bundled in a compilation that defies the norm. Strange Eight introduces fresh, new tales from the author, alongside K.L. Nappier's award-winning short stories reprinted from Double Dragon Publishing's best-selling anthology series Twisted Tails.

    If you are already a fan of K.L. Nappier's novels and books, Strange Eight will add a new dimension to your collection of her works. If Strange Eight is your introduction to this exciting author, you are about to embark on one of the most thrilling literary rides of your life.

    Welcome to the thought provoking fiction of K.L. Nappier.

    Critics and Readers agree that K.L. Nappier:

    "Gets beneath the reader's skin" ~ Marilyn Peake, award winning author of The Fisherman's Son and Inside Scoop

    "Unleashes the power" ~ sljasble, Amazon reviewer
    "[is] Wonderful! Original and totally addictive" ~ Lesley Mazey, The Eternal Night Book Review

    "An intelligent read" ~ Lisa Rau, WTSP Channel 10 Tampa Bay producer

    "[is] A stand out" ~ Gabriel Llanas, DreadTales

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherK.L. Nappier
    Release dateSep 23, 2011
    ISBN9781452471334
    Strange Eight
    Author

    K.L. Nappier

    Fast-paced action and smart, stylish writing are the hallmarks of K.L. Nappier's speculative thrillers, mysteries and dark fiction. Some call her style eclectic, some call it cross-over. Moving between genres may keep her books out of the mainstream, but once you've discovered her, you'll understand what thousands of readers already know and why critics think she is one of the best authors writing independent fiction.Since her emergence on the online scene, Kathy’s readership has grown exponentially. Her work has taken prizes and honors in the Dream Realm Awards, the Draco Awards, the EPPIES, the Kay Snow Awards and the New Century Awards among others.Her novels have been reviewed by the Gothic Journal as “stunning” and “fresh” with suspense that “is razor sharp.” The Eternal Night Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Website calls her work “totally addictive.” Tampa Book Buzz says she “pulls you in from the first sentence” and DredTales.com calls her a “stand out in the world of independent fiction.”For more information about K.L. Nappier's novels and books, visit her author page on Facebook.

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      Book preview

      Strange Eight - K.L. Nappier

      STRANGE EIGHT

      Eight curious concepts in speculative fiction

      By

      K.L. Nappier

      Presse Libertine

      Largo, Florida

      Smashwords Edition

      License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Copyright © September, 2011 Kathy Linn Nappier

      All rights reserved under United States, International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

      No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the author.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Publishing History

      Presse Libertine Paperback Edition/2011

      Smashwords Edition 2011

      Cover Art by Hartwig Kopp-Delaney

      www.koppdelaney.de

      TABLE OF CONTENTS (ToC)

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      ONE: Divine Messenger

      TWO: The Thing Most Precious

      THREE: 1. Hell Scabs Over 2. Victorian Dreadful 3. New Home Décor

      FOUR: Sex and the Emerald City

      FIVE: Veil

      SIX: Plan B

      SEVEN: Backslide

      EIGHT: In Gethsemane

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      OTHER WORKS BY K.L. NAPPIER

      ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST

      PRAISE FOR K.L. NAPPIER

      Acknowledgements

      Every year, my list of people and institutions that deserve acknowledgement and thanks grows. With the release of Strange Eight this is particularly true, because without the blessing and encouragement to reprint several stories that are still running strong at two separate publishers, this collection would have come to a dead stop. My thanks to Delvling Press and Double Dragon Publishing for their gracious permission to reprint.

      I also owe a debt of gratitude to German artist Hartwig Kopp-Delaney for offering his artwork on an attribution basis via Flikr Creative Commons. To learn more about Hartwig's work, check out his info listed at the end of this book under About the Cover Artist.

      I have included Indiana Writers Workshop in every acknowledgements page, and there will be no exception here. Without the years I spent with IWW, I wouldn't be where I am as an author today. Thanks, guys. I miss you all.

      Likewise, I am ever grateful to Professor Elizabeth Arthur for those two life-changing semesters at IUPUI 'way back in...well, never mind how far back, okay?...and Dennis Lehane for kicking my writing chops up a rung or two via my time in his 2006 Writers in Paradise workshop. You both made me sweat. You both made me better.

      Most recently, I am in debt to Kate Sullivan and the members of WordSmitten, a most excellent writers' workshop collective in the Tampa Bay Area. You have all assuaged my sense of loneliness as an author and have made the sting of leaving IWW behind in Indiana less painful.

      I have been blessed with the camaraderie and love of the Bib Crew for decades now. Thank you all for keeping me sane and centered, and for the exquisite weirdness that we make together. Please. Don't ever stop.

      And, of course, I remain eternally grateful for the unwavering love and support of my family: from my most excellent husband, Richard, to our remarkable sons Matthew and Nicholas, daughter-in-law Kathleen and granddaughter Riley; to my fantastic parents Wanda, Dick and Doris, sisters Vickie, Jolene and Toni, brother Brian (and a shout out to L'il Bro David!); to all the wonderful cheerleading nieces and nephews of every generation and each of my beloved in-laws (whether they are recognized by law or not!).

      May blessings follow every one of you through eternity.

      R.I.T.R.

      BACK TO ToC

      INTRODUCTION

      As with her novels, the short fiction of K.L. Nappier defies the norm. Strange Eight introduces fresh, new tales from the author alongside award-winning short stories reprinted from Double Dragon Publishing's best-selling anthology series Twisted Tails and Delvling Press' 66 Tales of Terror. Strange Eight is grouped into an octet of speculative fiction concepts, offering a tantalizing glimpse into how the author combines pure inspiration with modern influences and classic mythologies from around the world.

      Strange Eight is an exciting addition to the published works of K.L. Nappier, offering readers another reason to love the author who never lets genre get in the way of a good story.

      BACK TO ToC

      O

      N

      E

      Divine Messenger

      Genres: Fable, American Gothic

      Inspired by: an ancient Hindu fable.

      First Published: Twisted Tails III: Pure Fear

      Double Dragon Publishing

      Divine Messenger

      Deep in the Ozark Foothills. Southern Missouri. 1933

      It was still black as tarred sin when the alarm clock’s clapper hammered against the bell. Emily slapped it, then snuggled close against Del on the lumpy mattress. When he started to get up, she complained, No, don’t leave. It’s cold ...

      He kissed her forehead. Then stay put under the quilt while I stoke the stove.

      No, don’t get up just yet. It’s our anniversary after all ...

      Happy six months to us. Del pulled her closer, kissed her, then groaned because it was too near work time to get anything started. He crawled out of bed. The rusty springs complained as much as Emily did.

      Em gathered the quilt around her like an old-time buffalo robe, burying her nose in the folds where Del’s Burma Shave scent lingered, and padded after him into the shack’s other room. He was in front of the pot belly stove, feeding it kindling and fidgeting in the morning cold. Nothing on but his long johns and woolly socks.

      Dear Lord Jesus, how I love that man. Thank You for bringin’ him into my life.

      In these hard times, she loved him more fiercely than ever. When even some of the best of men had lost all hope, pouring corn liquor in the hole the Depression had been left behind, Del was standing strong. For her sake. For both their sakes. ‘Cause all they had was each other.

      Much as she missed them, Em found herself thanking the Good Lord that her daddy had passed during the early days of the Crash, just before the worst of it hit, and that her mama followed him not long after. Mama could not bear living a day without Daddy and kept wasting away ‘til she got her point across to God, Who finally buckled and called her up to join Daddy. Em knew how Mama had felt. Every time she looked at Del, she understood that woman like she never had before.

      She stood smiling and watching him just a while more, then went back to the bedroom to set out his work clothes. Teasing, while she laid the denims and flannel across the bed, she said, You tell the foreman you only got so much time to count timber today. You tell him your pretty young wife’s waitin’ at home to cook you a’ anniversary supper ... then, not so teasingly, under her breath ... or as much-a one as I can on nothin’ but damn company credits at the damn company’s store.

      She didn’t know he’d come up behind her. Del’s arms snaked under the quilt and gave her a start. He said into her ear, Won’t be like this forever, Em.

      She pulled his arms tighter. I know that, I know. We’re lucky, compared to most folks right now. I don’t mean to complain. I’m grateful for what we got, I really am. She turned in his arms and mustered a smile. We’re young, after all. Ain’t that what Miz Hobson keeps tellin’ us? We got our whole life ahead.

      * * *

      Typical early spring; the ground still bone cold from winter, the damp air fighting to warm things up. The morning had a creepy feel to it, even to someone who was born and bred not ten miles from here and who’d lived in the hollow for the past six months. Em couldn’t see three feet in front of her, the fog was so dense. It smothered every sight and sound except her shoes scuffing along the path’s ruts. But, by now, she knew her way to and from the Hobson place like a mole knows its tunnels.

      Hard to think of poor Mr. Hobson and his wife with any joy these days. Such good people, looking out for her and Del, always checking in on Em while Del spent sun up to sun down at the lumber mill. At least, that’s what they’d done ‘til Mr. Hobson’s latest bout with miner’s lung laid him so low. It was the only thing he carried with him out of West Virginia. He was coughing up coal dust and blood like he never had before.

      It didn’t look like he was going to get over this last attack. From what Mrs. Hobson said, the traveling doctor didn’t offer much hope. That’s why Emily had been out this morning, even in this weather. She’d packed a breakfast basket of milk gravy and biscuits to share, and had made her way to their shack. It

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