The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Flutterby Effect
by Amanda Worthington

The singularity blooms on her wing

Ink-dense and spinning, it is growing

A tumor that eats through the gossamer paper

Of her delicate flesh

Pulling her closer to the threshold of its emptiness

Sapping her of the energy to hum quantumly

.

She whose fluttering sustains orbits

And causes the universe to vibrate

At just the right frequency

.

Tonight, her journey ends abruptly

And arrhythmia overtakes

The reliable tattoo of being

As the heart of existence slows imperceptibly

And mortals spasm

And the heavens flicker

On/off, on/off

Like a draining battery

.

The man reaches out in his sleep

His clover head sprouting dreamflowers

A vivid lilac in the sputtering twilight

And she smiles in relief

And she lowers her head to feed

.

She drinks deeply and feels stable for the first time in…

 Weeks

Or years

Or centuries

.

And once she’s had her fill

She continues her flight

.

And he wakes feeling stiff and unkempt

Not remembering what he dreamt

Only feeling the theft of something vital

Like he’s been violated and left with the aftermath

But isn’t sure where to look for it.

.

It is, after all, an absence more than a presence

A hole in the fabric of his consciousness

A message that was never received

.

What it might be he can’t fathom

And he doesn’t know how close he came to oblivion

Or he might breathe more steadily, forget more readily

.

He just feels robbed.

And why shouldn’t he?

.

Some humans are forever denied reprieve

Dream only to fuel the cosmic fire

That ensures stasis and all

The sadness it brings.

.

Fiction © Copyright Amanda Worthington.
Image courtesy of Pixabay

Wicked Deeds: Witches, Warlocks, Demons and Other Evil Doer’s

Sometimes wicked people do wicked things simply because they can… The twelve stories in Wicked Deeds tell tales of witches and warlocks with ill intent, devilish demons bent on destruction, and other doers of evil who make the world a terrifying place. What is a mother to do when her daughter is gifted but lives under the thumb of her fanatical preacher husband who will brook no talk of the supernatural? What of a demon so desperate to free himself of a trap that he will force another to repeat his atrocities and condemn a young boy to his demonic fate? Or maybe the story of a crotchety old witch with a score to settle against the town she lives in is more to your liking – what evil will the seemingly harmless town-crazy call upon when faced with an ultimatum? If you’re looking for wicked people with supernatural abilities doing wicked things, this is the collection for you!

Available on Amazon!