The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Regrets of Maturity
by Nicole e. Castle

Mr. Minster wanted to ride the Kamikaze. He heard the whistle of the train float into his bedroom window and climbed out of his bed to see where it came from. Under the full autumn moon, he saw them setting up the carnival just outside town. The sound of clanking metal and men grunting filled his ears. He imagined the screams of delight when the townspeople would come in droves, stuffing their faces with corn dogs, Elephant ears, and lemonade and riding, riding all night long until their stomachs ached and their faces were sticky and smiling. He knew the Kamikaze would be there. Just like when he was a kid. This time he would ride it. This time he wouldn’t be scared. This time he wouldn’t feel the warmth fill his denim pants and hear all the children’s laughter. “Piss boy! Piss boy! Wanna ride? Wanna riiiiiide?” This time nothing would stop him. His entire life he had waited for this ride to return. His heart raced with excitement. He didn’t think he could wait until tomorrow. He sat on the edge of his bed, his wife’s warm back touching him. He knew he would simply die if he didn’t ride it tonight. 

In her dreams, his wife thought she heard footfalls on their creaky wooden stairs but snuggled back into her blankets. In the morning, the back door was wide open. 

She never saw her husband again.

Fiction © Copyright Nicole e. Castle
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from Nicole e. Castle:

Amanda’s Recurring Nightmares

Seven horror writers are gifted the name of a real person and told to do whatever they want to her. In the seven resulting short stories, Amanda is tortured, terrified and made monstrous; she is killed at least once. She won the right to have this done – and the writers couldn’t wait to unleash their imaginations on Amanda. Welcome to the inaugural edition of Recurring Nightmares, the Special Raffle Prize of the annual Monster Mash for Literacy Bash thrown by the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers (GLAHW) benefiting the Dominican and Siena Literacy Organizations in Detroit. These are Amanda’s nightmares. We hope they become yours, too.

Available on Amazon!