Carve Sorrows into Skin
an excerpt

Carve Sorrows into Skin

Prologue

Abe Johnson jerked awake, hands scrabbling at his alarm as he tried to silence the din. Weak light filtered in through the thin, unlined curtains. It was enough to light the small room. He looked at the clock, and snorted in disgust as he realised that it wasn’t the source of the noise. The phone was. He rolled out of bed, and unearthed the phone from under a pile of dirty washing. It stopped just as he picked up the receiver, and he dropped it in annoyance as he shuffled back to bed. His feet caught on the threadbare patches of carpet. He’d been out of work since an industrial accident had damaged the nerves in his back.

Five minutes later, he bolted for the bathroom, frantically pulling clothes on. He was due at his new job and he was already late. Great start, idiot, he thought to himself as he yanked on a fairly clean shirt and slammed the door behind him. His laces were loose, but he didn’t take the time to fasten them. There was a bus due in a few minutes, and if he rushed, he might just be able to catch it at the stop.

He swung his backpack onto his shoulder, and set off at a quick jog, stumbling now and then on his flapping laces. Halfway down his block, he checked his watch. One minute to go. He was so busy scrolling through excuses to tell his new boss that he never saw the girl step out into his path.
They hit each other hard, and he tried to grab her before she could fall. He missed, catching hold of her shirt instead. She pulled him off balance, and he tumbled to the floor with her, narrowly missing landing on top of her.

“Shit,” he swore. “Are you alright? I didn’t see you...”

“I’m okay,” she said. “I wasn’t watching either. My fault.” She said with a wry smile. “I just walked right out of my building. Never thought to look for joggers on the sidewalk.”

He stood, and extended a hand to her. She reached up to take it. A static shock leapt between their outstretched hands as they touched. It felt like he’d just received a massive electric shock. The world went dark for a second. As suddenly as it had arrived, the feeling passed. She let go of his hand, landing on her rear again. Passers by gave the pair of them strange looks and a wide berth.

“Shit!” Abe swore. “Did you feel that? My hand’s numb, man!”

“Mine too,” she murmured, rubbing her hand as she got to her feet.

A sharp crack of thunder rumbled behind her, and she turned. A frown marred her pretty oriental face. “There’s no clouds,” she said “so why is there
thunder?” Unease built in her, and she turned back to Abe.

“I don’t get it either, man,” he said, and shook his head. “The weather report didn’t say anything about rain or storms today.”

Another, louder crack of thunder boomed over the small town. People stopped on the street. An older man approached Abe. “Which report did you see, young man? The one on channel three predicted clear sunny skies all day.”

“I heard it on the radio,” Abe said. He felt uneasy, though he had no idea why. His feet were urging him to move, to run, to get away and yet he could not find a reason. “Hey, man, does anyone else feel...” he stopped, searching for the right word.

“Anxious?” Cindy, the girl he’d knocked down, supplied.

“Nervous?” The older man asked.

“Yeah. Like something’s not right,” he agreed. “Like a bad kind of excitement.”

Another rattle of thunder shook the sky. The fillings in his teeth ached. He caught the look on Cindy’s face. It was one of growing horror. He turned, following her line of sight. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

A wall of liquid mud was racing down main street, devouring everything in its path. Cars and buildings crumbled under the raging, unstoppable force. Cindy screamed as a woman was knocked down by a tree limb. She didn’t have time to move before the mud washed over her. He gave in to the urge to run, but didn’t get far before the landslide caught him. He had a moment to think that the mud was surprisingly warm before everything went black.