The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Shattered Youth
by Nina D’Arcangela
Fresh as the glistening snow, she shivered within her ill-fitting rags. Fallen to the ground on legs that would no longer carry her, she huffed the frigid air as she stared at the vibrant flame. Somewhat ironic, she thought, the candle matched the color of the blood steaming down her face to pool before her. As her eyes began to drift shut and her lips drained of color, she wondered how many others had escaped. Did they fare as well as she? She’d believed him a myth, a story told to keep young ones like herself from disobedience. Surrounded by the glow of the beautiful lantern, the repeated stripping of skin and gouging of flesh seemed nothing more than an ill conceived dream. As the candle flared, her body relented to its struggle. She sank to eternal rest cocooned by a bed of luminous crystals as the wind whispered her thoughts away.
Fiction © Copyright Nina D’Arcangela
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Nina D’Arcangela:
Monster Brawl!
It’s time to let the monsters loose!
For this book, we collected stories of monsters doing epic battle with other monsters! The beasts could be classical by design with a unique twist, or they could be spawned straight from the author’s imagination. The only rule: there must be a clear-cut winner at the end of each story; one of the creatures had to die!
Some of the stories in this collection pit a single monster against another, while others are all-out gang warfare. Some are campy, some serious, but all a fight for the ages!
It’s time to get your game face on for twelve tales worthy of the title Monster Brawl!
**No monsters were hurt in the writing of these stories**
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
Oh, very chilling.
Thank you! 🙂