The Unsettling: Stories
Peter Rock
Language: English
Pages: 264
ISBN: 1940436303
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A lonely man saving library books from an outbreak of mold listens to a coworker’s tale about a blind woman and imbues it with his own sense of romance; a woman drives a Gold Firebird through the desert with a television playing "Rockford Files" reruns on the passenger seat; and a girl returns to her childhood home to spy on its new inhabitants, not realizing they are aware of her surveillance; a Poe-obsessed medical examiner constructs ornate scenes in an attempt to provoke hope in the forgotten lives of a dark and desperate city.
Told through Rock’s imaginative and wholly original voice, these are haunted tales about fascination, transformation, and the relationship between the two.
gray in his hair, deeper wrinkles around his sunken eyes. The golden cuff links at his wrists were scratched, tarnished. Both men had slender, hooked noses, thin-lipped mouths. Were they father and son? Lovers? As usual, they chose the most expensive entrées—the filet mignon, the apple bacon–wrapped venison. “Excellent choices,” she said. At first, the men’s weekly visits to the restaurant had aroused anxiety in Kristine, even dread; over time, these feelings had settled into a mixture of
the table. “I bought these with my leftover tickets.” “Is your name Debbie?” I said. “Sure,” she said. “What’s yours?” “So you know Parker,” I said. “He said he’d be back.” “No,” she said. “I don’t believe I know Parker.” “But you did recognize his car?” “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “Let’s back up, then,” I said. “I understand. You say you had leftover tickets, correct?” “Yes,” she said. “That’s how I bought the candy.” “Left over from what?” She held up an envelope with
movements behind this door?” From his bag, he takes out four paper face masks, four pairs of latex gloves. “Nothing at all,” Farnsworth says. “And it might be best—I mean, in light of preserving fragile evidence, you know—you might not want a lot of people in there, milling around.” “Of course,” Dr. Bender says. “I’ll go in alone, with these two gentlemen prepared to respond, should I require their assistance. Until that time, I will require, as usual, absolute silence.” He cannot have the
After a moment, she stepped to the single window. Below, she saw Dr. Bender slowly crossing the street, entering the Kentucky Fried. She re-crossed the room, reached for the doorknob. It was unlocked. Stepping into the hallway, she looked both ways; she could run, but then she would never know. He’d left the door open, perhaps, to show her that it was her decision. That she was not going to run was the scariest and most exciting fact of all. She stepped back into the room and closed the door,
think something’s gone wrong? Seems like she’s been gone a while.” “Maybe, it might be better,” Henry says, “if we don’t talk specifically about this situation here.” He walks over to the lamps and begins to adjust them. “Right.” Dave sits back, letting the silence grow, trying to imagine himself in another place. He thinks of Melissa, of what she is doing now, and of the hike they took this afternoon. Setting out, he’d begun picking up all the old cans and bottles they came across; soon he had