The Night the Ferry Came Back

There are forty-two people on Inniskeel, and in winter they mostly keep indoors. On the night of the storm, the ferry comes back. It was decommissioned eighteen months ago. It was sold for scrap. It has no crew, no engine noise and no reflection in the water. It is sitting at the pier with its lights on. By morning, three islanders are gone. The register no longer lists them. The postmistress doesn't remember their names. Maura, who has lived here her whole life, is starting to find notes she wrote to herself, in her own handwriting, with the same message: do not board. The island takes one life a decade to keep its population steady. It has been doing this for a hundred years. And the boat is waiting for Maura. A short, chilling, twisty psychological thriller for one long winter night.