Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #11 February 2015 | Page 45

egg chambers to divert attention from real one. She
checked her handiwork then found a place where she
could see to protect the eggs. She would lie there for
the next eight months without resting or eating.

The months went by and Big Meg’s mother fought and
repelled every intruder that tried to get to her clutch.
A few fell prey to nest raiders but when the time for
hatching came there were still twenty-four that had

survived. And now they were ready. From under the
mound came the crack of breaking eggs and the chirps
of infants calling out. The sounds did more than tell
her that her duty was done, they also broke the bond
that had kept her all that time. Now they were on their
own and even she would feed on the unwary if they
moved too slowly. This was the world Big Meg was
born into. A world that was made up of the quick and
the dead.

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