The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Thang
by Naching T. Kassa 

Thang, the honored mother, stood on the edge of the precipice and embraced the world. Though her wrinkled face, kissed by the heat of the sun and the chill of the wind, reflected her ninety-three years, her body did not. Her feet were still as fleet as they’d been when she’d been twenty. It just took her longer to traverse the mountain paths than it had before.

Thang had never been a mother. Her husband had passed on from the world when they’d both been twenty-three and she had never taken another. Instead, she had given her life to the children of the village, and it was on their behalf that she now took the path she’d avoided since her husband’s demise.

In a cave, at the end of the path, the hungry ghost lived in a cave of blood and bones. He usually feasted on whatever travelers might venture by, people who would not be missed by those in the village below. Only recently had his tastes changed to the children who played on the mountain path.

The last rays of sunlight abandoned the sky and Thang paused to light a torch. She considered pouring the contents of the small leather bag she wore around her neck into the blaze, but decided against it. For now, she needed only illumination.

The firelight dazzled in the metal of her large earrings and cast reflections of light about her as she moved. Other spirits, those who lurked in the mountains at night, feared this reflected luminescence. They hid in the rocks, covering their eyes.

The scent of dried blood and old death greeted her when she finally reached the cave. She stood outside its dark mouth and waited. After a few minutes, a shadow blacker than the gloom, crept out. It stood before Thang and coalesced into the vision of a young man. One she knew well.

“Xin chào, Thang,” the ghost said. “At last, you have returned to me.”

“Xin chào, Ahn, brother of my husband,” Thang replied.

“I hear the venom in your words, beloved. Have you held your hate so long? Do you still blame me for Hung’s death? I can see you do, but you know as well as I. You are responsible not I.”

“It was you who killed him.”

“And you who could’ve kept him alive. All you had to do was leave him. It is not my fault he attacked me on these cliffs. He sent us both over the edge.”

“And he did not return. You, however, have become a hungry ghost. Your greed has followed you even unto the grave.” She paused. “For years you’ve fed upon the unwary traveler and left the village alone. Why have you suddenly turned upon our children?”

“For years, my hunger was too strong to deny and children did not sate me. Only now have I learned to master it.” He lowered his eyes. “You didn’t return after Hung died.”

“You have taken the children in hopes that it might bring me here?”

“I have grown lonely in your absence. And I have realized that without you, the world is bland, tasteless and colorless. I need you.”

“I am not the young woman I once was. My youth fled long ago.”

“It matters not. I do not covet the carnal delights your form once promised. My needs have gone elsewhere.” A stream of drool descended from his lips. “Your grief for Hung, for the children, I must taste it.”

He rushed her then, clawed hands outstretched, his young form changing before her eyes. Long, black locks of hair sprouted from his head. His eyes bulged and he displayed a mouth full of sharp teeth.

Before he could reach her, Thang jerked the leather bag from about her neck and fed it to the flames of her torch. The smell of sandalwood filled the air. She thrust the torch into Ahn’s middle.

The ghost choked and screamed as the fire engulfed him.

“Savor it,” Thang whispered. “As you would savor me.”

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Fiction © Copyright Naching T. Kassa
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Naching T. Kassa:

Arterial Bloom

Lush. Brutal.

Beautiful. Visceral.

Crystal Lake Publishing proudly presents Arterial Bloom, an artful juxtaposition of the magnificence and macabre that exist within mankind. Each tale in this collection is resplendent with beauty, teeth, and heart.

Edited by the Bram Stoker Award-winning writer Mercedes M. Yardley, Arterial Bloom is a literary experience featuring sixteen stories from some of the most compelling dark authors writing today.

With a foreword by HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Linda D. Addison, you are invited to step inside and let the grim flowers wind themselves comfortably around your bones.

Available on Amazon!