Distance

a short story by Charles Ll. Hoehnen

1
Joan waits for Alice's call. She is late again. Something must have happened to her. Always afraid of what might happen to Joan hears voices and sees ghosts.

"Hello, hello? Joan?"

"Alice? Yeah, it's Joan. I can barely hear you."

Alice's choked breath clamors above the static - gulping air.

"I'm in big trouble. I need help."

"Oh God. What happened? Where are you?"

"It's awful ... I can't tell ..."

A wash of noise obscures Alice's words. She squeals into the speaker and Joan, shocked, jerks the phone away from her ear. The call drops and the line is quiet.

New target

I've looked at the numbers and the outline again and have come to a new estimate of about 68,000 words for this novel. That' puts me at 30000 away. Or, 1000 a day for the next month.

All Shapes . . .

Winston Hardhack welcomes the werewolf with open arms. He has to escape somehow. The bottle hasn't helped, except in losing his job. He doesn't know how to be a father to Simon, his newborn son. His wife Cassandra doesn't love him anymore. He expects to die when he forces himself on the beast. He doesn't want to become like her. Feral and lusting, as beautiful as the moon, heart furious and cold as winter, the beast grows inside him.

Cassandra needs an escape, too. Since the birth she doesn't feel anything anymore; not for Win, not even for Simon. She's been sleeping with one of her students. The pleasure of the affair is empty, but she can't seem to end it. Not until she learns her husband's secret.

Intoxicated with the werewolf's power, infected by its violence, she begins to change along side him. Win feeds the insatiable hunger of the beast with murder after murder, and Case begs for its gift, that promise . . . of freedom.
 
ALL SHAPES is a horror novel, complete at 81,000 words.

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The very beginning of a query. I fucking hate queries.