The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Comeuppance
by R.A. Clarke
In the attic it sits.
A lone rocking chair.
Enveloped by shadow
A discard without care—
or perhaps with intent,
for its presence is cursed.
To reveal its true danger
one must be immersed.
.
Beware time-stained floors
that groan as you move.
Stay very quiet and still,
or this life you may lose.
That worn wooden seat
and splintered arm rests—
aren’t for use by the living,
nor a perch for the pests.
.
It’s a throne for the queen
of this cobwebbed domain
Shadows bow to her will,
thick like wicked disdain.
Light quells the queen’s rage,
makes her hum as she rocks.
But when day ebbs to night
the lone attic door locks.
.
She will sniff out your sins.
Predator becomes prey.
When her soft humming fades
it’s the Queen’s time to play.
Starved, withered to shreds,
her last moments immortal,
blood and gore is her fuel.
Fresh souls knit her portal.
.
To wherever she dreams,
free from her lofty prison.
To kill at will and consume
with vengeful tunnel vision.
Snuffing men on the streets,
all sick enough to claim
women’s bodies as theirs—
to abuse without shame.
.
So, you best tiptoe out
of this foreboding place.
Don’t stay cowering inside
with little chance to escape.
Oop—time’s up! What a shame.
But I bet your conscience is clean.
That girl you lured and drugged
wasn’t one you made scream…
.
Right?
.
Fiction © Copyright R.A. Clarke
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from author R.A. Clarke:
A daughter’s last chance at redemption on an alien planet. A sweeping secret that could not only end her dreams, but her life as well.
Finn Rucker boards the starship to seek a fresh start as part of a colonizing effort on Joya. The race, sponsored by Governus, yields free land and startup funds for the lucky winners. The number of entrants guarantees someone is going to lose and Finn is determined that she and her bionic horse, Herc, are among the winners.
Racing through uncharted jungle to the settlement of Novus, Finn and her fellow racers soon discover that not everything is as it seems – and Governus withheld information from the contestants. Strange beasts attack the racers, mechanical equipment begins to fail, and the very air seems out to get them.
When all seems lost, a mysterious people arrive and help the racers, revealing the depth of Governus’ deception. Finn will have to keep her pulse pistols close and her new friends closer – but not too close – as they all race to survive the jungle.
You will love this mashup of Hidalgo and James Cameron’s Avatar as Finn navigates the guilt of her past, the promise of a future, and the imminent dangers of her present.
