“Knock it off,” I muttered, and the mutt growled, and I walked so fast I was almost running. It was staring at my back, just like the dog. Something at the top of that tower turned with me. I shook my head to rattle out the stupid thoughts, and headed for home again. “That’s about enough, Levi,” I told myself, mocking my grandmother’s voice. Imogene looked after the place as best she could, but sometimes. Nothing good ever came from the top of that bell tower, or any of the thin spots in that hospital.

Had the light come from way up at the top? I slowed down even though I knew I shouldn’t, and I got a new case of the shivers. The back of my neck got the shivers, and that idiot dog growled again. I glanced toward the psychiatric hospital. Something flickered in the distance, winking between black pines and oaks. Maybe it was a baseball player, but I couldn’t remember which one. It was dark, but the moon was bright, and I knew the way.ĭon’t look back. Above the trees on my left, the old asylum’s bell tower hid the stars. It was November, and already cold in Never, Kentucky. I kept hold of my bag and walked faster, cutting in front of Lincoln Psychiatric Hospital.

Its eyes were too black, or maybe its teeth were too white. It was a beagle with floppy ears and a tail that didn’t wag. Death’s walkin’ on two legs.īut I had gone out, because I wanted some Slim Jims and peanuts and a Coke, and now I had a mutt following me home. I would have stopped to give it some love, but I had to get back before Imogene started to worry.ĭon’t go out tonight, boy. I saw it when I left the store, nothing but a little thing.

Insanity by Susan Vaught