The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Genie You Know 
by K.R. Morrison 

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Wendy rolled her eyes as Brad ramped up his usual rant-a-thon. She knew that there were about three minutes left until he finally shut up. Her mind wandered to a happier hour that day—when she had been at the flea market and had found a trinket she could not live without.

Her knee nudged the side of the bag that sat on the floor of the car. She could hardly wait until they got back to the house; already she was imagining the fun she would have with this weird little item.

Brad finally shut up, leaving a silence that seemed to buzz. This was odd, because there was usually just a vacuum of noncommunication between them.

“Were you even listening?” he finally asked.

“Oh sure,” she responded in a vague tone.

The car’s tires screeched as Brad braked abruptly.  Francis, their dog, yelped as he hit the back of the seat.

She looked over at him, eyebrows raised. This was the most life she’d seen in him in…ever.

He leaped out of the car and promptly fell backwards off the side of the paving.

Francis jumped out. The dog sniffed at Brad and wandered off.

Wendy did her best not to laugh, but he caught her out.

He was furious. “You!” he spluttered, and pointed up at her from where he sat in a stream that ran beside the road. “You…mean person!”

Now she was doubled over, unable to stem her laughter.

He tried to get up, but slipped back. “Now you laugh! But when I want to get your attention normally, you pay no attention to me!” His eyes narrowed. “You think I’m simply a part of the landscape!”

“Wish you were,” she laughed.

The buzzing became deafening. She put her hands over her ears and stared at the package from the flea market. It was coming from there!

Wendy turned to say something to Brad—but he was gone!

She got out of the car and came around to where he had been sitting, but nothing was there but the water—and what looked like a foot sticking out of the slime.

“Brad?”

A voice in, around, through, her head whispered, “This is your first wish.”

She chuckled. “Really?”

Bending close, she peered into the water. Without thinking, she said to herself, “Boy, I wish I could have seen his face.”

The buzzing again, and suddenly a vision of Brad’s face in a rictus of death was imprinted on Wendy’s retinas.

She screamed and stepped back. Losing her balance, she fell into the water herself. Blinded by the picture printed on her eyes, she struggled to find her way out. This time when she fell, her head hit a rock.

Silence followed, until Francis broke back through the foliage. He sniffed at Wendy, then went around to the passenger side of the car. He stretched his head in, picked up Wendy’s package in his teeth, and trotted down the road.

The genie rode along contentedly, knowing that the dog would take him to his next victim.

Fiction © Copyright K.R. Morrison
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from K.R. Morrison:

Enoch’s Return: Pride’s Downfall Book 4

All hell broke loose, as demon fought saint, and undead fought mortal. Fangs and swords, fire and light, mingled in a cacophony of noise that would have awakened the dead — if they hadn’t already been in the pitch of battle.

Toby was looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday with family and friends. However, the day is shattered by the arrival of his sister, Erica, fresh out of the juvenile detention center, where she has lived in isolation most of her life. There is something very wrong with her still; witness her biting the ear of her taxi driver and licking the blood from her lips, and the way she antagonizes everyone around her. The other thing that is very off-putting about the day is a gift he receives – a musty tent and a few iron spikes that have been lying in the ground for years. Toby faints at the sight of the “treasure,” while Erica reacts violently and runs off to who-knows-where.
While he is unconscious, Toby learns who he truly is, and of his mission.

Available on Amazon!