Dark Fantasy: The Edge of the Shadow
The Edge of the Shadow is an original tale of dark fantasy written by Scott Bishop.
At the beginning of the story a farmer, Steven Fuller, discovers that one of his prize cows has what appears to be a barbed wire cut on its leg. The South Pasture is the only area of the farm where there is any barbed wire, but Fuller has been keeping the Cow near the barn because he has been grooming it for the next stock show. He’ll never be able to show it with a hurt leg though, so Fuller calls over his farm hand, Hank Marsh, and asks him if he has accidentally allowed the cow to roam into the South Pasture.
Hank is adamant that the cow has never left the corral and so Fuller is forced to come to the conclusion that somebody has deliberately hurt the beast. Then when he discovers that the disinfectant has been left out, on the table, he becomes suspicious because it appears that someone must have deliberately hurt the cow and then tried to treat the wound. Seconds later Fuller’s foot catches on something hidden in the straw. It is a piece of barbed wire. The wire is not the only thing under the straw. Hank reaches down and pulls out a gun. He hid it earlier on, when he hurt the cow, just so that he could get his employer into the barn to kill him. Why? Because Hank has been seeing Fuller’s wife. Now he wants her all to himself and a dead man is no competition.
Fuller has his wit’s about him though, and he throws the disinfectant into Frank’s eyes. Hank is blinded by the fluid, but Fuller takes pity on him and leads Hank over to the well to wash out his eyes. While the two men are at the well the New York plane flies over the farm, bursts into flames and explodes. Then Fuller wakes up in his own bed and realizes that it was only a dream. Or was it? When he goes and checks the barn he discovers that his prize cow has a barbed wire cut on its leg and there underneath the straw is the piece of barbed wire that made the cut and, of course, a hidden gun. Fuller takes the dream as a warning and this time around he is not so lenient with Hank.
Dark Fantasy Radio Show: The Edge of the Shadow
(Listen to the Full Episode)