Tag Archive for: Francesco Levato

What Remains

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by Francesco Levato

This isn’t a gateway to hell. It’s not one of those bridges. There are no billy goats crossing, or hungry trolls lying in wait. If you approach on a moonlit night, no ghostly figure beckons you across or chases you down on horseback, its sword slicing at your head. I’ve come here a thousand times—and have yet to hear the disembodied cries of school children as their bus careens over the edge.

It is ordinary, I remind myself. The stillness here is not unnatural. There really is no shadow under the bridge—lurking near where they found Bobby’s shoe.

Francesco Levato

Francesco Levato is a poet, professor, and writer of speculative fiction. More about his work can be found here:

Website: francescolevato.com

 

The Walker

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by Francesco Levato

The growling was ragged and wet, like a frenzy of teeth tearing a child’s beloved toy apart. It set my senses on edge, broke the neighbourhood’s pre-dawn stillness—and it was getting closer.

The pack rounded the corner, thundering into the haze of the streetlight. As it closed on me, I could make out individual forms; dog-like, but far too big for the leashes they strained against—and their eyes, too much like embers. Behind them dragged a corpse, still clutching the leashes.

I felt lightheaded, insubstantial. Who walks dogs at devil’s hour? Why was the corpse wearing my clothes?

Francesco Levato

Francesco Levato is a poet, professor, and writer of speculative fiction. More about his work can be found here:

Website: francescolevato.com

 

YEAR FIVE

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