The Water Tower: Short Story

by John Mantooth

A young girl takes a journey to see what is really hidden within the belly of an ancient water tower. From Shoebox Train Wreck, this short story is one in a collection of sixteen genre-bending tales set against a backdrop of sudden violence and profound regret, and populated by characters whose circumstances and longings drive them to the point of no return . . . and sometimes even further.ChiZine Publications (CZP) curates the best of the bizarre, bringing you the most excitingly weird, subtle, dark, and disturbing literary fiction. Look for more titles in the ChiZine short stories collection to build your digital library.

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2013

About the author

JOHN MANTOOTH is the award winning author of two novels and a short story collection. His first novel, The Year of the Storm, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. He has also published three crime novels under the pseudonym Hank Early. Heaven’s Crooked Finger (written as Hank Early) was a Next Generation Indie Book award winner and 2017 Foreword Indies Award Finalist. He lives in Alabama with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Jaffa Kintigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stand By Me and Super 8 and both great coming-of-age films in which a group of teens set off to find or do one rather macabre thing and end up learning harder, unexpected truths. This tale manages that same scope of daring and learning without feeling like a copycat of either of these flicks.

Big-hearted, but simple, Jeremy enthusiastically talks 13 y.o. Heather into a journey through the woods and abandoned ramshackle houses to a distant abandoned ghost settlement where his older brother and friends have found an "alien" floating in the old water tower. They are in a race to get there to take photos before Jer's older brother and his friends get there and defile the scene.

Heather laments life in the trailer park where her single mother doesn't bother noting her comings and goings. While Jeremy's home situation becomes more clear on the journey as the duo find a not-quite-abandoned derelict house with naked junkies including Jer's father who doesn't recognize his son. Jeremy, traumatized by confronting his junkie father, breaks his glasses rendering him effectively blind and totally reliant upon Heather.

These kids are trying to survive despite a lack of support from parents and a larger community that have largely checked out. This tale is recommended.

This short story was included in the anthology The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2010 edited by Paula Guran. I've previously read this author's excellent post-apocalyptic tale, "The Cecilia Paradox".

[Malak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was scary and a bit confusing but quick read nonetheless