Note: This was first posted up on my Patreon page in December. (For folks who follow me here and subscribe to my Patreon, there are minor differences between what y’all got and this version because I went through and edited it again for this post.)

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At first, when Danae sees the horse in the canal, she thinks that she’s dreaming.

The horse is huge and dark in the faint thread of light reflected on the water. When it takes a laboring step forward, vines and thick wiry ropes tug at its blue-black flesh.

Danae flinches, fingers tightening their hold on the tote bag slung over her shoulder.

The horse makes a sound like a scream, head tossing back and forth as it fights against the things binding it and threatening to haul it back into the murky depths of the canal.

At first, Danae doesn’t move.

If she’s dreaming, she’s still at her cramped desk in the back of the store and there’s nothing that she can do.

And if she’s awake, there’s a horse wading in a South Florida canal.

What can she do in that case?Read More »