Seasons of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page A

its arms were long and spindly with appendages that seemed to be able to reach out in every direction all at once. James could feel its evil intentions as it swung and grasped at the air, as if it had an urgent need to devour all within its path. The air in the room was heavy like the loutish thing had sucked out all of the oxygen and replaced it with its bad intentions. The thing wasn’t very tall, but what it lacked in height it made up for in simple vulgarity.
    What was this thing and what did it want from him? He didn’t know for sure. What he did know was that he could feel his tiny heart pounding through his chest and the thick flannel of the pajamas his mother had put him in before tucking him into bed. His mouth was dry as he had a staring contest with the beast, waiting for it to make its move. The bloated miscreant continued to just stand there with its slithery, black tentacles reaching out, swiping at nothing in the air of the scared little boy’s room. Maybe it was trying to catch his fear, James thought. Maybe that was what it fed off of. It seemed to be taunting him, wanting him to react and although the thing didn’t speak it gave the distinct impression that it was annoyed at James for not screaming and crying and running away. James wanted to, there was nothing he wanted more right then but to be away from the creature, but in addition to not wanting to feed it his fear he had a feeling that this thing was like a snake…if you moved too quickly, it would strike.
    He sat as still as a stone statue in his bed. He kept his eyes on the creature but he didn’t move at all except to take in the occasional breath. He tried to hold it for as long as he could, partially due to his fright, but also because every time he took a breath in he could smell the foul odor of the thing at his side. The smells it was emitting smelled to James like the decaying body of a rat he’d found in the barn one day. Even to a child, it smelled like death. James didn’t know how long their standoff lasted until at last and to his great relief the unholy creature disappeared. 
    James knew he should stay in bed, but he had a feeling the thing wasn’t gone and although he was more frightened than he’d ever been, the simple curiosity of a child’s imagination got the better of him. He slipped quietly out of his bed and walking softly in his bare feet, he moved towards the corridor. He peeked out the bedroom door and at first all he saw were the family photos that had hung on the papered walls for as long as he could remember and the shiny wood floor that led down the hall to the other bedrooms and the bathroom at the end. He had almost allowed himself to relax when he saw the thing reappear at the very end of the corridor. It gave him another intimidating glance and then it vanished.
    He continued to tiptoe softly down the long hall, passing the bathroom. Just as he passed that door he heard a loud crack. He abruptly turned back with his heart pounding like a drum in a barrel against the inside of his chest. He was in the hospital, and the horrible thing was right behind him, close enough to reach out and touch if James had been daft enough to want to. He wasn’t and he didn’t, so he began to run. He ran as fast as he could to the other end of the corridor towards the stairs, The hospital looked like it had been the center of some sort of disaster. The windows were shattered, gurneys were overturned and lying in the corridors and the wooden counters were splintered and rotting. He couldn’t see the thing behind him but he could feel it closing in on him. It was almost as if its evil…its bad intentions were reaching out and brushing the fine hairs on the back of his neck, causing them to rise. He could feel its darkness, and it was a cold, empty feeling.
    Turning the corner, he continued to run down the second corridor. He was panting and sweating now and he couldn’t block out the sound of the incessant pounding of his