The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Heart Enigma 
by Lee Mitchell  

All had been quiet, offering no indication as to when the anonymous guest had left the four-piece, heart-shaped jigsaw puzzle behind. It sat along the side of the timber pile, where Cindy could spot it as soon as she exited the cottage. The wooden gift had obviously been placed with care, but with no note nor any other evidence that anyone had been on the property.

The puzzle, carved out of cedar and pine, was about the size of Cindy’s palm. Each flat block had been perfectly cut, with a circular indentation on one side and a matching protrusion on the other. The shapes came together to form an interlocking pattern, alternating in light and dark wood, each piece unique while both emulating and opposing its neighbors.

The young woman lifted the puzzle from its spot, keeping the pieces together to admire the work. Mark was a master woodworker, so it only made sense that this was his doing. And the message seemed clear: My heart is broken.

Cindy ran her fingers along the sanded edges with an ache in her own heart. She grieved, too, but their breakup had been for the best. Mark would eventually come to see that. He, too, would come to understand that sometimes two people could love one another more than life itself, but that still didn’t mean that they were compatible. The couple had been a beautiful mistake—too intense to give up without a fight, but too flawed to last forever.

Cindy slid one of the jigsaw pieces out of place to take a closer look. As she did so, an electric sensation radiated from her chest, seizing her body and thrusting the air from her lungs. She tried to take another breath, but it was as though something had knocked the wind out of her.

Limbs taut, body convulsing, Cindy dropped the puzzle and crumpled to the ground. The world transformed, or so it would seem, as the confused young woman watched everything around her expand to fifty times their original size. Her body remained frozen in spasm, or so she assumed—until a giant version of Mark thundered up to her, kneeled down to pick her up, and then carefully slid her into the open puzzle spot.

“Forever, my love,” said the giant, and then he dropped Cindy and the rest of the heart-shaped puzzle into his shirt pocket and gave it a gentle pat.

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

More from Author Lee Mitchell:

Alisha Brown led a mundane life until the day monsters started trying to kill her and random strangers began to shy away from her in awe.

All hell broke loose, quite literally, after Randy Thomas turned right on Main for Honey’s instead of making a left for home and then murdered his beloved wife in an unusually gruesome way. Escaping police and stopping traffic in New York City with a gas-spewing tentacle erupting from his mouth, his fears are confirmed: That one small backslide would serve as the final tipping point for all mankind, inviting in a timeless destructive force that would lead him to the frontlines of the war to end all wars.

A growing population has succumbed to their worst fears, some transforming into dreaded fictional monsters—leaving the streets flooded with vampires, werewolves, spontaneously combusting humans, and other horrors—while others have become angels and demons determined to fight in the holy war they believe is upon them.

Questions soon arise as Randy’s and Alisha’s roles in this bizarre apocalypse become uncertain. One is a professed sinner, the other an asexual virgin. Each has been touched by the hand of fate, and each believes they are humanity’s last hope. But belief can be a funny thing…

The Divine Darkness is the first installment of The Divine Darkness apocalyptic horror trilogy.

Available on Amazon!