The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Monstrous
by Amanda Worthington

She learned to bear his angry words in silence

Drown her fears in work and wine

Turn her need for violence on herself

And for some reason, unknown to her at that time

She flooded pages with her words

Like some vengeful god summons devils from the deep

And her fever dream of retribution

Awoke every time she fell asleep

And fists bruise like insults can’t

And her thoughts seldom felt like her own

So when his hands found their way around her neck

And she heard danger creep into his tone

She became the thing that she harbored

The monster made of words and spite

The eldritch terror in the ocean

Of her blood awoke that night

She stands now on the balcony

Thin frame draped in one of his shirts

Feels the calm that comes after the storm

It’s been a fortnight and she’s penned no new words

.

She’s scrubbed the blood from the laminate flooring

Burned the comforter she now associates with despair

Tied up with resilience and victory

And more discomfort than she could bear

.

Her sleep has been strangely dreamless

She hasn’t touched the wine in over a week

She marvels at how she’s gone from silence to written words

She wonders what mayhem will come when she regains the power of speech

.

.

Fiction © Copyright Amanda Worthington.
Image courtesy of Pixabay