Corvan jolted awake, gasping as if he'd been trapped underwater. Cold sweat trickled past his ear. The nightmare had returned and each night the monster pursued him through the dark caves; the fierce hatred in its eyes was coming closer.

  Rolling onto his back, Corvan studied the familiar web of cracks in the plaster overhead. The reoccurring dream was directly connected to when he was a small child, and this was his grandfather's bedroom. The man had mysteriously vanished on the day before Corvan's third birthday, yet Corvan could clearly recall sitting on the bed with his grandfather, looking out the window at the stars, and listening to stories of monsters and caves.

  Dawn was breaking. He crossed to the window, sat on the wide sill, and leaned against the jamb. A cool breeze, fresh with the scent of approaching rain, raised goose bumps on his skin. The sunrise was highlighting the green tips of the aspen trees bordering his back yard and a gentle wind was stirring his family’s crop of golden wheat into waves that swept in to run ashore against a massive mound of granite—his favorite place in the entire world. The rounded sides of the rock climbed thirty feet above the sea of grain in an unbroken curve until it reached Castle Rock, Corvan’s name for the ring of boulders crowning the summit. From his second story window, the protective circle of stones looked like the beginnings of another Stonehenge or the ruins of an ancient island citadel.

  The fort he had built within the ring of rocks was his personal refuge from the realities of his increasingly complicated life. Unlike his comic book hero, however, his fortress of solitude was within earshot of his mother’s call from the back porch.

  Tipping his head against the window frame, he watched the slender pink fingers of sunrise cloud caress the sky. A new day would bring him even closer to his fifteenth birthday, the day when his father said he would come of age, and that was only adding to his stress. So far, the best part of 1952 was that Mrs. Barron, the owner of the town’s corner store, had given him a newly published science fiction book her son had picked up in the city.

  “Consider it an early birthday present,” she had said, her eyes holding a sympathetic glint. “Your mother tells me this is an important birthday for you, and I know things are a bit tight right now with the mine closed down and all.”

  The book was entitled, A Star Man’s Son, and each time he read it, Corvan found himself identifying more strongly with its mutant hero, Fors of the Puma Clan. Fors was also bullied and mocked for his appearance, but at least Fors was able to escape his situation with his loyal animal companion. Fors was also tall and strong, two traits that Corvan would never share with his post-apocalyptic hero.

  He glanced to the mirror hanging on the short walls supporting the vaulted ceiling of his room. He was the only one short enough to stand up where the sloped ceiling met the wall. Not that he liked to look at himself in the mirror anyways. At school, the other kids joked that he was the model for the skinny ninety-eight-pound weakling in the comic book ads.

  The whistle of the kettle in the kitchen directly below his room interrupted his thoughts. Corvan sighed. He would rather go back to bed and face the reoccurring nightmare than get ready for another day of school. At least with the monster, he would eventually wake up and the fear would fade. In real life, at least for the past year, his problems at home and at school clung to him like burrs on his woolen socks.

  Leaning his forehead into a well-worn bulge in the metal window screen, Corvan searched the outlines of the Castle Rock, but nothing moved. There was no sign of the creature he had finally caught a glimpse of the previous weekend. The animal wasn’t anywhere near the size of the monster in his nightmares, but the timing of its appearance along with the secrecy surrounding his upcoming birthday . . .

  “Corvan!”

  Leaping off the window ledge, he found find his mother standing in his doorway, her blonde hair pressed against the unusually short door frame.

  “I should have known you’d be daydreaming again. Didn’t you hear me call you down to breakfast?”

  “I was sleeping.”

  “I heard you holler,” she said with a frown.

  “I must have been dreaming,” Corvan said, retreating behind his bed to pull on his patched jeans.

  “No doubt you were.” She stepped through the doorway, then she straightened to her full height. “I met Miss Thompson at the store yesterday.”

  Corvan’s heart dropped at the mention of his teacher.

  “She says you’ve been coming in after classes have begun this past week. I told her you must be dawdling on the way. You certainly leave home in plenty of time.”

  Corvan tugged his threadbare T-shirt over his head. The truth was, he wanted to be late for school—for the rest of the year if possible. His head poked out just as the horn of their truck honked twice in the driveway.

  “We’ll talk about this later. Your father has been called to a meeting at the mine, and I’m going along to sell my apple cider at the farmer’s market.” She shot a warning look his way. “Be on time today.”

  He nodded, and she retreated down the stairs.

  Corvan waited until their truck pulled up the long driveway before making his way to the kitchen. Whisps of steam rose lazily from the kettle’s spout and a pot of oatmeal sat on the counter next to the woodstove. With a heavy sigh, Corvan poked at the sticky lumps. He was used to oatmeal every weekday morning, but for the last few months there had been no brown sugar and often they were out of milk. Unless the coal mine reopened soon, there wouldn’t be much of an improvement, at least not before his birthday came around.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  A dog barked in the lane. Corvan snatched up his lunchbox and ran to the front door, but there was only a mangy stray slinking through the trees along the dirt track.

  Every morning since the start of grade eight, when Kate and her mom had moved to town, Kate had picked him up on her way to school. But last week she informed him she wouldn’t be walking with him anymore. She wouldn’t say why; Kate could be so secretive and stubborn at times. Her distance made for a hard week.

  The morning breeze had died down, and the dust from the passing of his dad’s truck hung over their tree-lined lane. A red-tailed hawk perched on the weathered gate post at the end of the lane, followed his every move. The intense gaze reminded him of the bullies at school, always watching for an opportunity to swoop in and pick him to pieces.

  Picking a stone from the road, he tossed it at the post to scare the hawk away. The dark eyes blinked in disdain, then it rose into the air with its distinctive screech and soared along the road leading into town. Corvan ran his dusty hand over his crew-cut hair as he trudged toward the school. If only he could fly away and go wherever he wanted.

  The sound of playing children grew louder as he poked his head around the final clump of saskatoon bushes. His one-room schoolhouse had seen better days. It was new when his father attended, but now its faded red paint hung from the rough boards in brittle strips.

  Corvan scanned the playground, relieved that Billy Fry, the biggest bully in town, was nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief. Billy’s frequent truancy was one of the few things that made school days bearable. Whenever Billy showed up, Corvan could count on being harassed the entire day.

  Checking the perimeter of the playground, he spied Kate sitting against the picket fence around the ball diamond. The bangs of her red hair were flopped over her eyes and he didn’t think she had seen him, until she jerked a thumb toward the boys’ outhouse. Billy must be inside. Corvan looked across the playground to the school door. This time, rather than hiding out until after the bell rang, he could make a run for it. He would not only impress his teacher with his early arrival, but also be safe inside—at least until lunch.

  Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and stepped through the gate.

  The outhouse door sprang open, and Billy stepped into the sunlight, looping the strap of his patched coveralls over his broad shoulder. The large boy paused on the stoop, surveying the playground like a hungry wolf looking for the weakest member of the herd. His eyes locked on Corvan, and a cruel grin spread over his face.

  Corvan froze and looked to Kate. She remained in place, biting her lower lip, and looking hard in the other direction. He didn’t expect her to always fight Billy for him, but her presence usually curbed the bully’s attacks. In fact, all the boys kept their distance from Kate’s lightning fists. Her slight frame hid a feisty fighter who could blacken an eye and get away before a larger opponent could even try to pin her down. If only he could be that brave.

  Not to be deprived of his prey, Billy lumbered over to Corvan, glanced at Kate, then dropped his voice to a menacing growl. “It’s good to see you on time cause I gots something to tell ya.”

  “I’m all ears,” Corvan replied, attempting to disarm Billy with a grin.

  “I can see that.” Billy flicked the lobe of Corvan’s left ear until he winced in pain. “The way these things stick out, you look like Dumbo.”

  Corvan tried to pull away, but Billy stepped hard on his toes, pinning him to the ground and forcing him to look directly into the boy’s broad chest. He tried to squirm free from the humiliation, but his shoes might as well have been nailed down.

  Kate’s voice cut through the tense air. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

  Billy stepped away and turned to face her. Corvan was free to run away, but he didn’t want to let Kate face Billy alone, especially now that the other children were running over to see what might happen next.

  “Didn’t ya notice, Kate? There is no one my size in our school,” Billy said with a sneer.

  He laughed over the heads of the gathering crowd, then looked back at Corvan. “Maybe Corvan’s dad could fight me.” He spread out his hands out in pretend shock. “Oh, yeah, I forgot. Corvan’s dad is a shrimpy chicken too.” He took a measured step away from Kate. “And you don’t even have a dad.”

  The other children pulled nervously away from Kate. She squinted through her bangs for a long moment, her jaw working as she chewed the inside of her cheek. Her eyes flickered to Corvan, lingered momentarily, then she spun around and marched away.

  Billy watched her leave with a relieved smirk, then turned his attention to Corvan. “My dad says your kind don’t belong in our school. Everyone in town knows your dad’s a no-account half-breed that can’t even keep a job.”

  Corvan stared at the ground, his arms hanging limply at his sides. This was not the first time someone had talked about his father this way. His dad said if Corvan just ignored the insults, people would eventually move on, but his father was dead wrong. Ignoring the comments had only intensified the attacks.

  The school bell rang, and children scampered past Corvan and Billy to beat each other into the building. He tried to follow, but Billy slapped an open hand the size of a baseball glove on Corvan’s forehead and shoved him to the ground. “Best just stay away from school today, Dumbo, ‘cause you ain’t gonna like it here as long as I’m around.”

  Corvan got to his knees. Looking through Billy’s legs, he could see Kate watching him from the school door, her fists tightly clenched.

  A plume of dust exploded in Corvan’s eyes as Billy’s heavy boot skimmed past his head. “No use lookin’ for Kate to save you.” Billy bent closer. “My dad told her mom about Kate fighting at school, and now she ain’t gonna let Kate help you no more.” The bell fell silent, and Billy’s footsteps faded toward the school.

  Corvan knelt and blinked with his head down, allowing his eyes to water and rinse the dust away. Gritty tears slid down his cheeks as his eyes cleared. Great! Now everyone would think he’d been crying. Grabbing the bottom edge of his t-shirt, he pulled it up to wipe his face clean. The hem tore apart.

  Getting to his feet, he poked a finger through the hole in his shirt, then slapped the dust off his pants. Now he really did look the part of Billy’s taunts. He looked for Kate but she had gone inside.

  Corvan turned toward the playground gate. This would definitely be a good day to skip school. Then again, with his mother and teacher comparing notes, it would not be the best idea.

  His shoulders drooped as he trudged to the school building and slipped quietly through the door.