Bitter Blossoms · A Tale of Horror

It’s the Cherry Blossom festival in Washington, D.C., and two old friends gather for a meal, but there is darkness in the night, and this gathering will end not as friends might wish. Carlysle’s brilliant handling of atmosphere, pathos, and setting bring a steady increase in an unexplainable sense of unease that explodes in the final paragraphs to a shocking and terrifying conclusion.

Warning: This ebook contains very disturbing and horrific content and parents should read this story prior to allowing a child in their care to do the same.

Here is a preview:

Arthur smiled. “It’s the Cherry Blossom festival, Thomas. If the rest of the hotel is going to decorate and put Japanese art everywhere, so should we, right?” Arthur nodded, grudgingly, but used the provided chopsticks to take a thin disk of meat and place it in his mouth. His eyes lit up and Thomas felt pride and a bit of the old familiar pleasure he missed from his days as a culinary student.

“What’s the price point of this dish? God, it’s really good.”

“Always the auditor, Tommy. Can’t you just enjoy a meal?” Arthur smiled as he took a second bite and shook his head. “Oh fine. It’s part of a special tasting menu just for the festival, but if I were to price it separately, I would put it at eleven ninety-nine.”

“It tastes better than a twelve dollar appetizer. Jesus, we charge that much for a goddam Caesar salad.”

Arthur nodded. “Ah, but I know how to procure my supplies. If I keep food cost low, I can do anything.” He noticed Thomas’ glass was empty and poured another. “Did you see the two of us working together, Tommy? Did you see us ever working together?”

It was unexpected and somewhat bittersweet to see the way the stress that Thomas ordinarily carried with him like the busboys carried trays of dirty six-top dishes fade suddenly from his features. “You mean back in high school or college, Art?”

He hadn’t called him Art in half a decade. “I mean in college, when it became clear I wasn’t going to stay focused on business and you were transitioning away from operations into risk management anyway.”

Thomas chuckled softly. “I thought you were crazy. The failure rate of restaurants was like seventy-four percent back then, and I thought Lanie would never stay with you.” He shook his head. “I guess I figured on you failing for a decade and then me getting you a job wherever I ended up. Who would’ve guessed we’d end up in the same place?”