The Temple of Dagon

The children’s physical characteristics were unlike any I had seen or heard of before—at least, not at these proportions. Conscientiously sheltered by soft fishing caps, their bulbous, hairless heads tapered directly into narrow torsos. Their legs were barely long enough to support upright sitting, and their miniature shoes lolled askew over feet that weren‘t entirely there. Blood vessels and even shadows of bone were visible through the translucent flesh of their rudimentary arms; they manipulated their playthings with only the merest buds of fingers.

But it was their faces that froze me, and drew the connection in my mind—the eyes most especially. They weren't so much eyes as they were seeds of eyes, just cloudy black discs bulging under transparent skin, not eyelids, and showing no conclusively human attributes. Other facial features were similarly inchoate—lipless, toothless slits for mouths, nostrils that were no more than dimples under vague insinuations of noses. My basic knowledge of child development contained just one reference for comparison. Could I really have been standing before a pair of 40-pound fetuses?

Hodgson wrote:Good. I've read the first two parts and I'm looking forward to it.

I have a story mostly finished and may post it here sometime soon. But I'm finishing the revision on a novel as well, so don't quote me either.

don't quote me either.