was.”
“That can’t be,” I say, my voice undistinguishable from his. “No. No, no.”
Jesus-me begins to melt just as the others had and I quickly turn away, concentrating on the white. I know there is something in all that nothing, something alive and moving and if I just try hard enough I’m sure to see it. If I just concentrate…
My headache worsens but I see something, a brief flittering of silver light. I screw my eyes shut and open them again, focusing hard on the spot of silver.
The single dot of silver begins to bloom, spreading out and at first I think it may be a star. But then it grows fingers, long and spidery, reaching up and up and then the whole thing resolves into what is unmistakably a tree.
A sparking electric tree.
Once I’m able to see the tree, the rest of the forest is easy to create. I think and it is: it’s as simple as that.
I suppose I could have thought up anything. Maybe a city or a farm. A snowy mountain with a big lodge atop it, smoke curling up out of its stone chimney. A vast blue ocean and a warm welcoming sun.
I don’t know why I created the electric forest but as soon as it’s completed, I know that I made a mistake.
I know I have to try again, go back to the beginning, but I don’t know how. Erasing things is not as easy as creating them, though I try hard to do exactly that, to no avail. I can’t undo what I’ve done.
The rain is just starting to fall and there is a river of ice up ahead. I know because I put it there.
It seems important that I reach it before the black sky breaks open and electrocutes me where I stand.
And so I run.
About the Author
Gina Ranalli is an author of bizarro fiction, including the novels House of Fallen Trees , Sky Tongues , Swarm of Flying Eyeballs , Praise the Dead , Wall of Kiss , and Mother Puncher . Her short story collection 13 Thorns (with outsider artist Gus Fink) won the Wonderland Book Award for best collection of 2007 Her short fiction has appeared in Bits of the Dead , Horror Library Vol. 3 , Northern Haunts , The Dream People , and Dead Science .
She often watches for fire plugs around town, noting their unusual colors and distinctive features. Visit her online at www.ginaranalli.com
“That can’t be,” I say, my voice undistinguishable from his. “No. No, no.”
Jesus-me begins to melt just as the others had and I quickly turn away, concentrating on the white. I know there is something in all that nothing, something alive and moving and if I just try hard enough I’m sure to see it. If I just concentrate…
My headache worsens but I see something, a brief flittering of silver light. I screw my eyes shut and open them again, focusing hard on the spot of silver.
The single dot of silver begins to bloom, spreading out and at first I think it may be a star. But then it grows fingers, long and spidery, reaching up and up and then the whole thing resolves into what is unmistakably a tree.
A sparking electric tree.
Once I’m able to see the tree, the rest of the forest is easy to create. I think and it is: it’s as simple as that.
I suppose I could have thought up anything. Maybe a city or a farm. A snowy mountain with a big lodge atop it, smoke curling up out of its stone chimney. A vast blue ocean and a warm welcoming sun.
I don’t know why I created the electric forest but as soon as it’s completed, I know that I made a mistake.
I know I have to try again, go back to the beginning, but I don’t know how. Erasing things is not as easy as creating them, though I try hard to do exactly that, to no avail. I can’t undo what I’ve done.
The rain is just starting to fall and there is a river of ice up ahead. I know because I put it there.
It seems important that I reach it before the black sky breaks open and electrocutes me where I stand.
And so I run.
About the Author
Gina Ranalli is an author of bizarro fiction, including the novels House of Fallen Trees , Sky Tongues , Swarm of Flying Eyeballs , Praise the Dead , Wall of Kiss , and Mother Puncher . Her short story collection 13 Thorns (with outsider artist Gus Fink) won the Wonderland Book Award for best collection of 2007 Her short fiction has appeared in Bits of the Dead , Horror Library Vol. 3 , Northern Haunts , The Dream People , and Dead Science .
She often watches for fire plugs around town, noting their unusual colors and distinctive features. Visit her online at www.ginaranalli.com
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