Midnight Echo magazine

With Midnight Echo Issue 7 creeping up on us like your favourite serial killer, the issue’s editor, Daniel Russell, thought you all deserved a sneak peek at the taboos within, a little slice of pleasure to tide you over…. So we’ll be posting story excerpts every Sunday from now on in the lead up to the May 31st release.

Also, don’t forget our Subscription Drive, with all manner of awesome prizes to be won! That closes on May 31, too.

* * *

While affairs and one night stands might seem common place and even accepted in our media, our good old boys believe in the sanctity of marriage. Adultery here is taboo. You don’t do it, hell, you don’t even speak about it. A.J. Brown gives us a small but colourful cast out in the woods, and one of them is about to toe that line…

Just Some Good Old Boys… by A.J. Brown

Shawn says nothing more, just takes a long defiant drag on the cigarette and then blows the smoke out. He turns the subject away from his smoking. “So, you ever want to plough into a car and take care of a sum’bitch that cut you off?”

“Sure, I have,” Roscoe answers, sets the stick back on the ground. His beer can is getting light and his head just the opposite. He can feel the weight of the alcohol as it affects his brain, making things a little less crisp. Roscoe tosses the can in the fire, beer spilling from it as it flies. It hisses as the liquid evaporates in the flames. “But, I’m not talking about road rage or anything like that.”

“What else is there?” Big Joe asks. “If not your wife’s tits or getting cut-off in traffic, what else is there?”

Ah, there’s the wife comment again. This time Roscoe sniffles hard, the smoke from the fire filling his lungs. His eyebrows furl and he licks his dry lips. He ponders letting it go, that maybe the first couple times Big Joe brought up Rhonda, it was the beer talking. If that were the case, then no harm no foul. He was drunk and probably wouldn’t remember it in the morning. But this last time… it was deliberate and without the aid of Budweiser or Miller to push him to flapping his gums. Roscoe knows this. Hell, they all know it.

It occurs to him that Big Joe is egging him on, trying to see how far he could go before he got pissed. Maybe Big Joe is still jealous? Rhonda did date him for a while before hooking up with and then marrying him. Maybe…

Sure, that’s it, his mind says. What else could it be? He was jealous and he was drunk and that combination was rarely ever good. But, all the other times he mentioned Rhonda there was no one else around. It was like Big Joe constantly had to remind him that he had stolen Rhonda away. But, this time there were friends around. That made it feel wrong. That made it feel all kinds of wrong.

Roscoe’s smile creases his face. Robert must have seen it. And so did Shawn. Both of them stand and casually walk toward the trucks.

“Someone ever piss you off and all you wanted to do was kill them? Huh, Big Joe? You ever want to gut someone like a Thanksgiving turkey?”

*

Pre-orders for the limited edition print run are now being taken.
If you live in Australia:

AU$12.50 (includes postage)

If you live overseas:

AU$17.50 (includes postage)

If you wish to purchase more than 1 copy, please contact us at Midnight Echo and we will provide a quote for postage.

And don’t forget, Midnight Echo Issue 6, the science fiction horror special, is still available in both print and digital formats. Click here to purchase your copy now.