Bewitched By Moonlight

by C.L. Sidell

She stands by the river—silver hair gleaming in the moonlight, limbs pale as milk.

Haru drops the kettle, deaf to its clanging against the pebbled shore.

“Beautiful…”

The kimono-clad vixen turns. Smiling, eyes twinkling, she extends a porcelain-smooth palm.

Haru steps forward. Drawn by seductiveness. Blind to reason. Only as furred fingers encircle his wrist, does he notice the watery reflection:

Nine fluffy, silver tails part the strands of her silken mane.

Haru’s yearning swiftly yields to terror as the kitsune’s nose lengthens into a snout. Claws flash, slicing his torso from collarbone to pelvis…silencing his screams forever.

C.L. Sidell

A native Floridian, C. L. Sidell grew up playing with toads in the rain and indulging in speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in The Dread Machine, Factor Four Magazine, F&SF, Martian Magazine, Medusa Tales Magazine, and others.

Website: crystalsidell.wixsite.com/mysite/publications