Dad and Seth have their backs to me as they watch her lurching toward them. Black skin is peeling off her face in ragged sheets. Her right eye is covered in a milky white film. She lets out a soft moan.
For a moment I think maybe I won't give Mom my gift. I don't know if I have the nerve.
Then I see Seth holding a fireplace poker at this side and Dad with a carving knife. My fear disappears and is replaced by something else.
I tear open the gift and I say, "Merry Christmas, Mama!" Then I bury the axe in Dad's skull. Seth is slow to turn. Probably from all the eggnog. I have enough time to wrench out the axe and whack him in the neck. It felt better than it should have. After all, he did kill Mama the first time with his stupid skateboard – which Daddy bought for the careless brat.
#
It turns out to be an okay Christmas, after all. Mom doesn't eat me. (I knew I was her favorite.) Neither do Seth or Dad. We're a family again. It's like Christmas used to be. The whole family together. The singing is terrible, though. We'll have to work on that.
About the Author
James Aquilone was raised on Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, sitcoms, and Cap'n Crunch. Amid the Cold War, he dreamed of being a jet fighter pilot but decided against the military life after realizing it would require him to wake up early. He had further illusions of being a stand-up comedian, until a traumatic experience on stage forced him to seek a college education. Brief stints as an alternative rock singer/guitarist and child model also proved unsuccessful. Today he battles a severe Tetris addiction while trying to write in the speculative fiction game. Demons, robots, dragons, superheroes...that sort of thing.
His short fiction has been published in such places as Nature's Futures, The Best of Galaxy's Edge 2013-2014, Unidentified Funny Objects 4, and Weird Tales Magazine. His first novel, Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device, should be out soon. Suffice it to say, things are going much better than his modeling career.
James lives in Staten Island, New York, but don't hold that against him.
Visit his website at jamesaquilone.com.
Published by Homunculus House
Staten Island, New York
Copyright © 2015 by James Aquilone
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
"The Zombie Who Had a Name" was originally published in Bards and Sages Quarterly (October 2013).
An earlier version of "She Will Be Home for Christmas" was published in At Year’s End: SFF Holiday Stories as "They Will Be Home for Christmas" (December 2012).
Cover image: DoubleBubble / Shutterstock.com
Cover design: James Aquilone
Website: jamesaquilone.com
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