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guilt and humiliation. A fat fuck of a joke. Just go to the party without me.”
    Connor watched his friend wipe away his tears as he blasted more German troops. He knew the story well enough, at least as much as Seth had told it to him two summers ago when his family had moved to town. They’d been living in a small ‘burb in Ohio, in a two bedroom house on a quiet residential street. Seth’s father, Frank, was a network engineer and his mom, Debbie, worked as a CPA in a local tax firm. They both put in long hours, they both came home tired and went to bed after a quick meal and cup of tea. Seth and his little sister Joana didn’t know how hard their parents worked, didn’t know how much overtime was required to support the two children they adored.
    Not seeing them for most of the day was just their daily routine. This meant Seth staying after school for the in-house daycare program and Joana being dropped off at a different daycare for toddlers until they both could be picked up.
    The day their lives changed was like any other. A light drizzle fell like a film grain effect from the clouds overhead that October Thursday. The trees were starting to go bare, the last few dried-up orange and brown leaves dancing to the ground to decay before the obligatory onslaught of winter snow. Seth was six and Joana four. Debbie had picked them up around six and brought them home, made them dinner, and surprised them with hot chocolate and a Disney movie from Netflix. Frank came home around eight and played with his children for half an hour before putting them to bed. Then he and his wife shared a few quick stories from their day, discussed a bill or two, and did the same. Hours passed while everyone slept.
    When the sky was at its darkest, and the moon was lost behind deep purple rain clouds, one of the bedroom windows in Seth and Joana’s room slid open. A lanky figure in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt crawled in the way a spider might enter a crack in the wall—long legs first, arms and cephalothorax second, abdomen last. The stench of garbage and dirt swirled in with him and seemed to settle on the floors and walls. The strange figure’s bones creaked as he moved.
    Seth woke up, watching in the glow of a bumble bee nightlight as the figure moved closer on the stick-like legs and leaned over him. A gaunt, scruffy face looked back at him from the depths of the hood; sunken eyes black and slick like olives, a gray beard peppered with mud, and a gin blossom nose. The man slowly lifted a finger to his thin, cracked lips. “ Shhh. ”
    Stricken with enough fear to immobilize every muscle and bone in his body, Seth felt a shroud of helplessness engulf him. He was old enough to know what a burglar was, knew he must scream for his mother and father, yet he couldn’t find his voice, as if the man’s shushing had cast a spell over him. He felt his crotch go warm and wet but the sensation did nothing to spur him into action. A subtle shaking, like a deep winter shiver, overtook his legs and chest. His teeth chattered. His heart pounded. Yet he could only lie there and watch and pray to God for help.
    The man in the sweatshirt took a long step across the room on his spindly legs, more dirt wafting in his wake, bent down over Joana and kissed her forehead. The twiggy fingers on the ends of his mantis-like arms cracked as he slid them under her small frame and scooped her up. Still asleep, she rolled her face into the man’s chest and gripped his sweatshirt. Seth knew she thought it was Dad, but he couldn’t find his voice or his feet to tell her it was not.
    The insectile man looked back at Seth for what seemed an eternity. His eyes reflected pinpricks of light from the bumble bee, his mouth twitched and made faint smacking sounds as if he were chewing meat. He measured Seth’s features, imprinting the young boy’s face in his mind, perhaps for later use. Again, he put one bony finger to his mouth. “ Shhh. ” Then he turned,