Bones of Change

By Travis Heermann

When Alicia Clark's unarmed teenage son was shot by police, the tragedy of that event turned her into an community activist, but now there are those who wish to silence her.

On Halloween night, a horrifying "practical joke" escalates into something deadly--until the dead take action.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bear Paw Publishing
• Release date: Apr 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386540915

Travis Heermann

Travis Heermann grew up in the countryside of Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a BS in electrical engineering. In 2003, he shifted careers and moved to Fukuoka, Japan, to teach English to young students in public schools. Amazon.com called his first novel, The Ivory Star, “a must have for every sci-fi reader.” Soon afterward, Heermann immersed himself in Japanese culture and history and combined his passion for folklore and fantasy literature. The result is Heart of the Ronin, a tale of a teenage warrior in thirteenth-century Japan, and the first volume in the Ronin Trilogy. On Ronin Writer (travisheermann.com/blog), Heermann’s blog about the writing life, he posts an ongoing series of in-depth interviews with authors in a variety of genres.

Book preview

BONES OF CHANGE

A short story

By

Travis Heermann

Copyright © 2017 by Travis Heermann

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical without explicit permission in writing from the Author or Publisher.

Bear Paw Publishing

Denver, Colorado

www.bearpawpublishing.com

Cover illustration by Shutterstock. Design by jim pinto.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. No similarity to persons or entities living or deceased is express or implied.

The doorbell rang, prompting Alicia Clark to sigh and pause Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. She scooped up her bowl of Halloween treats, with its the scant handful of remaining candies. The clock read almost ten p.m.

It was a little late for trick-or-treaters. Nevertheless, the simple distraction of an evening full of adorable little ghosts and goblins let her pretend for a while that her life had not been blasted off the rails.

She opened the door, and the stench hit her first. Death and fresh earth.

The bowl clattered at her feet, scattering candy.

She let out the kind of gasp that got the angels’ attention. Oh, Lord! Oh, Jesus! she shrilled, throwing herself back against into the door jamb. The strength gushed from her legs until she could only sink to her haunches on her doorstep.

Collapsed, half-lidded eye sockets stared her in the face. Gray flesh stretched over cheek bones. The funeral suit was stained and stiffened by dirt and the juices of decomposition. Clumps of grave