Sweet Little Lies Read Online Free PDF

happy, I will do it
now.
    ***
    The screaming is unbearable. Oh, how could X
misconstrue my gift? I don’t mean to scare her. Dear God, I love
her! I want her. I need her.
    ***
    Apparently all the women in the neighborhood
have been on edge. I hear them whispering to X. They don’t feel
safe. They are afraid of what lurks in the night. They are afraid
of me.
    I hear the men talking amongst themselves.
They don’t want to scare the wives.
    “What kind of animal could do such a
thing?”
    “Must have been a bear. That’s a big dog to
have been taken down by that pack of coyotes that’s been hanging
around.”
    “A bear, in these woods? We’re residential on
three sides. Do you really think one could get this far into
town?”
    “I’d think anything is possible. They get
hungry enough, they’ll go where the food is.”
    “But if it was a bear, it didn’t eat the dog.
Just tore it up.”
    “Maybe it was injured, saw the dog as a
threat and attacked.”
    On cue, the group stared at me, lurking in
their woods. They didn’t see me, of course. But I shifted a bit,
sending the birds on the limb next to me catapulting into the air,
just to let them know I’m here.
    ***
    It was when X saw me, that first time, when
her eyes grew wide and her hand went to her mouth to stifle a
scream, or perhaps a knowing smile. That’s when the men congregated
again, and decided to end my days.
    I’ll never forget how stunning she was at
that moment. She’d come to the fencerow to plant some bulbs. She
had a basket filled with tulips, hyacinths and paper whites, was
wearing a soft oyster colored fleece vest that perfectly matched
the shade of her eyes, sensible gardening shoes covering her bare
feet. It was warming so nicely during the day. Who could blame her
for wanting to get out, to breathe in the fresh air? To taste the
forthcoming softness on the breeze. Winter was finally passing, and
it hadn’t been mild. Not that I minded, just the sight of her
behind those quarter-paned windows had given me warmth and
strength. But to have her here, in the flesh, while delightful, was
unexpected.
    I admit I didn’t handle the encounter well.
All these months, waiting for the perfect opportunity, and when it
presented itself… I ran. Our eyes met, and I panicked. Thrashed off
into the woods, making enough noise that the replacement dog next
door started a howling cadence and was immediately matched with
four other wails, one of which came from deep within X’s beautiful
breast. I turned for a moment in my flight and saw her back,
fleeing into the safety of the house. Damn.
    So our idyllic time came to an end. The men
returned, this time armed. They forced their way into the forest.
Found my camp. Poked through my belongings. Admitted to themselves
that there was no way a bear could have made such a spectacular
fire pit and hearth. But I was gone, well ahead of them. I wouldn’t
be back anytime soon. Give them some time to get over it. Let them
call the police, search the area. Realize that I’m no longer
there.
    I will bide my time. X is worth it. I want
her so much. I just can’t live without her. And now, I don’t have
to. The new windows, the new kitchen, everything is as it was.
We’re just in a new town, with new woods.
    I am every bump in her night. Every creak of
a pipe. Every time a dog barks, she knows it is because they sense
my presence. I am the hair that sticks up on the back of her neck.
The unexplained feeling of dread that overwhelms her, making her
glance over her shoulder. I am her nightmares and her day terrors.
And I love her so very, very much.

    HAVE YOU SEEN ME?

    Discount Noir, Edited by Patricia Abbott and Steve
Weddle, Untreed Reads, 2010
     
    Walmart
    Black Friday
    5:05 A.M.

    The swarming lines of people were jubilant
despite the unseasonably warm morning. There was Christmas in the
air—the Muzak trembling under the weight of the bass line. O
Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum. Vicky tried to ignore the pulsing