"Shadows' Bride"

Their laughter is the silence of empty rooms, the hush of dust lying decades thick.

---

If writing fiction under 500 words is hard, writing fiction under 120 words is even harder. Shadow Box is a charity anthology of fiction that short, and I just about cracked my skull in half trying to shave what was already an extremely short story (200 words) down by forty percent. I finally succeeded, though, and made it into the antho as a result.

The story, like several of my others, retells a fairy-tale -- but I won't divulge which one. When the story's only 120 words, it's hard to say anything without spoiling everything. ^_^ As with its kindred stories "The Wood, the Bridge, the House" and "The Snow-White Heart," though, its music was the wonderfully creepy "Libera Me" from the soundtrack for Interview with the Vampire.

Shadow Box is available as both a PDF file and a CD, featuring stories, artwork, and even some music and sound effects. Proceeds benefit the Mission Australia charity, plus a donation to the Australian Horror Writers Association.