Ten-year-old Jason Meechum is a quiet boy who hides in fantasy and science fiction books. Other kids pick on and make fun of him but he suffers through it. That's because Jason has a secret. A secret of pain, fear, and hopelessness. A secret he wants to tell but can't.

All of that is about to change because Jason will be the recipient of something special. Something beautiful and mysterious. Something wondrous and odd.

Tonight, Jason will have two secrets. They will meet for the first time. The outcome of this meeting will determine if it is Jason's last night. Ever.

The Gift is the third in a miniseries of short stories, novelettes, and novellas by Easton Livingston called The Dark Corner. It is a dark fantasy novelette. The other stories in the series, The Visitor, The Forest, and The Basement are available online for download.

Easton Livingston is a published writer, having written articles for national magazine publications, newspapers, online websites, and graphic novels. His foray as a fiction author has him specializing in urban fantasy/supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy, action-adventure, and suspense, often weaving different elements of those genres together. He describes his writing as The 4400 meets Stranger Things. It is all a part of his Reality Imagination Universe which you can find at Easton Livingston's Reality Imagination.