The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Pale, Pale, Heart
by Linda Lee Rice

I had loved him with all my being, with a ferociousness that I could not begin to conceive. He was mine from the moment I saw him, strolling down the street, coat tails blowing in the wind. He looked at me, nodded, and I knew I was lost.

As I cast my eyelashes down demurely, (after all, I wasn’t the slutty type,) he winked as he strode past. My heart melted as I knew he was the one I’ve been waiting for.

I followed him that day and for many days afterward, trying to catch his attention, my new love. He frequented bars and taverns, playing poker, and drinking heavily. THOSE type of women draped across his lap as I peeked in the windows. 

I knew he was better than that, being seduced by the whores and prostitutes, it wasn’t his fault. He just didn’t know that I waited patiently for him to notice me again.

At last, I followed him to an alley as I wanted to speak to him about our passionate love affair. But wait! Who is that with him and what are they doing in the alley? The wench from the tavern is kissing him where I want to kiss him. He’s not pushing her away but laughing that teasing laugh.

My knife is sharp as I slash the wench’s throat, a crimson smile dripping blood. Wait, my love, don’t look at me in such horror! DON’T PUSH ME AWAY!

Too late my knife rises and falls again, this time cutting out his deceitful heart. Stabbing it as many times as he has phantom stabbed mine. I lay it on the patch of wildflowers as the frost covers his pale, pale, heart…I turn away.

Once again, I stroll down the street looking for my new love. He was mine from the moment I saw him, strolling down the street, coat tails blowing in the wind. He looked at me, nodded, and I knew I was lost.

Fiction © Copyright Linda Lee Rice.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More about Linda Lee Rice:

Linda Lee Rice aka Ruzicka has poetry published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Descending Darkness, Writing Village, Spine, and Page, Muses Gallery, Bloodbond, Lycan Valley Press Publishers, Alban Lake, Highland Park Poetry, Rosette Maleficarum, The Siren’s Call, Edify Fiction and the June Cotner anthology, “House Blessings” and “Garden Blessings

She has short stories published in The Grit, and Reminisce, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family, FrostFire Worlds. Plus, a personal essay at Mamalode. She also has various articles and blogs published online as a freelance writer.