SUNSET

Long shadows sprawled over the surface. I savored my favorite part of the day, the last hour before sunset, from the wooden steps that led to the water. The puckish deities that had pestered the land since morning, the breeze and the heat, had gone to torment other places and realms. Puffs of harmless gnats swirled in the quiet air, and the kids played badminton on the packed dirt road.

The finest afternoon of the season.

The darkest hours of my life. 

SOUL OF THE UNBORN   ON AMAZON

American college students. Russian countryside. A guide addicted to supernatural energy. Their professor wants to help her, but maybe he is saving a monster.

GARDEN

The stars had faded, and the night had lost its charm. Hushed gloom still wrapped the apple trees, but soon the skylark would announce the birth of a new day. I was so fatigued I felt lightheaded. I closed my eyes and inhaled the silence.

SOUL OF THE UNBORN      ON AMAZON

SOUL OF THE UNBORN: Can you call yourself human is supernatural forces control your every breath, every emotion, every desire?

MOLE CRICKETS

Mole crickets lived underground in my garden. I didn’t encounter them often, but I knew they were there, the unsightly nocturnal creatures. Just like some of my secrets, burrowed deeply in my soul. 

SOUL OF THE UNBORN      ON AMAZON

SOUL OF THE UNBORN: Can you call yourself human if supernatural forces control your every breath, every emotion, every desire?

BANYA

I pressed my back against the fence of the last house. The packed dirt road that circled the village glowed as if made of chalk. A ravine slashed through the field in front of me and flattened out as it reached the river. The moon, bright as a projector, illuminated the placid water surface and somebody’s log sauna, banya.

No dogs. No dead body.

SOUL OF THE UNBORN       ON AMAZON

American college students. Russian countryside. A guide addicted to supernatural energy. Their professor wants to help her, but maybe he is saving a monster.

DRAGONFLY

So close that I could reach it with my fingers, a blue dragonfly with velvety black wings hovered above the greenery, reluctant to settle. I turned to see what bothered the graceful insect.

Chris stood on the path...Shadows circled his troubled eyes. This morning, he wasn’t given time to shave, to have a cup of coffee. Looking at his pale, drawn face, I wondered if he had touched his lunch or dinner. 

“A brave man,” I said. “Taking one for the team?”

“You can’t avoid us forever.” 

SOUL OF THE UNBORN    ON AMAZON

American college students. Russian countryside. A guide addicted to supernatural energy. Their professor wants to help her, but maybe he is saving a monster.

BRIDGE

At the foot of the bridge, patches of tall weeds stood at attention like troops protecting a classified site. Water dripped from the rough surface of the arch. Eddies licked the walls.

“Spoo-o-oky.” Luke hurled a stone into the stream. A gulping sound accompanied the splash. Tiny birds raced through the brush on the opposite bank.

“Don’t do that,” Valya said. “The inhabitants of the bridge sleep during daylight. Be very, very quiet.”

SOUL OF THE UNBORN     ON AMAZON

American college students. Russian countryside. A guide addicted to supernatural energy. Their professor wants to help her, but maybe he is saving a monster.

SHEPHERD BOY

A curious assortment of collectibles was piled up in a plastic crate by a coffee table in need of fresh polish. A Chihuahua-sized bronze moose with a missing antler peeked from the top. From underneath, Chris extracted a plaster figurine of a shepherd boy with his face delicately sculptured and his feet broken off. Chris debated whether he had found a Russian version of a voodoo doll. The idea of Valya casting spells over a symbol of an unfaithful boyfriend didn’t seem farfetched. 

SOUL OF THE UNBORN      ON AMAZON

American college students. Russian countryside. A guide addicted to supernatural energy. Their professor wants to help her, but maybe he is saving a monster.