Refracted Neurons

It was late in the day by the time they reached Thais. Midas picked a house at random and headed up the path to the door as Babe hung back, a suspicious squint in her eyes. He stood on the stoop knocking on the door until Babe called out to him and he turned. “Hey Townie, maybe you should-“ was the last thing heard before something heavy landed on the back of his head and everything went dark. The splitting pain in his crown and the sound of voices were the first things to come back to him. Next, he could feel the chill of a basement floor seeping into his back. Everything else returned like a sudden rainfall, and he sat up, immediately regretting it. While he was still groaning and cradling his head, a door opened above him. There was a creaking as someone descended the steps, the shaft of light from the solitary window falling on a pair of legs, then the man’s torso, and finally, his fearfully furry face. “Werewolf!” squeaked Midas. The man ignored Midas’ comment, grabbing him...

People always called Sorrell “Little Miss Red” for the calf-length cloak she wore outdoors.  The hooded garment was made with wool her grandmother gave her, dyed a red rivaled only by the autumn leaves swirling around her feet. Grandma was one of the few who lived out in the woods, her small cabin a reminder of a time when the town stretched up the river instead of clustering around the railroad tracks.  If she looked hard enough, Sorrell could make out the bricks of an old chimney in the underbrush and the glint of smashed windows sparkling in the branches of the young pines. So lost in thought was she, that she didn’t see the young man until he was directly in front of her.  “Where are you going, Sorrell?” he tipped his hat to her. “Just visiting Grandma,” she held up her basket of cookies.  He stepped off the path, a gesture that was as unnecessary as it was deferential.  Even after she passed him, she continued thinking about him.  Caleb was his ...