The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Dawn Comes in Blood 
by Rie Sheridan Rose 

Is there anything more beautiful than the dawn?

For many years, I was heralded thus. Until I reached sixteen summers, the entire village marveled at my beauty and extolled my virtues. But when my birth celebration was held that year, I noticed strange looks in the eyes that had looked upon me fondly. The women were tight-lipped and bore me down beneath the scorn of their glances. The men—I preferred the scorn. At least I could name it. The men looked at me with eyes more akin to the wolves than humans.

It was a dry summer, and the crops failed in the fields. The lakebed dried its skirts until only puddles remained. I began to hear whispers whenever I walked by. And all the eyes grew cold.

We survived the winter, but plague decimated the village. There was no house not wreathed in sorrow. I lost both my parents to the sickness. The whispers grew louder, decrying my ownership of such a large plot of land and sturdy house when there was no one else to share it. Rumors ranged that I had caused the illness to better my situation through sorcery and stealth.

I seldom ventured beyond the walls of my compound.

Now, the year has turned. Spring is once more upon us. What should be a time of renewal and rebirth has turned dark. There are no whispers now. There are shouts outside my window, and they cry for a sacrifice.

I can see the hill from here, as the day begins to brighten. The clouds are tinged with the rising sun, matching the pink flowers pooling like blood along the path. I am tired. I do not like the new order of things. Let someone else worry how to keep this house standing, how to grow crops on stone, how to fill a lake dried by mismanagement.

Let them come.

The dawn comes in blood, and they shall greet it with mine—but they are fools if they think that will change things. Death will only make me stronger.

.

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!