Brittle Bones and Old Rope: A Short Story

By Alan M. Clark

World Fantasy Award-winner Alan M. Clark brings you “Brittle Bones and old Rope,” the story of a dead little boy’s search for meaning. Dylan and his companions, seven other dead individuals, occupy a country cemetery. To leave the confines of the cemetery is to “pass on,” as they call it, but it is unclear what that means. An unaccountable pain that grows worse with time eventually forces everyone to pass on. Those who have, seem to disappear upon leaving the graveyard and may merely cease to exist. Dylan has been dead for a long time, longer than he lived. He resists the pain and is unwilling to go to whatever lies beyond death without first understanding the purpose of his existence. He cannot endure the thought that his life and death have meant nothing, and he is determined to perform some act that will give his existence worth before passing on.

Alan M. Clark

• Language: English
• Publisher: Imagination Fully Dilated Publishing
• Release date: Jan 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452472560

Alan M. Clark

Alan M. Clark grew up in Tennessee in a house full of bones and old medical books. He has created illustrations for hundreds of books, including works of fiction of various genres, nonfiction, textbooks, young adult fiction, and children’s books. Awards for his illustration work include the World Fantasy Award and four Chesley Awards. He is the author of 14 books, including eight novels, a lavishly illustrated novella, four collections of fiction, and a nonfiction full-color book of his artwork. His latest novel, SAY ANYTHING BUT YOUR PRAYERS, was released by Lazy Fascist Press in August, 2014. He is an Associate Editor for Broken River Books, a Portland, Oregon publisher of crime fiction. Mr. Clark's company, IFD Publishing, has released 6 traditional books and 25 ebooks by such authors as F. Paul Wilson, Elizabeth Engstrom, and Jeremy Robert Johnson. Alan M. Clark and his wife, Melody, live in Oregon. www.alanmclark.com

Book preview

Brittle Bones and Old Rope

IFD Publishing, P.O. Box 40776, Eugene, Oregon 97404 U.S.A. [phone] www.ifdpublishing.com

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

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This is a work of fiction. The characters have been created for the sake of this story and are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Art Copyright © 2011 by Alan M. Clark

eBook Design, Eric M. Witchey

Originally printed in the collection, Boneyard Babies.

This eBook edition, Copyright © 2012 by Alan M. Clark

Produced by IFD Publishing

eBook ISBN: 978-1-4524-7256-0

Originally Printed in the United States of America

Introduction

I first wrote about the dead little boy, Dylan, in the novella I wrote with Gary