Chems ~ a sample

220 4 0
                                    

Chems is the story of a chemically altered soldier and the boy who finds him.  It has a touch of gore and a touch of humor and a little bit of heart.  One reviewer called it "kickass," and said he hoped it was the beginning of a series.  

If you like the sample, the entire story is available on Amazon for 99 cents.  =)

US: http://ow.ly/bLcRH

UK: http://tinyurl.com/c8g7h28

Happy Reading!

Chems

©Ann Swann 

 

            I found him in our shed.  His silvery-blue skin was mottled with healing burns, and a few strips of charred flesh still hung in tatters from his elbows and forearms.  He was curled up like a comma in a pile of old feed sacks.  I was raising chickens for my 4-H project, and those old sacks came in handy for cleaning the bottoms of my shoes each morning before school.

            The year was 1974 and I was in the eighth grade.  I was in a hurry, running late as usual, and I had just opened the hen house to let my flock out for the day when I looked across the packed-earth yard and noticed the toolshed door wasn’t completely closed.  I was the one responsible for shutting things up in the evening, so I knew that door was closed and latched the night before.

            I tiptoed up and tried to see inside through the crack—had my eye pressed to it just like that Tell-Tale Heart guy we’d read about in English—but I couldn’t see anything except that pile of old sacks.

            Then they moved. 

            My heart stuttered.  Just an animal, that’s all.  A ‘possum or ‘coon after the scent of feed—I must not have latched it after all.  I squared my shoulders and opened the door wide.  My eyes took a moment to adjust to the gloom, but right away I could see that the thing wasn’t a ‘possum or a ‘coon—nor even a skunk.  In fact, it wasn’t any kind of animal, it was . . . well, it looked like a zombie.

            And it was blue.

Chems ~ a short story (page one)Where stories live. Discover now