The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Always Listen to Your Cat
by A.F. Stewart
“What do we do now?” Elise’s voice trembled and the five-year-old squeezed her big sister’s hand. Beside her, Max their cat meowed.
“I don’t know.” Cindy, as scared as her sister but trying to be brave, glanced at their pet. The cat had known. It had led them away to this hilltop. “We might go live with Aunt Ruth.”
“Do you think our wish came true?” Elise squeezed Cindy’s hand tighter.
“Maybe.” Cindy stared at the cat, who licked his paw. Max had taken them to that weird stone in the woods. The one that glowed when they made a wish.
“But all the bad people are gone, right?” Elise persisted in talking. “Mommy and Daddy are gone? They won’t hurt us anymore?”
“They won’t hurt us ever again.” Cindy looked around. Other children, pets, families stood on other hills, roads and fields beyond where they had lived.
We all look the same. Confused and scared. I wonder how many others made wishes?
Cindy shivered.
Elise picked up Max and moved closer. The cat purred loudly. “Do you think the adults will know what to do?”
Cindy shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.” The two of them stared as Max purred. Smoke rose from below. “I’m not sure anyone knows what to do after the monsters eat your town.”
Fiction © Copyright A.F. Stewart
Image courtesy of Christina Sng
More from A.F. Stewart:
Visions and Nightmares
Tragedy spares no one… and takes no prisoners.
In the twilight shadows, secrets are revealed past the whispers of madness.
Wander into the realm of the old gods with Elenora, where humanity and marriage are a prison.
Step through a looking glass of dark horrors with an Alice you never knew.
Join with Zenna to seek the truth as her death by magic grows closer.
Journey with Olivia as she crosses paths with a monster of the forest and runs for her life.
Watch Isobel summon the faerie to solve her problem of an unwanted husband.
Shiver as Doctor Killbride experiments with corpses to create life from death.
All that and more await within the pages.
Ten stories. Ten women.
Who will survive? Who will fall? And who will succumb to their inner evil?
Find out in Visions and Nightmares.
Warning: This book contains disturbing scenes that may be upsetting to some readers.
Spreading the Writer's Word 
A nice little naughty horror tale!
Great story, as always – good fit for the prompt and wonderfully complete in the short word count. It works as-is but I’m interested in the hint that their parents might be “bad people” and who/what the monsters are – it has a lot of potential for expansion. 🙂