Did You Check the Deadbolts?
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Things somehow changed that day for Judee. Maybe it was the lunar eclipse in the middle of the afternoon. She wasn’t sure...and Brϋnhilda wasn’t saying, but Judee suddenly but gently walked through Brϋnhilda. She did! The horse looked at her for a few seconds, and Judee walked through her again. “Hmm,” she thought, “this is new.”
“Hmm,” thought Brϋnhilda, “this is new.”
Then Judee leaned back in the stall, and that was okay; she didn’t pass through the wall or anything. Then Judee had an idea, actually a daydream. If I can pass through horses, and horses can pass through me, I wonder what would happen if I groomed and rode wild horses?
So, she called for Brϋnhilda and offered her some hay. Brϋnhilda took the hay, but her head went right through Judee’s arm. Yep, horses could pass through Judee.
The two friends continued in the stall, walking through each other. Then it occurred to Judee — why not borrow Brϋnhilda and ride to the Place of the Wild Horses? She walked Brϋnhilda up the hill to the arena and rode there for her first half-hour, then rode over the hill to the open field, to the trail, through the woods, to the meadow, then to the Place of the Wild Horses.
They rode past the Meadow of the Forgotten Tree Stumps, a place where people usually would go to cut down trees for all sorts of uses but not replace them. Sometime, thought Judee, I will bring seedlings here and start a brand-new forest. Brϋnhilda had a different plan — she would poop in this place, thus attracting insects bearing seeds on their little bodies, therefore promoting pollination, then attracting birds, thereby creating a new forest naturally. It would just take a little longer.
The ride through the Meadow of Forgotten Tree Stumps went well, except Brϋnhilda decided to take a path that wasn’t related to the trail to the Place of the Wild Horses. Hmm, Judee thought, this may not be a very good idea — although maybe not a bad one either. In fact, it may not make any difference, since we will eventually get to the Place of the Wild Horses.
(Brϋnhilda had something else in mind, but didn’t tell Judee. She dare not even think it out loud.}
Brϋnhilda took Judee to the Place of the Forgotten Forgottens. Horse and Rider moved slowly down a ridge, where the path narrowed at a point where Judee nearly scraped her knee against the wall of stones that were more like spearheads. Nearly, but fortunately, not exactly.
When they landed at the bottom of the hill, they meandered to a ravine where there were people, not unlike Judee, but not exactly like her either. They were made of mush from the waist down, but they were human. What could that mean – not exactly like her. How could Judee be exactly human if she was invisible to a lot of people? And how could these people be human but half-mush? How indeed. Judee spoke first.
“Hi,” she said. “I am Judee, and I am invisible to some people.”
“Hello,” said one of the gentlemen in the group. “I am George. These are my friends. We are human but we are mush from the waist down.”
“Why?” she asked.
“We aren’t sure,” replied one of the ladies. “We just became this way.”
The couple looked at Judee on her horse.
The lady’s name was Louise. She looked nervously at Brϋnhilda. “Is your horse going to eat us? I mean the lower half of our bodies?”
Brϋnhilda shook her head. “No,” answered Judee, “Brϋnhilda said ‘no’ and she means no. It’s like, you are half mush but you are really humans. She doesn’t eat humans, even if you are part mush.”
“That’s good,” answered George. “We like being here, and you are nice to talk to, but we wouldn’t want to be eaten by a horse.”
Judee reassured them by saying, “you are fine.” But she did want to know, without appearing too intrusive, why they lived in the Land of the Forgotten Forgottens. It was a strange place. There were no real roads — she and Brϋnhilda had to meander through an unknown place just to get there. She decided to tell them more about herself and Brϋnhilda, but she wanted to hear more about them first.
“Why are you in the Land of the Forgotten Forgottens? Were you born here or did you move here?”
“We eventually got here by being born someplace else. When your bottom half is mush, you don’t think of yourself as being part of the regular world.”
“But you can walk,” said Judee. “If everything about you from the waist down is mush, then you shouldn’t be able to walk.”
Louise had been petting Brϋnhilda and said, “You are invisible, but we can see you. I mean, you are either invisible or not, right?”
Judee had to think about that. What did being mush from the waist down have to do with being invisible or not? Then she understood — things may or may not be what they seem — depending on what the misunderstanding is. She never really questioned being partially invisible, it was the way she had become, over time, she thought. But maybe not so, maybe she really was semi-invisible all her life. One can only remember one’s life only so far back, right? Do you remember when you were a baby? When you learned how to crawl? Did you learn how to craw, or did you just get up and start walking? She decided to take a walk, alone. Not with Brϋnhilda, but by herself.
“Are you okay keeping an eye on Brϋnhilda?” she asked Louise. “I need to take a walk and be alone.”
“You are never alone around here,” she answered. “There is always something living here.”
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Welcome to a world of horror, mystery, poetic justice (comeuppance?), and humor. You’ll meet people living seemingly ordinary lives, who learn that their twisted activities — or the activities of other people they know (or people they just happen to notice) — have unexpected meanings in life, death, and/ or among the undead. Be careful, they’ll do whatever they have to do to protect their secrets. They could even be your neighbors…they seem so nice!
This collection includes a story of a trail ride – on horseback, where helping someone is the last thing one may ever do; an international mystery, allegedly written by one of the characters (who was later found dead ─ cause unknown ─ in their jail cell); someone who needs a place to hide; a cautionary poem for those who blow caution to the wind, and then some. In a posthumous memoir you’ll meet a family that even death can’t separate; and a morbid tale illustrating a danse macabre among a mother and her children. Then there’s gossip – thanks to a neighbor - of wifey walking in on hubby and his darling.
There’s more in this collection of short stories, poetry, morality tales, and new urban legends. Of course, none of this could really happen, could it? Well, lock up, and get ready to enjoy the evening. What was that?! Only the wind, or tree branches scraping against the window, or some animal frantically scratching the front door, or an unidentifiable figure in the vestibule…
Once you’ve read, Did You Check the Deadbolts? you may want to bar the windows, too.
About the Author
Judith Galardi’s latest work, Did You Check the Deadbolts? is her invitation for you to enter the minds of twisted, cunning, and horrifically dangerous people (just not always alive).
Ms. Galardi was a monster kid: Frankenstein (and his bride, son, ghost…), Dracula (and his brides, daughters, ghost…) and other creatures of the night, day, water, and space; and for good measure, giant lizards, aliens, ghosts and the undead − she relished them all.
She was also a scary kid. How many girls did you know who collected shrunken heads and model skulls?
She was also one of the neighborhood’s best story tellers.
An avid reader – monster books, comic books, “Classics Illustrated®,” –were her favorites.
Edgar Allen Poe stands out as one of her favorite writers. She marvels at how brilliantly he deciphered how seemingly average people can commit horrific crimes. For Ms. Galardi, there is nothing average in the capacity human beings have for both consummate good and unimaginable evil.
Did You Check the Deadbolts? is a departure from her earlier works to a world that might make you want to bar the windows, too. Her earlier works include two children’s books – RETURN TO THRAE and Judi Galardi’s THRAE BACK ATCHA!; and a book of poetry for teens and adults, PSYCHO POETRY and Shadows in Time; and a chapbook – Corridors.
Ms. Galardi was a participant in several book festivals and conferences, including: Barnes and Noble, “Meet the Author,” Pittsburgh, Pa.; Northwest Bookfest, Seattle, Wash.; two Capricon conferences, Chicago, Ill.; Marcon, Columbus, Ohio; M.O.O.N., (Middle Out of Nowhere) con, Guest of Honor, Richland Center, Wis.; Bele <sic> Chere, Children’s Area, Ashville, N.C.; Dante Alighieri Society, Lecture and Reading, Pittsburgh Chapter, (Pa.); Pittsburgh Peace Poets, “Speak Peace – American Voices Respond to Vietnamese Children’s Paintings,” read original Haikus, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pa.