Wednesday, April 6, 2016

THE THING IN THE DARK

THE THING IN THE DARK
"It was as if, so the old man had declared in that solemn manner of his, 'as if the thing that was following could see perfectly in the darkness, and had many small legs or pads so that it could move swiftly and easily over the rock - like a giant caterpillar or one of the carpet-things of Kralkor II.'

"'Have you ever listened to a large insect crunching its prey?' he said. 'Well, it was just like that. I imagine that a crab makes exactly the same noise with its claws when it clashes them together. It was a - what's the word? - a chitinous sound.'"

"And the sides of that rock had been worn away as if it had been used as an enormous whetstone."

"He was coming out into the open plain once more, and somewhere not far away in the darkness was that enigmatic pillar that might have been used for sharpening monstrous fangs or claws. It was not a reassuring thought, but he could not get it out of his mind.For there could be no mistaking the rattle of monstrous claws in the darkness ahead of him."
Arthur C. Clarke, A Walk In the Dark
Read Scott's blog-post about this story here.



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