Malus Domestica Read Free

wound gushed decadent crimson down his shirt.
    He spun around to face his attacker, and his elbow caught the edge of the counter. He leaned against it, blood coursing down his chest.
    The old woman stood on a slowly tilting floor in a merry-go-round kitchen. “It looks like you’ve had an accident,” she said, her voice muffled by his cotton ears. She waved the bloody carving knife to and fro like the slow swish of a cat’s tail. “You did let your folks know where you were going to be, didn’t you?”
    David lost the strength in his knees and he fell, sliding down the back of the island, coming to rest on the floor.
    Some subconscious caveman thought told him he could keep the blood in with his hands, so he cupped them under his neck, but it ran between his fingers. He furiously undid his necktie and whipped it out of his collar, stared at it in his hand, wondered what the hell he thought he was going to do with it (you can’t put a tourniquet around your neck, you moron, you Mormon, hahaha), and threw it on the floor.
    Marilyn crouched over him. “Take solace in the knowledge that you won’t be going to Hell, at least. As you said, after all, it doesn’t exist.”
    David’s vocal cords didn’t seem to work.
    “Why, you want to ask—why? Why?” She smiled sadly, flashing those hideous black gums again. “Blood for the garden, young David,” she said in that smoky, patronizing blackbird voice of hers. “We always need blood for the garden.”

L OCAL W OMAN M URDEREDIN D OMESTIC V IOLENCE I NCIDENT
    Hysterical Daughter Claims ‘It Was Witches’
    Blackfield Times-Register, Oct 2009
    Blackfield, GA

    B YSTANDERS P URSUE A RSON S USPECT
    Investigators Find Body of 84-Year-Old Neva Chandler; Attacker Still at Large
    The Birmingham News, June 2012
    Birmingham, AL

    C ARJACKING E NDSIN M YSTERIOUS C RASH
    Stolen Car Found Abandoned; Carjacker ‘covered in blood’ Says Owner
    The Chronicle, Jan 2013
    Willimantic, CT

    B ODYOF L OCAL M AN F OUND  
    Allegations of Child Abuse Arise on Identification of Family
    Clearwater Gazette, Mar 2013
    Clearwater, FL

    D EAD A NIMAL D UMPING G ROUND
    ‘Hundreds of Cats’ Found Illegally Discarded Thanks to Anonymous Tipster
    Breckenridge Daily News, May 2013
    Breckenridge, MN

    S USPECT S OUGHTIN V IOLENT A TTACK M ONDAY A FTERNOON
    ‘He Was Screaming & Yowing Like a Cat,’ says Witness; Victim in Critical Condition with Bites to the Face and Neck; Investigators Suggest Drug Abuse
    Bangor Daily News, May 2013
    Bangor, ME

    O RACLEOFTHE S ANDS C ASINO D ESTROYEDBY F IRE
    Fire Chief Blames Over-Capacity Crowd, Fire Code Violations; 3 Killed, Dozens Injured by Flames and Smoke Inhalation
    Today’s News-Herald, June 2013
    Lake Havasu City, AZ

    S UMMER C AMP F IRE P OSSIBLY A RSON
    Site of 2006 Molestation Case Burns Saturday
    Herald and News, August 2013  
    Klamath Falls, OR

    M YSTERY W OMAN R ESCUES 2 M ISSING C HILDREN
    Boy, 4, and Girl, 6, Kidnapped by Babysitter in October Found
    Gridley Herald, Nov 2013
    Gridley, CA

    S USPECT S OUGHTIN B REAKING & E NTERING C ASE
    Police Seeking Caucasian Female Between 18-25 Years Old
    Oelwein Daily Register, March 2014
    Oelwein, IA

    Y OUNG W OMAN S AVES 2 F ROM H OUSE F IRE
    Heroine: ‘I happened to be filming nearby and smelled smoke’
    Fairmont Times West Virginian, May 2014
    Fairmont, WV

    N ATIVE G EORGIAN F ILMS G ONZO H ORROR S ERIESON Y OU T UBE
    3.5 Million Viewers Strong, ‘Best job I ever had,’ says filmmaker
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 2014
    Atlanta, GA

T HURSDAY

1

    R OBIN AWOKE TO BIRDSONG tittering through the windows of her tiny cupola bedroom. The first breezes of June came in through the open screen. Outside, green trees flashed the pale undersides of their leaves as if they were waving dollar bills.
    A blue creature lay crumpled in a heap of legs at the foot of her bed. She dragged the stuffed animal over. “Look, Mr. Nosy,” she squealed, “it’s the first day of summer vacation!”
    Mr. Nosy