The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Blink 
by Lee Mitchell  

“It’s staring at me.” Rose watched the decorative jewels on the cup.

“It does seem that way.” Anna took a closer look. “Do you want to ask for a different cup?”

“No, that would be silly.” The young woman gave her friend a sheepish grin before she added, “Wouldn’t it?”

Her friend giggled and raised her equally disturbing mug. “Well, we did decide to get tea at a place called Ed’s Oddities. Might just be best to try to enjoy the aesthetic.”

“I guess.” Rose lifted her drink and examined it in detail. The porcelain had imperfections in it that said its maker either paid too little attention to detail or wanted the thing to have some character. Embedded were several jewels. A row of red teardrops, garnet maybe, pointed up toward the top. Just below, among a row of smaller gems and just above the sculpted mouth, a set of what might have been fire opal looked like staring eyes. It seemed to smile, jagged teeth threatening.

Rose went to take a sip, but then she set the cup down once more to take yet another look at the bizarre display. She looked around the cozy dining area, noticing that she and her friend were the only two people there at the moment. “Place sure is empty.”

Anna nodded then took a sip of her drink. “They brew a good cup of tea.”

Rose tried hers, grinning with surprise at the sweet and subtle floral hints. “That they do.”

As Rose went to set down her cup, the jeweled eyes on the cup appeared to blink hard, startling the young woman and prompting her to toss her drink into the air with a scream. A moment later, the cup hit the table, cracking into several pieces and sending a rush of hot water in all directions.

Both women jumped back, and the commotion had the proprietor rushing in. The old man gasped at the mess.

“I’m so sorry. It was an accident,” said Rose.

The man frowned. “You’ll need to replace that.”

“Of course.” Rose grabbed her wallet. “How much do I owe you?”

“That’s not how we do things here. I’m going to have to ask that you make the new cup yourself. Please come with me, miss.”

“I’m not an artist.”

“Oh, please, that’s what they all say.”

Rose turned to her friend. “Kind of strange, don’t you think?”

Anna shrugged. “You did break one of Ed’s Oddities. Make something crazy.”

“This way,” said the man, and he began toward the kitchen. Rose reluctantly followed.

As soon as they cleared the dining area, the man turned around and took Rose’s hand in his. He spoke several words she couldn’t understand, and then in the blink of an eye, he was carrying her entire body in his hand, and she was viewing the world through garnet eyes. She tried to move, but there was no longer a body to heed her. There was only porcelain.

The man carried the new cup back into the dining area and set it in front of Anna. “For you, our best brew while you wait for your friend. On the house.”

Rose stared desperately at her friend, who studied her without recognition. Let her know something’s wrong, she thought. She tried to scream, but nothing came.

.

Fiction © Copyright Lee Mitchell.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com