The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
The Heart Fades
by Naching T. Kassa
The light permeates,
It infuses the forest,
Chasing darkness into deep corners,
Enhancing scarlet leaves and emerald moss,
I walk in whispers,
Pausing to breathe in beauty,
Footsteps linger softly,
In my wake,
I turn, my eyes adjusting to the dim,
Is he there? The one who loves?
Or, is it the one who once loved,
Who now craves my blood?
The demon’s words once professed passion,
They flowed sweet from honeyed lip,
My heart was never his,
This he could not forgive,
I fled from murderous rage,
From death’s cold, unfeeling grip,
Ink and paper transformed who I was,
A tombstone supplied my name,
I lived in another town, another world,
Vanished from the demon’s thrall,
My lover’s touch remained,
When I took the stroll toward doom,
My death found me in a glen,
Bursting from shadows,
He professes amorous,
I flee,
Like winter grape, his desire withers on the vine,
Honey hardens into steel and he pursues,
His blade finds flesh,
It is tipped with my blood,
My fall ends in crimson,
It stains the leaves beneath,
While he towers above,
And, turns destruction on himself,
Hoping to die at my side,
He drives the dagger deep,
The thrum of his heart fades,
Mine, though weak, beats on.
Fiction © Copyright Naching T. Kassa
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Naching T. Kassa:
It’s the Final Masquerade and it’s your turn to dance.
The evening is ending and the guests are ready to leave, but the final event of the evening is just beginning — the unmasking.
Welcome to Final Masquerade where no one is who they seem.
Stories written by Daniel I. Russell * Ken MacGregor * J.C. Delisle * Joshua Chaplinsky * Lori Safranek * D.S. Ullery * Samantha Lienhard * Thomas Kleaton * Josh Strnad * Naching T. Kassa * Roy C. Booth & Axel Kohagen * Sheldon Woodbury * Craig Steven * Gregory L. Norris * Jay Eales * Dale W. Glaser * R.K. Kombrinck * Jonathan Cromack * Brian C. Baer * Adrian Chamberlin
WRITERS WANTED!
Issue #40 of The Sirens Call – As Summer Leaves, Autumn Falls
Stories of disaster influenced by horrific intent.
Whether it be Mother Nature’s wrath or a devilish ghoul, a sprite most wicked or a stumbling fool, tell us a tale of disaster that happens as summer ends and autumn begins.
We are looking for stories, flash fiction and poetry of horrific happenings that take place in the summer months that lead into fall. As long as the piece is primarily horror/dark fiction, we’d love to see it!
Your piece can be creepy, sullen, emotive, freaky, elegant, bizarre, have a dark-humor edge to it, or simply be flat out scary as hell!
REPRINTS ARE WELCOME
Submission Deadline: August 10, 2018
Circulation: Approximately 35,000
Full page/single book cover ads for individual authors are available at $10 per ad. Please contact Nina@SirensCallPublications.com for advertising information.
All short story, flash, and poem submissions MUST be submitted to: Submissions@SirensCallPublications.com for consideration.
Visit our web site for more details: SirensCallPub.com
Fantastic, I loved it.