You couldn’t see it, but you could certainly hear the traffic - a vacillating roar that you could pretend was a river if you really tried. Beyond were a field of weeds and wildflowers, and the line of trees bordering the old canal. Shadows tended to pool there, making the area look damp even though it hadn’t rained in almost two months. He followed her gaze to the lower part of the lawn, where it dipped downhill to the fence.

Rabbits can’t protect themselves very well. Remember? I went down there, and I scooped it up with a shovel, and I dropped it into a trash bag.

Then he stopped a few feet behind her and said, “What are you looking at, honey?” He didn’t want to spook her, so he made some noise as he left the kitchen, bumped a chair, and made a light tap with one shoe on the metal threshold that separated the porch from the rest of the house. He found her on the back porch again, watching the yard through the sliding glass door. Figures Unseen features thirty-five of Tem’s best tales, selected by Tem himself, along with an introduction by author Simon Strantzas. Tem has released a prolific number of short story collections since the late 1970s that have incorporated elements of horror, dark fantasy, and weird fiction. Steve Rasnic Tem’s writings have garnered numerous awards including the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Bram Stoker Award. The following story appears in Figures Unseen by Steve Rasnic Tem, out this week from Valancourt Books.

Red rabbit book