stag

You all have a gift. It's free. It's the gift of song.

I loved this place. You could prop up the bar and watch the world go by

Brush snapped. The stag shambled forth from the outer darkness. It loomed above Scobie, its fur rank and steaming. Black blood oozed from gashes along its flanks. Beneath a great jagged crown of antlers its eyes were black, its teeth yellow and broken. Scobie fell to his knees, palms raised in supplication. The stag nuzzled his matted hair and its long tongue lapped at the muddy tears and the streaks of drying blood upon the man__ upturned face. Its muzzle unhinged. The teeth closed and there was a sound like a ripe cabbage cracking apart.