The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Lilly, Unfinished
by Elizabeth H. Smith
Lilly couldn’t permit his breath another deceit, another whisper of bent perspective. In error, Marcus tread beneath the lines, the reverse where rule had no application. Once read, died lonely, meaning gone. Only his voice had spoken clear.
Despair fled down her cheek. Red hands didn’t bother wipe it away.
His gesture of life to mark the spaces festered with his stiffened frame. His stain upon the floor would ever haunt the room. His deviation couldn’t be undone. Neither could hers. Resolved to nature, vicious and raw, the need satisfied the conclusion.
She wished with dreams the pages back, Marcus telling the story that would never be finished. But in her wispy conjuring his face distorted, split, shattered—vision of something long-dead.
Lilly closed the book with crimson marks, allowed its scent one last memory. The tale untold, she walked with dread pace, and left Marcus to death’s long and giving tender.
Fiction © Copyright Elizabeth H. Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More About Elizabeth H. Smith:
Elizabeth H. Smith is a storyteller who writes while trying to keep her cat, Luna off the keyboard. The musical group, Rasputina is her muse. She was born in the state of New York and would never feel at home anywhere else.
Through Clouded Eyes: A Zombie’s Point of View
Through Clouded Eyes: A Zombie’s Point of View: a collection of twelve stories told from the Zombie’s perspective.
They’re shambling toward you, feet dragging on the broken roadway. Arms outstretched, faces slack, they move as if they’re tracking your scent on the wind. You want to run, but you know there’s nowhere to hide.
Aware of their insatiable hunger, fear paralyzes you. These things were once human, people someone loved. Is there anything left inside them – some sliver of humanity that may save you from this nightmare? Your mind doesn’t want to accept the inevitable, a single thought consumes you: what are they thinking?
With your chance of escape dwindling, you snap out of it and run like hell knowing there is little to no hope; fate is coming for you. Soon you will see what they see Through Clouded Eyes…
Featuring stories from Maynard Blackoak, Calvin Demmer, Paul M. Feeney, Stacy Fileccia, Trevor Firetog, DH Hanni, Shannon Lawrence, Josh MacLeod, Zachary O’Shea, Neal Privett, Mark Steinwachs, and Alex Woolf
What an interesting style, Elizabeth!