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The Soothsayer
Author: Glen Gabel
Publication date: July 1st 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
★★Colin Devereaux is a teen in crisis. He’s an outcast at school, a target for bullies, and a helpless bystander as he watches his single mother wither from cancer. But those problems pale to the things he can’t explain – the dark creatures he’s spied lurking over his sleeping mother’s form, the strange old shopkeeper at the marina who seems to know Colin’s mind, and the mysterious puzzle box that the old man trades for Colin’s name. The line of reality blurs as the puzzle box opens, revealing a path to another world and a clue that may save his mother’s life. Stranded in a kingdom devastated by darkness and war, Colin joins a ragtag resistance against evil forces to find salvation for his mother and himself.★★
an excerpt
Here and now, he was living a nightmare so surreal he could barely process it. There were no clear-cut answers, no reasoning that would come close to touching what he’d witnessed, and sinking below the mire of the bizarre he’d seen was his mother—now dying. He clutched the arms of his chair as if his body were waiting for a sudden drop. He’d be totally alone. How could anyone understand it, let alone explain it? How could God let this all happen?
The few times Colin had been to church as a child, he’d heard stories of God breaking through the heavens to save his people, pillars of fire and smoke, prophets that could wash away an army with the flick of a hand, and a savior who could lead humanity to an eternal paradise. But if God allowed for those miracles, where was Colin’s miracle now? Maybe the man upstairs had given up on them; perhaps it was all a pipe dream brought on by some desperate wish to find meaning in all the madness. Colin’s mind veered to Mr. Potter. Madness. The old man, the damned old man! Could that stupid deal have been real?
Colin realized the puzzle box Mr. Potter had given him still bulged in his pocket. He pulled it out. The ashen wood box was still closed.
He said it had everything I needed. Is this what he meant? Colin again looked for some seam. Nothing. He pried at it with his hands until his fingers cramped. Nothing.
The doctor approached—a woman who’d seen too many late shifts. She sat across from Colin in another chair.
“Are you her son?” she asked.
He nodded.
“What’s your name, hon?”
Colin gagged as he tried to speak it, and his voice fell silent.
“No, it’s all right.” She took his hand. “I’m sorry to have to say this . . .”
“Sh-sh-she’s dead!” He stuttered, his eyes filling with tears.
The doctor shook her head and put her hand on his knee. “No! No. But she’s very sick. She has a severe stage four cancer. It’s spreading, spreading faster than I’ve ever seen, and it’s caused her to have an embolism—an obstruction in her heart,” the doctor continued gently.
“B-bite on her neck,” Colin said.
The doctor paused. “No, no spider bite would cause that.” She searched his eyes. “We will do everything we can. I promise.”
He shook his head no. She didn’t understand. She hadn’t seen it. How could he explain what he felt to be true? What he knew to be true? Hers was a world of empirical data, not monsters in the shadows and deals with the devil.
“I’ll have an orderly drive you home,” she said as she took the forms in hand.
* * *
The sun had risen only an hour before, and the marina was still cloaked in fog. Colin stepped out of the car, nodding at the orderly to assure him this spot was as good as any. The car pulled away, and Colin went down the sea walk, heading back to where the madness had begun.
Mr. Potter can have the stupid box. This deal is bullshit. Colin started to run. He’d make the old man explain what was happening. The world was falling apart around him, and it had all started when they had met.
He raced to the curio shop, pausing a few feet from the door to catch his breath. The lights were out. A Closed sign hung from behind the display.
“Mr. Potter!” he yelled as he banged on the door and pulled on the handle. “Th-this is n-not . . . you can’t—” he tried, but the words were trapped in his throat. Colin kicked the door hard, but it held. He threw the puzzle box at the door, and it bounced off, landing flat on the sidewalk. He turned to face the railing and the water beyond, burying his head in his hands. The old foghorn again echoed across the bay.
I can’t stand up to anyone; I can’t save my mother, can’t even talk. The brutal truths echoed in his mind. God, if you’re there, give me something to hold onto.
The box clicked.
Colin slowly turned. Taking shaky steps, he picked it up. Something had triggered it. He traced his thumb along the lopsided A on the top, and with another click, the box opened.
Glen Gabel learned to love storytelling at an early age, enlisting his friends in short films, plays, and anything he could jot down on paper. Later his passion turned to screenwriting and eventually into novels and short stories.
After graduating from The University of Southern California with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Film, Glen worked under Joss Whedon at Mutant Enemy/Fox as a production assistant before transitioning to education and earning an M.ed at Portland State University. He later accepted a lead instructor position in Pasadena, California, before moving on to professional copywriting.
Glen’s work includes selling his supernatural thriller screenplay, “The Harrow,” script doctoring on several independent films, and his latest YA fantasy novel, The Soothsayer. Glen’s most recent short story, “Where Light Has No Purchase” was shortlisted as a finalist in Reedsy’s Writing Contest in April 2022 and published in the 2022 Bardsy Character Anthology. He lives in Idaho with his wife and wonder-pup, Duke.
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