Five Dark Enchantments

By Daniel R. Robichaud

Dark Enchantments are brief brushes with the otherworldly, where an encounter with the bizarre, the mystical, or the surreal leave the world we know turned slightly askew. Daniel R. Robichaud has made several forays into this mode of storytelling, and the Dark Enchantments series presents several of his best (and shortest) stories for fans and new readers alike.

In this volume:
"Big Night for Daddy's Little Girl" tells the tall tale of a father's love for his diminutive daughter. She may have been born tiny, but she's got big dreams. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's as far from good as heaven allows . . .

"Dzimba Dzemabwe" tells the emotionally charged story of Mvuma, a father in diseased Zimbabwe. When an American doctor arrives with big promises, he is met with suspicion. Are his promises more than wasted air? Only a worried father can find out . . .

To love and to have lost . . . This double-tap lies at the heart of many modern terror tales and ghastly yarns. It dwells in "Ashes and Nails," as well. This is surely a ghost story unlike any other. Here is a brief vignette that covers a lifetime, a short story that encompasses a love, which blossoms from hate, and the reminders that linger long after.

Half-brothers separated by blood have the chance to unite without any differences. They will be one family, no longer divided. However, to do so they must give themselves over to an ancient native ritual. However, the "Hunter's Rite" has a price, and it will prove to be higher than either brother expects.

In "Morning Glories," a married couple striving to revisit their youth. A special grotto awaits them, a nearly mystical place where this couple first fell in love. However, it is not only light that brings them to this place. This couple carries darkness. What glories will remain when morning passes?

Daniel's prose is emotionally honest and compelling, his images striking, and though the tales he tells are sometimes shocking, they contain equal measures of humor and humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Twice Told Tales II
• Release date: Oct 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301423323

Daniel R. Robichaud

Daniel R. Robichaud has lived in southeastern Michigan, central Massachusetts and southern Texas. He is a Rhysling Award nominated poet and the author of over one hundred stories, articles and poems, which have appeared in such markets as Shroud Magazine, Rogue Worlds, Goblin Fruit, Rage of the Behemoth, Green Prints, and WritersWeekly. Daniel holds degrees in both Physics and English, and his career path has reflected these passions. In addition to his numerous writing opportunities, he has been an Igor For Hire (aka a freelance research engineer), a substitute teacher, an automation engineer, and a neurophysiology lab manager. Daniel enjoys entertaining people with his words and stories. If you enjoy a good read, why not try one of his works? You might just love them.

Book preview

Five Dark Enchantments

Stories

By: Daniel R. Robichaud

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Hunter's Rite first appeared in Werewolf, Issue 2, 2005.

Big Night for Daddy's Little Girl first appeared in Wee Small Hours, August 2005 at www.Hellnotes.com.

Ashes and Nails first appeared in AlienSkin, 2009.

Fiction © 2005, 2009, 2013 by Daniel R. Robichaud

Cover Design © 2015 by Twice Told Tales

Cover Art © Sandra Cunningham

Smashwords Edition

Published by Twice Told Tales

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Dedication

A couple of these stories have dedications to specific individuals who (knowingly or not) helped shape the piece. These dedications occur after the individual story.

However, the whole collection is dedicated to my brilliant, talented and rather patient wife, Trista.

Suki yo, Torichan.

Table of Contents

Dzimba Dzemabwe

Big Night for Daddy's Little Girl

Hunter's Rite

Ashes and Nails

Morning Glories

Further Reading

About the Author

Dzimba Dzimabwe

I wish to share something with you, for it must be spoken aloud while voices remain.

My name is Anesu, which is Shona for God has given. I am thirty-five years old, father of three sons and one daughter. If I live another two years,