Linda M. Crate - Never Look Back

never look back 

she always sought

her refuge

in the wood,

but today that seemed

a mistake;

tree roots seemed to grab like hands

of ancient prophets fallen

she had to get away

from the moon beast whose howls

echoed in the trees

her breath

even seemed a haunting aspect

as she tore through the

leaves of autumn looking in vain for

an escape;

soon as she looked backward she

ran straight into the chest

of the monster—

"i've been waiting for you,"

he whispered, 

spilling scarlet among the leaves;

her screams growing dimmer

as her body fell limper and limper in

his arms.

Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently her two chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014) were published. Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. Her novel Dragons & Magic was published in October 2015.