By The Waterfall

By Freddy MacKay

An innocent hiker crosses paths with a creature long forgotten in human memory, except in folklore. 

Humans, so brave and reckless. All ego with short-term memories. Sten has not seen one for ages. His home by the waterfall has been forgotten and worn down as he felt his spirit, thin and fragile, a fraction away from splintering. With his violin in hand, Sten intends to play one last song farewell then it is time to move on.

But a young man interrupts his solo, insisting Sten teach him the song instead.

Publisher's Note: This novelette is for readers who enjoy the thrill of a suspenseful campfire story and want a little spook in their Halloween.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mischief Corner Books
• Release date: Oct 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393377528

Freddy MacKay

Freddy is a bisexual, biromantic, genderfluid nerd and geek who grew up in the Midwest playing soccer, diving, swimming and doing gymnastics, along with running around outside as much as possible—preferably spending that time in swamps and hiking through forests. The haphazard escapades have not changed, except some of them have been replaced with a healthy geocaching addiction and a love for Science Fiction and Fantasy. This love of SFF developed into a writing passion and has led to several awards in the gay science fiction and fantasy categories. Freddy likes worms, dancing and being outside... and toll passes, but you'll have to ask on that one. (They/Them/Their pronouns.)

Book preview

By the Waterfall

By the Waterfall

Freddy MacKay

Edited by

Erika Orrick

Mischief Corner Books, LLC

Copyright

About the Book You Have Purchased:

This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the authors. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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Cover Artist: Freddy MacKay

Editor: Erika Orrick

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First Edition

By The Waterfall © 2020 Freddy MacKay

All Rights Reserved.

Published in the United States of America.

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: By The Waterfall is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are fictionalized. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The story contains explicit sexual content and is intended for adult readers.

Any person depicted in the Licensed Art Material is a model and is being used solely for illustrative purposes.

PUBLISHER

Mischief Corner Books, LLC

Blurb

An innocent hiker crosses paths with a creature long-forgotten from human memory, except in folklore.

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Humans, so brave and reckless. All ego with short-term memories. Sten has not seen one for ages. His home by the waterfall forgotten and worn down as he felt, his spirit thin and fragile, a fraction away from splintering. With his violin in hand, Sten intends to play one last song farewell then it is time to move on.

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But a young man interrupts his solo, insisting Sten teaches him the song instead.

Publisher's Note

This novelette is for readers who enjoy the thrill of a suspenseful campfire story and want a little spook in their Halloween.

Contents

By The Waterfall

Thank you Readers!

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About Freddy MacKay

Also by Freddy MacKay

About Mischief Corner Books

Dedication

For the Halloween and campfire story lovers like my family.

By The Waterfall

Amusing, humans. All ego.

They prayed to their gods, ran from their demons, and pretended not to see what they couldn't explain. All the while, they hoped their lives were something more, because none of them wanted to be just a husk in the ground.

People wanted to be remembered. Needed to be. They needed to leave a footprint, proof. If others ever showed up on earth's doorstep, they would want not just the galaxy's inhabitants to know about them, humans wanted recognition from the entire universe.

They certainly had left their mark—a nasty brown, black, green, and red footprint that poisoned the earth and themselves. For thousands of years the humans had ruled, and they had managed to fuck it up in under a hundred with no idea of how much damage had been done.

So proud. So utterly naïve.

Humans had evolved so far that they didn't remember an earth when it was wild. Not like Sten. When they weren't the top predators who could selectively pick which species would die and which would live. When Mother Nature's bounty lived side by side with them, not trampled underfoot.

Every time a human found him, they showed him their new technology, proud of their accomplishments—how far they'd come. But the more technology they brought, the weaker their minds seemed. The less they felt and understood.

Sten wanted put out a big sign by his cave—Welcome to the Dark Ages of Misinformation and Technology. Few would probably get it. The handful that did would only shake their heads and laugh nervously, because who would be cruel enough to admit such ignorance aloud?

The potential their elastic minds once showed was gone. Lost and buried along with any other ingenuity they once possessed. Sten would've been more than