Dreamland Crocotta

By Karl Pfeiffer

Dreamland Crocotta is a short story about a depressed insomniac, passing his days alone. Alone, that is, until he begins speaking to a voice that creeps within the forest behind his house...

Speaking toward depression and those deeper hateful urges that cling to us in our hardest times, Dreamland Crocotta is a study of the mind as much the supernatural, blurring the lines until a depth seeps from the shadows, a depth that reminds us that the truest battles are those from within.

"We're in... territory [of] mystery and mysterious places... We and the characters seem to move across boundaries, real ones involving the landscape, and emotional ones, where the lines between dream, fantasy, and reality get blurred." -Leslee Becker, Author and Professor.

Karl Pfeiffer is an aspiring novelist, journalist, paranormal investigator, lecturer, college student, and ghost hunter at the Stanley Hotel. Forever a romantic, he can't resist those things dark, epic, and mysterious, and this comes through in his writing as he explores the extremes of human emotion, where the edges fray, and what happens when the world breaks down.

Karl carries a strong web presence, and can be followed on twitter and facebook through his website www.KarlPfeiffer.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karl Pfeiffer
• Release date: Jul 30, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458069474

Karl Pfeiffer

Novelist, poet, college student, ghost hunter, television personality, radio personality, and general badass. I write horror, supernatural fiction, experimental, romance, genre bending work. Really anything that speaks to me, is heavy in theme, and carries a strong driving story. If you'd like to say hello or give feedback, be welcome! I'm easy to find!

Book preview

Dreamland Crocotta

by

Karl Pfeiffer

Published by Karl Pfeiffer at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Karl Pfeiffer

http://www.KarlPfeiffer.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dreamland Crocotta

1.

Dark green foliage attempts to overtake the peeling fence that runs alongside the cracked sidewalk, the vines painting a shadow across the barrier between the forest and the neighborhood. It is dark within the trees. The canopy of leaves protect the wild from the light. Thick trunks litter the forest and branches overlap and intertwine. Bushes and shrubbery form a dense tangle that spreads from the base of the trees.

A coffee machine burbles inside the Terrence house on the far side of the street. The house is clean and white and fall flowers dangle on their stalks in the front yard. An alarm clock shrieks. A dog yawns.

The sky is a red aura around the nearer house that silhouettes the rising sun. The forest seems to envelop this house, pressing against the edge of the backyard. The high grass in the yard rustles in the breeze. The summer had been long, the early fall, wet. The mower hasn’t moved from its place in the garage in some time. Brown spots litter the far corner of the yard where the grass dies due to a slow-attacking fungus.

The blinds aren’t drawn across the back windows. A man named Mitch sits at the kitchen table, slowly drawing spirals in the dust as he has done for most of the night.

He hasn’t slept in three weeks.

Inside, the sun slides down the wall and the house grows brighter. In the forest, a shadow moves against a