KEEPER BY J R HIGGINS

"It was dark, and Isla acknowledged another inevitable late night of procrastination with a sigh— quickly interrupted by a sudden slam and rattling of wind. Isla swung her neck to identify the commotion, her shoulders tightening with a confident strength. The attic door clapped in unison with her throbbing heartbeat."

Keeper is the first of our announced features in The Needle Drops... Volume One and is available completely free-of-charge by signing up to our Mailing List either below (mobile) or to your right (desktop). You can also do so at the bottom of every page, and through our homepage!

For Isla, solitude rests in the remote wilderness of Alaska - with a hearty fire and hot tea, far away from the crushing busywork of urban life. Lost in a nostalgic fever dream, the collection of vinyl left behind from her distant father seems a warm embrace from familial memories long forgotten. But as her isolation begins to twist the tales told in wax, her grip on reality begins to slip. The innocuous deer waiting in the brush. A cursed mountain forming on the horizon. A vow yet to be broken.

“The keeper did a hunting go

Under his cloak he carried a bow

All for a shoot, a merry little doe,

Among the leaves so green, oh"