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the jar to the floor and it shattered. The thick, reddish-gray liquid splattered over the worn linoleum flooring and a foul-smelling stench instantly permeated the room. |
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In the middle of the jagged shards of glass was a bulky, near shapeless object. As the two of them stood staring at it, it began to move, uncoiling and slowly becoming something identifiable. |
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Harvey's usually slack-jawed appearance was accentuated now by a mouth agape to the point of looking like it had come unhinged. |
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"My God," Cappy sputtered, "what is it?" |
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"It . . . it looks like a hand," he stuttered. |
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"The damn thing moved," she insisted. "I saw it move." |
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Harvey cautiously bent over to study the curious object. "It can't be moving," he assured her. "It ain't attached to anything. I mean, it ain't moving 'cause it's alive or nothin' like that." |
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"Damn it," she snapped, "I saw it move." |
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Harvey picked up a fork off the counter, bent over and began probing at the withered appendage. "I saw somethin' like this one time when we put an old hound dog to sleep and cut it up in biology class. Even after it was dead you could touch certain parts of the brain and get its legs to move. 'Course that was before we cut him up so everyone in the class had a part to work with." |
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