The Caretaker

A flood of nightmare imagery followed, so vivid he could almost hear it, see it playing out on the glossy concrete floors. The elk finished chewing, swallowed, then loped off into the woods until she dissolved into the darkness. A snapping twig conjured up the face of a grinning clown with blood-red lips, blunt teeth giving way to blackened roots. From somewhere in the darkness beyond that pale, thin rope, a voice began to sing.