Esca

As reliable as a full moon tide, Old Mate ambles his way down to the chippy. It’s a greasy little shop in an old fibro shack, right by the jetty. Bay-side breezes bringing the farty smell of barely treated sewerage outflow and deadly deep sea algae up to play. It’s not a natural paradise. Bit of mangrove, maybe. Nothing flash.

But Old Mate isn’t here for the view off the jetty. The view’s at the chippy. The bird behind the counter’s young enough to be his grand-daughter, but she’s easy on the eye, so he’ll look anyway.

There's no such thing as a free lunch - and that includes samples of mystery fish from suspiciously cheap seaside chippies. Sometimes you get what you pay for, or maybe just what you deserve.

Content Advisory: Old misogynists, bit of body horror, seagulls with no manners.

This is a short, sharp little horror story perfect for a sultry summer Halloween, clocking in around a cheeky 1600 words, as either a .PDF or an ebook. 

I'm offering this as a festive free read, but chuck me a couple of bucks and I assure you it will go towards a thematically appropriate fish themed sleeve.