The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Papa’s Chair 
by Rie Sheridan Rose

“No! Don’t sit there.”

“Why not?”

“That’s Papa’s chair. He wouldn’t like it.”

“I thought your dad was dead?”

“He is. He still wouldn’t like it.”

I stared at her a moment. She sounded insane.

“Where should I sit then? That table is way too flimsy for my weight.”

“Anywhere you want except Papa’s chair. You don’t want to make Papa angry.”

I looked around the single room of the cabin. Kind of a dump actually. There were holes in several of the walls. Odd holes. “What happened here?” I asked, putting a finger through one of the holes.

“A misunderstanding.”

“Some misunderstanding,” I breathed, unconsciously sinking down in “Papa’s” chair.

She whirled, a pistol in hand. “I told you not to sit in that chair!”

I jumped to my feet hands out. “Whoa! I got up.”

Breathing heavily, she leveled the pistol at me. “I told Papa sitting in that chair twenty-four seven was a bad idea. That he needed to care about me. That he needed to work for a living. That I couldn’t do it all on my own.” She cocked the hammer. “He laughed at me.”

I dropped back into the chair instinctively. “Wait a minute here!”

“Papa’s chair.” She pulled the trigger.

I felt the slug go straight through me…into Papa’s chair. And now, I knew where the holes came from…she’d become a better shot…

Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Overheard in Hell:
Dark Poetry

Poems exploring hell and damnation. Tales of sorrow, vengeance, betrayal, and redemption. Ghosts, ghouls, and demons stalk these pages. Don’t read in a lonely house…in a darkened room by a single candle…

…unless you like the touch of an icy finger up your spine.

Available on Amazon!