After being born on the flat and barren planes of Wichita, Kansas, Radar DeBoard had nothing but time on his hands. Plenty of time to hone his craft of writing stories that explored the darkest parts of his imagination. Once Radar had received his master's in economics, he took his works to another level, far more gruesome than the last. He can analyze your fear, truly find what keeps you up at night, and then give your greatest nightmares back to you in written form.
You can read more from Radar right HERE.
AN ANCIENT SUMMER
by
Radar DeBoard
Marcus lightly pushed Samuel in the back to get him to hurry up, but because of the boy’s meager frame, he fell onto the ground.
“Hurry up nerd!” Hector laughed as Marcus and him kept on walking.
“Wait, you guys!” Samuel called after them while scrambling to get to his feet. He stumbled after his so-called friends, insisting, “You guys gotta wait for me.”
“No we don’t,” Marcus sneered, “who says?”
“I’m the one who told you about the cave, that means you gotta wait for me,” Samuel reiterated.
Hector rolled his eyes, “Well then hurry up.”
After a few moments of light jogging, Samuel caught up with the other two his breath already heavy from such a minimal amount of physical activity. He tried to get in a position so he was walking alongside the others, but the path was too narrow, which resigned him to keeping a few steps behind. The trio continued walking along until coming to the end of the trial, at that point, Samuel directed them to take a right through a cluster of trees. From there it took another fifteen or so minutes of walking for them to finally spot the cave they had set out for.
“Oh damn! You were right loser; this was worth it! This thing is huge!” Hector said in astonishment.
Simon called after the other two as they eagerly raced to the mouth of the cave, “Just wait until we get inside! Then you’ll really see something!”
Marcus and Hector pushed their way inside without waiting for their acquaintance to catch up. After only taking a few steps, the boys were met with overwhelming darkness. The two finally paused for the first time in their little adventure so their eyes could adjust to the sudden lack of illumination. Suddenly, an intense and sharp pain flooded Marcus’ lower back, causing him to cry out in agony. He staggered forward a few feet while clutching the area of his body that was in pain.
“What’s wrong…” Hector began to call out before he was interrupted by something sharp slicing his left cheek. Instinctively he spun around to find Simon standing a few feet behind him. There was just enough illumination pouring into the cave that he could make out the knife in the scrawny boy’s hand. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he screamed in fury mixed with panic.
Marcus stepped on top of something that took him off balance and he tumbled to the floor while still clutching his back. He landed on top of an uneven surface that produced a clacking sound whenever he moved. Upon hearing Hector scream he put the pieces together and figured out what had happened to him.
“He stabbed me!” he cried out to Hector. “The freak stabbed me!”
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” Simon asked in a low and menacing voice. His tone quickly filled with rage as he spoke, “Do you know how many summers I’ve done this? How many summer camps I’ve gone to? How much time I had to sit around doing nothing so I could gain people’s trust?” He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Do you know how hard it is to constantly starve yourself so your body never grows? So you can perpetually look like a child?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Hector shouted in fear. He took a step back and his foot slid across an uneven yet smooth object, causing him to fall. When his body landed there was a loud clatter as several mysterious things that he fell on scattered around him. With a painful groan, he asked, “What is this?”
“Oh my god!” Marcus whimpered in horror. “They’re…”
“Bones!” Simon cackled, interrupting Marcus. “The remains of all the people I lured here.”
“Why are you doing this?” Marcus whimpered as his blood seeped out between his shaking fingers still clutched against his back.
“Because I was told to!” Simon screamed. “And I’ve waited too long not to finish this now!”
As he took a step toward the two, fallen boys, an ethereal glow came from further off in the cave. Suddenly, a massive gust of wind blew through as rhythmic pulses of energy began to come from the unnatural illumination.
“But…I haven’t waited as long as him,” Simon said as he cracked a smile. “He’s waited for millennia, biding time for a humble servant to finally do what was necessary to bring him over.”
An enormous, multicolored tentacle slowly emerged from the light, pushing its form into the cave. Marcus and Hector screamed in complete terror, but the sight of the ancient being was too much for them to comprehend. All they could do was stare in horror as more of the creature emerged into their world.
“He has finally come!” Simon exclaimed with joy. “Now he will bring an end to the summer, and lead us into an age of everlasting darkness.”