The Welcome to another edition of

I'm Dan Cummins and I'll be sharing another original short story of the fictional horror variety.

This will be part one of a two

episode story. I'd originally intended this to be a standalone single episode, but once I got

into outlining it, it quickly became apparent that I needed more time to do the story justice.

This one feels especially cinematic to me, hopefully it does to you as well, and I really think

or hope that you will enjoy

where it heads in the next installment. I highly recommend noise cancellation headphones for the

ultimate experience. And I hope you enjoy this new nightmare. Time now for the tale of the liminal

lodge.

The light seemingly ever-present wind, coming off the cold deep water of Pudet Sound,

carried that sharp early summer chill, those from this particular area of the Pacific Northwest come to expect.

The kind that feels like it's rising up from deep inside the water and not from the air.

Green-gray waves slapped against the hull of the M.B. South Ferry as it cut across the channel toward Southworth.

Scattered seagulls soared and glided overhead, hoping for a bit of bread or some other morsel from one of its passengers.

The sky was appreciatively cloudless, but somehow still muted.

Watched in that Pacific haze, they can make everything look a little bit older than it is

and a little more haunted. Ellen Watkins stood at the ferry railing, the breeze swirling her

thick, wavy, shoulder-length hair, watching the wake stretch out behind them like a white dissolving

ribbon. Her older brother

Ned stood next to her with both hands wrapped around a paper cup of coffee. He was barely

drinking. She'd always thought of fairy crossings like these, born and raised in the area.

...