Part One

 

One Hundred Predictions

 

1 - A Banquette before the Banquette

 

It was breath taking to behold. A magnificent sculpture of a dragon, constructed entirely from peanut brittle, spanning the entire length of the banquette hall.

They admired their handiwork before opening the doors. In the wake of the stampede the air hummed to the sounds of crunching and slurping as the children engorged themselves.

The women watched, salivating in expectation, almost overcome with nostalgia.

“Just like the old candy houses we used to build in the woods,” sighed one.

And as the orphans devoured the dragon the witches slunk off to fire up their ovens.

 

 

 

2 - A Crooked Shadow

 

Ethan had said she was imagining things, vulnerable after the death of her brother. But even he was finding it tough to explain the mysterious jagged score that had been gouged into the varnished oak panelling on the kitchen door.

Noosh shivered, convinced now that something wicked had infested the bones of their new home. She hugged herself against the terrible chill in the air.

A door hinge creaked.

A floorboard cracked.

A crooked shadow fell on the wall and slowly elongated.

Noosh reached for Ethan’s hand. Couldn’t find it.

Panicked.

Turned.

Found him gone without explanation…

 

 

 

3 - A Pear for an Urchin

 

Why would a machine commit such an act of kindness? Humans were considered nothing less than fleas on the backs of bugs. Deserving only of hurtful binary imprecations.

She sniffed the sweet-smelling gift. It was not some wax replica. She longed to penetrate the speckled green skin, gnaw the crispy white flesh, salivating as she savoured the juices.

A drone jittered past, lens extended.

Perhaps it was poisoned?

Such deceptions were not unheard of. Were they observing her with cold, expectant calculation? She held the pear in her grime caked hand, tortured by her own suspicious procrastination.