Snuff Out The Candle

By Angelique LaFontaine

A collection of 10 digital short stories. This collection includes drama, suspense and terror.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angelique LaFontaine
• Release date: Nov 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301893942

Angelique LaFontaine

My name is Angelique LaFontaine. I was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and live in the country about an hour outside of Dallas, TX. I am employed as a Mechanical Engineer but spend much of my time painting and writing I have been building my work collection for the last 15 years and it includes paintings, sketches, poetry compilations, novels, digital short stories and much more. I do not limit my writing to one specific genre but I tend to lean more toward fiction fantasy. I love the idea of not having boundaries when writing. If you can think it, in my story, it could happen. In 2008, I released my first poetry compilation. This collection was entitled Walking Before You Run. It is a collection of 75 poems that I've written over the years. In 2010 I released Sandstone and Mirrors: The Crossover. I have many more books and short stories that I am preparing to release. Besides writing, I love to paint and sketch. I enjoy working with acrylic mainly but from time to time, work with other mediums. Currently my work is being displayed in the Little Elm Library in Little Elm TX. It has been rotated throughout different locations in the Dallas area. Please see my website at www.AngeliqueArtWork.com for any updates.

Book preview

Snuff Out the Candle

A 10 Story Compilation

by

Angelique LaFontaine

Copyright 2012 Angelique LaFontaine

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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This ebook is for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be 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 recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return

it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

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Table of Contents

The Matriarch

The Air Guy

The Darkness Will Find You

The Divers of the Lake

The Lipstick Stain

The Long Road Ahead

The Broken Backbone

Finding the Lost

Gone is the Last Drop

Flooded Pastures

The Matriarch

The dirt felt cool and moist beneath her feet as she walked softly through the forest. The late night air moistened the skin on her arms and legs causing the white, cotton fabric of her night gown to cling to her body. Soft scampering noises from squirrels and other nearby forest creatures filled her ears. The sound of branches snapping surrounded her as the animals desperately sought shelter and protection from their uninvited visitor. The smell of pine filled her nose and for some reason, soothed her as she continued to walk deeper into the forest.

Slowly regaining awareness of her surroundings, April tried to figure out what she was doing in the middle of the forest. She didn’t know how far out she had wandered nor did she know how long she had been wandering around. She sensed she was following something but didn’t know what. Up until that point, April couldn’t recollect anything or what it was that drew her out of her bed and into the forest. Her head hurt with such intensity that she had a very hard time focusing but tried despite the fact that all she wanted to do was just sit down and go to sleep.

She stopped walking for a moment and looked around. She saw nothing but an endless sea of trees, ferns, and other vegetation that filled the forests of the Pacific Northwest. What am I following? April whispered to herself. She scanned the forest around, truly confused. April closed her eyes and tried to go backwards in her mind in an attempt to remember what it was that brought her out there to begin with.

April went back to earlier that evening. She remembered going to bed and feeling warm in her small 1 bedroom house that was set just on the outside of town. She remembered opening the window to her bedroom and letting the cool night air sweep into the room giving her an immediate sense of relief. April remembered lying on her bed, above the blankets and sheets. She sank deep into the soft, queen size mattress as she stared at the ceiling.

Continuing to stand in the middle of the forest with her eyes closed and ignoring the throbbing in her head, April remembered having trouble falling asleep as she lay in bed. She remembered the wind getting stronger and created a sort of howling sound that she felt uneasy about. She remembered wanting to get up to close the window to dampen the sound but couldn’t find the strength as she was on the brink of dozing off.

She remembered hearing branches snapping just outside her window and that the noise had startled her enough to finally get up out of bed and go to the window. April remembered peering out into the darkness and seeing nothing. The blackness of the forest was all that she saw and it offered no explanation for the sound.

As April remembered the events that took place the evening before, the fear that filled her heart at the time reappeared and consumed her. Standing in the middle of the forest, April’s senses heightened to such an extreme, she felt as though she would be able to hear the heartbeat of the flies swarming around in the air around her. Still though, she continued to stand there and recollect the events that took place that led her to where she is now.

A queasy feeling filled April’s stomach the longer that she stood there. Something didn’t feel right. Her skin was moist from both perspiration and the humidity in the air. The slight breeze chilled her sending a ripple of goose bumps up and down her body. April walked a little further into the forest. Her way was lit with nothing more than the light of the moon.

Her persistence in continuing to walk was abruptly halted when she heard the sound of what appeared to be footsteps coming from behind her. April whirled around and in the most declarative voice she could muster, asked sternly, Who’s there?

It was no surprise to her that there was no reply. April focused her stare as hard as she could in an effort to see deeper into the darkness. When that effort proved to be no help, April closed her eyes again and listened. She could hear nothing, at least nothing other than the normal noises of the forest that she expected to hear.

Still unable to figure out what was going on; April went back once again to earlier that evening. She picked up from where she was previously recollecting, when she was peering out the window. April remembered standing and staring out the window for a few minutes before going back to her bed. She felt very uneasy and now, very awake. She didn’t close the window before going back to bed though. She wished that she had. And for a brief moment, felt herself feeling the fears of a 5 year old, thinking that there was a monster under her bed and it would grab her ankles if she got up to close the window. Under normal circumstances, April would have dismissed this fear within seconds and actually laugh at herself for even entertaining it. Not this time though. April remembered fearing what was possibly under the bed but she remembered fearing even more what was just outside her window. And the longer that she left it open, the greater the possibility it would be given to enter her home.

April remembered immediately springing from her bed the instant that notion hit her mind and in one swift move, leapt from the bed to the window slamming it closed before both her feet had hit the ground. The moment that the window was closed, April remembered feeling relieved but that sensation was for only a moment.

Everything was starting to come back to April the longer she stood in the forest and thought about it. She remembered hearing a noise at the front door the moment that she closed the window. It was that noise that quickly dismissed the safe feeling she thought she had achieved. The noise at the front door was different though. It was a heavy breathing, almost animal like. April knew better than to go to the door, however, something inside her overpowered her better judgment and she went to the door.

April, now breathing heavily as she stood motionless in the forest suddenly remembered what it was that she was following. She remembered going to the front door and what it was that the heavy breathing that she heard was coming from. She remembered trying to use the peep hole in the front door and not seeing anything but could distinctly hear the breathing just on the other side of the door. April remembered unlatching the deadbolt and opening the door just a tiny bit; all the while knowing that everything that she was doing was against her better judgment. What she saw though, comforted her immediately. April looked down and standing on her front porch was a tiny wolf cub. The grey fur had been matted from dirt and water. It was sitting on its back legs as it looked up at April with its big brown eyes. The tiny little cub cocked its head to one side in an inquisitive fashion and instantly warmed April’s heart. She remembered reaching down to let the cub sniff her hand to reassure it that it was safe. Her movement startled the cub and it backed away from April. In an effort to let the cub know that she wasn’t going to harm it, April opened the front door even more and knelt down. She had put out her hand and made soothing sounds to try to comfort the poor little cub. As she did this, the cub started to growl in a low, inexperienced yet still intimidating fashion. April remembered looking around her yard to see what was provoking this hostility. She saw nothing but still recoiled her hand immediately.

Off in the distance, April remembered seeing a young boy. He was standing at the tree line between her property line and the forest. It was the boy that April suddenly remembered is what brought her out to the forest. She remembered him standing there and the cub turning from her and running off toward the boy. April remembered yelling out to the boy and running after him into the woods.

She remembered having a hard time seeing in the forest. The boy, who wasn’t wearing a shirt, ran effortlessly through the forest. The moonlight reflected off his skin making him look as though he were glowing. It was that glow that April followed. Stop! She yelled to the boy but he never turned around or replied. Normally, April would not have pursued an individual with such diligence but this was a small boy and he had no business being out in the forest in the middle of the night. April remembered thinking that she was going to get him to come back to her house and call the police and hopefully figure out who this boy’s parents were and demand to know why they would allow such a helpless little one wander through the forest on his own.

April was clearly not as familiar with the forest as