About the author and series.
This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks
Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.
This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/34SG7Sr
An uncomfortable foreword
It has been said that a series of short stories must emanate unexpectedness and a sense of chilling surprise. Such a collection of stories would require a character framework that is present throughout the whole book; from tale to tale, offering the reader a chance to relate to the individual characters — their pain, their horror, their paranoia. Such a collation would also contain an underlying subplot, so all of the stories connect and relate to one another, in a weblike manner, allowing each entry to follow on from the last with some continuity, while still retaining individuality.
I gave this some thought and decided to do the complete opposite. For me, each story should be read as an individual tale of terror, and certainly not as a collective.
Each of my short stories should evoke thought, emotion, and hopefully, leaves the reader wondering what the hell happens next. Let’s face it; not everyone looks for a happy ending in the stories they read. With this in mind, let your imaginations run wild, and enjoy the unpredictability; often an uncomfortable ride.
A sea of blue iridescence
In the northern wilds of Canada, Bud and his brother Mike were preparing themselves for the annual boundary check. The property spanned a total of 139 acres and had been in their mother’s side of the family for centuries, past down from at least three generations. They lived in a very remote location, so there was a great deal of emphasis on containing their stock of cattle, for if any escaped, they would disappear into the wilderness, never to be seen again. So, once a year they had to check that their boundary fences were all still intact, without holes or breakages. They currently had a herd of 250 Galloway cattle, which were unusual to their location, and much sought after for their quality of beef production. Their land was used solely for grazing, and the annual check was a job that they both hated, even though it was a necessity. Every last piece of the containing fence had to be maintained, and repaired when found, as they couldn’t afford to lose any of their stock. To the North, it was mainly swampland, and from experience, they knew that the few cattle that had escaped previously, all ended up drowning, so their task at hand had real significance.
The two brothers hated the job, as they had to leave their home for days on end, living out in the wilds in cold and remote locations. There was a real risk of Bear attacks and confrontations, the further North they went, so if anything went wrong, it’d be a nightmare.
The two men left the house on their ATV bikes, both pulling small trailers loaded up with fencing equipment, camping stuff and a couple of guns, let alone everything else they needed for at least a couple of days, if not longer. Their length of time away from home all depended on how much work was involved, and how many repairs were needed.
Last year the local bear population had pulled down a long stretch fencing which took weeks to repair, it also involved numerous trips back and forth to the farm, costing them thousands of Dollars. One hundred thirty-nine acres was a considerable area to drive around, and with little or no actual tracks or roadways, the going was harsh and uncomfortable. The first few hours were the easiest, as the first thirty-odd mile stretch was open meadowland and easy to access. This area of pasture was, fortunately, their main grazing area, and the perimeter fencing looked fine, so with no work required, they quickly continued, with an air of hope that the rest had also remained intact and in good condition. The terrain slowly began to change, with small undulating hills and sporadically planted trees and bushes directly in their way was just a pain to drive around. Shrubs turned into concentrated areas of planting, forming natural borders between the grasslands and the rough unused wetlands towards the north of their property. The further they went, the denser the undergrowth got.
They kept on driving until they reached a cluster of Silver Birch and Aspen trees, where, in the middle, they found something strange. They rode their bikes towards it; Bud slowed down, avidly looking towards a dark circular mass of tree roots. Bud pointed it out to Mike, and they both drove towards it.
“What the hell is that?” Mike said as he pulled up beside it. They stopped and stared for a few minutes before Bud replied stating that he had no idea. Both men dismounted, turned the bikes off, and walked over towards it, full of intrigued. Amongst the trees stood a large dome-shaped mass of grey and black tree roots; dark, thick roots all intertwined amongst itself in a strange and unnatural shape. Both men just stood there for a few moments quite bewildered by it, before they started to encircle the mass, walking in opposing directions. The giant root ball, about three metres high and a bit wider in length, was located in a large, yet shallow crater. Stripped of all vegetation, the ground below the roots was bare, with nothing except roots.
Bud suddenly noticed a strange, dark black ball, lying in a small dip, right at the heart of the crater. He couldn’t see it very well, so he looked around him, for a fallen branch or something that would help him retrieve it.
“That’s weird,” he said, as he pointed it out to Mike, who had now walked all the way around the roots, back to where Mike now stood.
“Yeah, that does look weird, what is it”? Mike asked, as his brother got down onto his knees, trying desperately to squeeze his arm through the tangled knots, trying to reach it. He wiggled back and forth, twisting his body more and more in a vain attempt to grab it. Bud didn’t give up, and as he reached in as close as he could get, the ball-shaped object seemed to be pulled effortlessly towards his hand. Bud clutched it and pulled it, where he held it up to the light. It wasn’t black at all, instead of was clear, with a strange black viscous liquid moving about inside of it; it mesmerised him.
“Hey, let me see,” Mike said, pulling his arm over. Both men then starred endlessly at it, transfixed by whatever it was.
“What is it”? Mike said.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a crystal”? Bud replied, just staring blankly at it. Eventually, they pulled themselves away from it; Bud stuck it in his pocket.
“Come on; we’ve got to get moving. Otherwise, we’ll have twice as much tomorrow.” Mike gave a nodding gesture as they went back to the bikes.
For the next few hours, the two men rode parallel to each other as best they could, continuing their work, but it was evident that both of them just had one thing on their minds. The large dome of tree roots had now lost all relevance, as they couldn’t think about anything else but the black round rock. Another couple of hours passed without any work required, the sun was lowering in the sky, so they decided it was time to pitch camp somewhere. They set up the tents and collected enough firewood for the night before they retrieved a bag of their mothers home-cooked stew, which she had prepared earlier. Once the food was in the pot, on the fire cooking ad they both had a beer in their hand, only then did they kick back and relax. The sun was almost gone, and the darkness loomed all around them. In the crackle of the fire, Bud held the outside of his pocket; he couldn’t stop thinking about the unusual rock.
He had to do it; he pulled it out of his pocket and held it up into the light of the fire. The liquid inside was active, moving about all over the place, almost as if a small octopus dwelled inside. The longer he looked, the more mesmerised he became. As soon as Mike saw it, he was also drawn towards it. In the orange glow of the fire, the two men just sat staring endlessly, in a trance-like state, ignoring the fire and their food which was still cooking, now at boiling point. With each drip, as their stew began to boil over, a loud hiss was generated by the flames, seemingly sending them both into a deeper trance. Beers fell to the ground, and Bud started drooling a bit; they both just sat there, doing nothing but staring at the strange black liquid.
Neither of them picked up on their obsession with it. Bud briefly smiled to himself, before he snatched out of Mike’s hand, but instead of Mike doing the same, as Bud held it up, he just looked at it, content with just the sight of it. In the time that followed, they snatched it off each other, completely ignoring the fact that their food was ruined, the fire had finally dulled down, and unable to realise that they were both so transfixed by it, that the night was passing by without them have done anything. The rock or crystal gave them both a warm and sensual feeling of euphoria, which neither of them could ignore. In turn, they had to hold it, almost as if they needed to recharge now and then. It was about three hours later when suddenly, they both realised that they were standing in the pitch dark, cold and even hungrier than before.
“What the hell just happened”? Mike asked, looking a little spaced out.
“No idea” Bud replied, placing the stone into his trouser pocket.
“Mike, light the fire, I need a bit of warmth before I go to bed. Yeah, can you get me a beer as well” Mike asked.
They stayed up for another hour or so before they called it a night. The two men were drained, and they needed their sleep, especially if any work was to get done in the morning. They had forgotten about the rock, for now. Instead, they went to bed hungry.
In the morning, both men woke up relatively early and surprisingly felt pretty good in themselves, so after a quick coffee, they were both eager to get going again, knowing that they had a long day ahead of them and potentially a great deal of work. For now, the memories of the night before, and the strange black liquid inside the rock, had all but vanished; almost as if it had just been a dream.
That is until lunchtime arrived. As the brothers sat around another small fire, cooking a pot of beans, Bud suddenly noticed a few rogue hairs growing on his forearms, which had a strange blue sheen to them. He looked at them carefully, studying them at close range, wondering what was going on. His solution was to pluck them out. They came out with relative ease and minimal pain, so he decided not to let Mike know about it. It wasn’t long before Mike did the same, without telling Bud. They both kept secrets as the day passed.
Following the never-ending line of fencing, the monotonous line of work just carried on forever. There were no holes or broken areas, and they certainly didn’t come across any more dome-shaped tree roots.
It wasn’t until they pitched camp again, finishing up for the day when suddenly Bud thought about the rock. He pulled it out and held it to the light, but as he did, Mike noticed some of the blue hairs on his arm.
“What are they”? He said, pointing.
“Don’t worry about it,” Bud said.
“I’ve got some on my arms, as well,” Mike said. Bud turned to look at him. A silent exchange then followed.
“Here, look” he added, pulling the sleeve of shirt up. They both had quite a few of these strange blue hairs, growing out of the skin on both arms. It didn’t seem to bother either of them though, and they both turned at the same time, back to watch the rock, held up in the glow of the fire.
In the morning, as they sat around the fire waiting for the coffee pot to boil, Mike suddenly announced that he also had some rogue hairs on his legs as well, around the knee area. When he explained it to Bud, he wasn’t surprised, and again just seemed to agree with him. Bud just shrugged his shoulders, as if it wasn’t a big deal.
A few hours later, they came across a section of fencing that had come down, probably due to two of the wooden stakes that had rotted away. They pulled up and got to work, replacing the poles and about five sections of wire. As they finished, Mike put the tools back onto his trailer, as Bud went and had a piss. As he came back, he just looked at Mike, shocked.
“What is it”? He asked.
“My piss is blue. What’s that all about”?
“Do you feel alright”? Bud asked
“Yeah, better than ever”!
“Well, don’t worry about it then. You can go and see Dr Campbell when you get back.”
“Yeah, s’pose,” Mike said, just shrugging it off again. Both of them completely ignored their symptoms. The hours and days progressed, they both started to grow more and more hairs, with both of the two men ignoring what was happening. The strange iridescent blue hairs appeared sporadically over both men,
That night, while they sat around the campfire, they passed the rock from one another succumbing to its emotions, while they consumed far too many beers. The lack of food meant that the alcohol dulled their senses as they sat staring at the fire for hours on end. Each of them in turn, felt the effects of the strange rock as it passed between them, slowly and subtly pushing out more and more blue hairs throughout the night, without taking any notice of each other. Bud and Mike finally decided to call it a night when the fire eventually died down, and they ran out of firewood. They were both quite drunk at this point, on both the alcohol and the power of the strange rock, and so when it was time to go, they both glided off to bed quite effortlessly.
In the morning, and to their horror, both men had a full coat of blue hair, which now covered all of their bodies. Not only were they completely covered in fur, like something off a children’s film, but the metallic blue tint also affected their nails, teeth, lips, and eyes. Upon their awakening and the fact that they had both turned blue and furry, neither of them came out of their tents. Instead, they just panicked for a while and then started to doze off again. The new growth had consumed all of their energy, and even though it was morning, both of them were exhausted. They didn’t speak or shout to each other. Instead, they just refused to come out. When they finally fell asleep, not long after they had woken up, the blue hairs, or whatever they were, went into their last stage of transformation. The men never did wake up.
As they gently passed in their sleep, they didn’t realise that even the tent had begun growing a strange sort of bluegrass, which weirdly began to blanket everything inside. The iridescent bluegrass didn’t stop there, it started to grow up the sidewalls, and up towards the ceiling of the canvas shelter until eventually, it found a way out. With each hour that passed, the bluegrass just gained strength and momentum, spreading quickly outwards in all directions. The denser it grew, the invasive and infectious new plant growth started to invade the nearby countryside. Undisturbed, out in the wilderness, the days passed quickly, so the new species grew prolifically, turning the fields and pastures a strange new blue colour. Untouched by man, and with nothing seemingly able to stop it or stunt its growth pattern, it just spread like wildfires. It eventually invaded a few local houses, quietly and subtly creeping at high speed, blanketing everything that got in its way. Eventually, it consumed their mother’s farm and their mother, as she slept in her bed one night.
Although they lived in a very remote area, it wasn’t long before its invasive spread, was reported to the authorities, but by that point, it had gained so much ground that it was too big to handle and utterly uncontrollable. Nothing could stop its growth; the alarm bells rang, causing both a national and state emergency.
About the author and series.
This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks
Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.
This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/34SG7Sr
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