The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Anything for Art 
by Elaine Pascale 

You believed the wood spoke to you.

At first, the voice guided you on design. It told you what to carve: a bird house, a chess set, aesthetic shelves. It was more than seeing shapes in the lumber, it was hearing actual words uttered in a very real voice that seemed to come from the wood.

Then, it promised sales, revenue, income…riches. The voice knew how to get you in front of the right people. The voice knew how to infiltrate a high-demand market.

The voice in the wood didn’t mind the bandsaw. It said that pain is an integral part of art. The voice hummed as you cut into the timber. It sang through the scorching slices.

“It’s for art,” it said as it instructed you to cut puzzle pieces. “Anything for art.”

Overtime, the voice weakened. Your pieces no longer sold.

It is now the saw that talks to you. It’s teeth gleam with hunger. It tells you that sacrifices are necessary. It reminds you, “anything for art.”

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Fiction © Copyright Elaine Pascale
Image courtesy of Pixaby.com

More from Elaine Pascale:

The Kitchen Witches

The women of Cape Cod have a story that is dying to be told. If only they could live long enough to tell it.

When Fiona Walker is contracted to write about a party attended by her social circle, her friends begin dying. She captures the competition and misery of the women around her through three different stories.

In Wishes, Melanie Voss discovers a Time Between Time where nothing that happens counts. Initially, Time Between Time is a welcome escape from a life spent watching the clock while doing chores for her family. But something sinister is in the Time Between Time and it is headed straight for Melanie.

Death and Taxes tells the story of Nashville DeCota, the Cape Capo. Nash swears that she is not the Island Impaler, nor the Tooth Snatcher, but she has just as many skeletons in her closet. When her husband, Derrick, is kidnapped, she has to come clean about her crimes if she ever wants to see him again.

Fiona tells her own story in Hazing, where she finds that the real source of evil behind the deaths of her friends is worse than she could have ever imagined.

Available on Amazon!