MICROFICTION

Back Of Beyond

It’s a pretty little place, so be careful

It’s a pretty little place, bright and warm, with no winter to speak of. Quiet and friendly, and looks like small towns did before the businesses moved out and the meth and the Oxy dealers moved in.

But there’s something different about it. Something that makes you a little uncomfortable even if you’re just passing through, and even more if you live there, although mostly people don’t talk about it.

In the middle of town is the high school. It’s new because, as the locals will tell you, the old one was destroyed a few years back. Was it a fire, you might say, or an earthquake? You can ask, but like as not, they’ll just shake their heads and say “it was destroyed” and no more.

Another thing you’ll see is that they have a lot of cemeteries, more than you’d think for a town that size. Spooky places, too. You can say all graveyards are spooky, but it’s different here. Even in bright daylight, you can feel eyes watching you through cracks in crypt doors that look as though they’ve been opened and closed too many times, like someone is coming and going from a place they’ve got no reason to be in at all.

And the people who live there might warn you not to go out at night, but only once. Because if you do, that’s on you, mister, they don’t take responsibility for strangers.

The strangest thing, if you stay longer, is the pictures you see in people’s homes. It might be a boy or girl, a grown-up, anyone really, and if you’re not too polite, you might ask, “Who’s that?”

And the folks look at you, and their face turns a little sad and a little confused, and they say, “I don’t know.”

This is a response to the Stolen Worlds prompt in Microcosm. It’s a place both familiar and unfamiliar that many of you likely know quite well.

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