Page 82
Story: Whistle
He burst into the room and ran to his mother. “Mom, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”
Annie stopped screaming and pointed.
“What?” Charlie asked. “What are you looking at?”
Annie continued to point, but then blinked several times, quickly. The floor was clear. There were no spiders. Not a one. The boxcar door was closed.
“Mom?”
Annie pulled Charlie into her arms. “You’re shaking,” he said, his own voice trembling. “What’s going on?”
Her phone, resting on the table, dinged, announcing a new email. Annie let go of her son, picked up the phone, opened the mail app.
It was from Dr. Hersh.
What are you doing now?her note read.I can send a Zoom link if it’s convenient.
Twenty-Seven
Annie needed a moment to pull herself together first. She told Charlie there was nothing to worry about, just a spider, then sent a quick email to Maya, asking if they could talk in half an hour. That gave her enough time to put together some dinner for Charlie. Mac and cheese from a box. Not her favorite, but that was fine, because she had lost her appetite.
“I’ve got a Zoom call and I’m going to take it on the laptop in my room,” she told Charlie as he ate. “You good down here?”
He shrugged. “I’ll watch TV.”
She went to her room, closed the door, sat on the bed, and opened up her laptop. She clicked on the link Dr. Hersh had sent, and seconds later, there she was on the screen.
“Hey, Maya,” Annie said. Her doctor had insisted she call her by her first name.
“Annie, long time, no chat,” Maya said. “How’s it going up there?”
“Okay.”
“How’s Charlie?”
“He’s good, he’s good. I got him a bike. It’s a piece of crap, to be honest, but he doesn’t care. He shined it up and he rides around the property like a maniac. We picked strawberries today.”
Maya smiled. “Nice. But I’m guessing if everything were perfect, you wouldn’t have been in touch.”
“Yeah, well.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“You mean, other than thinking I’m losing it?”
“Talk to me.”
Annie hesitated, not sure how to begin. “Did you ever see that old movieThe Rocking Horse Winner? Or maybe read the story, by D. H. Lawrence?”
Maya thought for a moment. “The movie, I’m pretty sure. Made in the late forties, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, around then.”
“Refresh my memory?”
“It’s about this boy who has, well, a rocking horse, you know, a wooden toy you sit on and pretend it’s a horse. But there’s something special about it. It has... special powers. The kid rides his rocking horse until he gets visions of which horses are going to win at the track. It’s pretty creepy.”
“Okay. Not the first movie about a creepy toy.” Maya smiled. “There’s lots about creepy dolls. Chucky, Annabelle. That more recent one, Megan? That was kind of fun. What was that one with Anthony Hopkins, where he’s the ventriloquist? Came out ages ago.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82 (Reading here)
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154