Summer’s End
Just as there was a particular feeling to summer vacation as a kid, there was a palpable atmosphere to the end of summer. It’d be easy to label the mood as bad with a capital “B,” but that isn’t quite right.
Coexisting feelings permeated my thoughts as the school year approached, an interplay between sorrow and tender joy. What caused this was nothing more than my keen awareness of time. I knew that summer was ending, sure. But the melancholy also came from the knowledge that good things, special moments, and youth do not last forever.
I didn’t dwell on the existential nature of these ponderings as a kid, because children possess the capability to believe in magic.
Those late summer days were marked by katydids and crickets, laying a blanket of sound over the nighttime world. They were marked by blazing fires over which I hung marshmallows and hotdogs.
Those late summer days were punctuated by the bitter tang of regret, but also the pure joy of wonder and hope.
We all still sit within that ring of firelight, listening to the popping wood and inhaling deeply of the campfire smoke. Lightning bugs hover lazily in the dark, and above our heads are endless stars and galaxies, reminding us of the mysteries all around.
I can still sense those summer days that live on inside us. Every year, we add new logs to that old fire, letting the blaze continue, even as we pass it on to new caretakers.
They, in turn, add their own split wood, and the fire continues to burn ever into the future.
Let us warm ourselves now, beside that late-summer campfire glow.
Welcome to Moon Hill
Hi, I’m Anthony J. Rapino, and I write horror stories. If you’d like to subscribe to my full, email newsletter, you can do so by click this link. This newsletter is one of many ways to stay up to date with news of my upcoming work, but it’s also a place of nostalgia, reflection, and eternal Halloween.
Stickers
In my spare time (between writing, teaching, and grading) I’ve started to work on promotional materials for my upcoming novel, Precipice of Nowhere. While I have a lot of things planned, I wanted to start easy with a sticker.
All the promo stuff will basically be freebies that I send out in my physical newsletter, give away with books sales, and hand out at conventions.
UPDATE: I started writing this newsletter a few days ago, and since then, there has been a change. The sticker design you see above will no longer be produced, as I’ve commissioned an artist to create a better one for me.
More on this next time.
Greetings from Moon Hill
A little-known fact about Precipice of Nowhere is that it is connected to the Moon Hill universe. While it is a standalone novel and you need no prior knowledge of the goings-on in Moon Hill…wouldn’t you like to know anyway?
Click here to get my short story collection Greetings from Moon Hill, and prepare for the absolute cosmic insanity before the release of Precipice of Nowhere.
Other Books You Might Like
Mothman and a Horror Circus? Say less. A cosmic folk horror novel about a elusive, decadal horror circus. They promise scares, a fun time, and the infamous MOTHMAN…
What if the only way to escape your troubled life was through a secret portal? Where coming of age collides with the uncanny.
Closing out with some autumn vibes.
Until next time, friends. Breathe deep of the night.