Short Excerpt from Current Work

by Adam Huddleston

This week, I wanted to share a few paragraphs from a new fantasy story I’m working on.

The voice came to O’Brien in the middle of the night like a soft breeze gliding over the top of a country stream. He had just exited one of those non-sensical dreams where you’re chastising your oldest child for eating the curtains, or where a herd of cattle is marching down the street, holding signs advocating nuclear disarmament. At first, he wasn’t sure if he had heard it, or if it was some trick being played on him by his overworked brain.

Then it spoke again.

“Build the house,” it whispered. “Eighteen inches high. Wood. Two-stories. Double-doors in front.”

O’Brien sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes. A dried line of spittle ran down his left cheek.

“Hello,” he said to the darkness. “Who’s there?”

“Build the house,” the strange voice whispered again. “Eighteen inches high. Wood. Two-stories. Double-doors in front.”

Jacob O’Brien scratched absently at his bald scalp. A few dry flakes drifted down unnoticed and landed on his pillow. He tilted his head sideways and listened to the silence, straining to hear the voice again. After a full two minutes, he resigned to the fact that it was simply a hallucination brought on by a spicy late-night snack, or perhaps a particularly strong cup of coffee with said snack.

He laid back and just as his head hit the pillow, the voice returned.

“Build the h—“

“Okay! I get it! I’ll build your little house if you just promise to leave me alone.” Jacob rubbed at his temples then whispered into the darkness, “but I still have no idea who, or what, you are.”