Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Melissa R. Mendelson @melissmendelson @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_2020_Image01

Mice in the Fields
by Melissa R. Mendelson

It was a beautiful evening.  The moon was full and slowly rising into the sky.  A flock of black birds filled the horizon.  The large tree nearby waved and sighed.  Only my mother’s sadness seemed to break the quiet.
“Mom, why are you so sad,” I asked.
“Not all days were like this,” she replied.  “You need to cherish these moments.”
“Is it the mice in the fields?”  I watched her nod.  “I thought they weren’t a problem anymore.”
“They once overran us, bringing death and disease.  So many of us starved.  There were no moments like this.”  She touched the scar under her right eye.  “But we are survivors, and you are here because I survived.”
“You never speak about Dad.”  I watched her flinch at this.  “I’m sorry.  Let’s enjoy the moment.”
“He went off into the fields.  He never came back.”  My mother looked down at my feet.  “You didn’t finish your dinner.”
“I wasn’t hungry,” I replied.  “Will the mice in the fields become a problem again?”
“Maybe,” my mother said.  “But now, we are ready for them.  You will be too.”
The sun disappeared, and the moon rose higher.  The black birds circled around and around.  The large tree waved at their flight.  My mother knelt down and pulled at my dinner, ripping it apart.  Her sadness was gone, at least for now.  She smiled as she held the mouse in her teeth.  Its pale skin shined in the moonlight.  Its human face stared back at me with large, brown eyes as if asking a question, but the answer was simple.  It was us or them.
Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Christina Sng
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More from Melissa R. Mendelson:

nmkmmName’s Keeper

I got a one-way ticket out of hell. All I need to do is drive across country with a body in the trunk and run miscellaneous errands, but a lot of those errands come with a heavy price. And if I lose the body in the trunk, then I have to go back, and I’ll be damned if I return down there. I will fight to stay here, even if there is no rest for those wicked.

Available on Amazon!

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Asena Lourenco @ElaLourenco @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image03Fading Days
by Asena Lourenco

Passing summer days,
Fade to dust,
Like a piece of iron
Starting to rust,
Each day a lonely fish,
Trying to survive,
Just waiting for the day,
They can make it out alive,
Flowers in my hair,
Wind in my face,
Feet up, relaxed,
As the storm takes its place,
Every moment in time,
Followed by its opposing part,
Remember when the light comes,
So will the dark.
Fiction © Copyright Asena Lourenco
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More about Asena Lourenco:

Asena Lourenco is 13 years old. She loves reading, playing Scottish traditional fiddle music on her violin, dancing, and martial arts as well as writing her own stories.

She would like to be a teacher and writer when she grows up. She also loves cats and babies!

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Chelle Storey-Daniel @burningeden @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image04

Forever
by Chelle Storey-Daniel

“And over there on the shoreline is where I asked you to marry me.”
“Papa says I mustn’t be late.”
The old man rowing the boat kept talking, a smile on his haggard features. “And that’s where we brought our kids and our grandkids and taught them to swim. Oh, Ethel, the way you could swim. You were like a submarine in the water. That’s what everyone said.”
“There are chickens in the coop that haven’t been tended and Papa will be very angry.”
“Let me see your wrists, my sweet. Hold them out for me’”
The frail old woman held our her hands. She was now gazing skyward and gave no indication that she noticed the cuffs, the chains, or the heavy weights in the bottom of the boat at their ankles. The water was also well over her ankles but she sat unfazed. “Papa liked the lake.”
“Yes, my sweet. Your Papa loved the water, too.”
“I love you, Frank.” She met his eyes for the first time in weeks. “Honey, I love you and I’m happy to go here. Just like this.”
“Ethel?!” Frank scurried across the weights and kneeled in front of her. “Oh, sweet Jesus, Ethel! You – you made me promise. Do you remember the promise, my sweet? To – to bring you here and end this nightmare when you got to the point that –“
“I know, my love. I will be so homesick for you.”
“I love you, Ethel. I love you.”
“You must keep going, Frankie. For our family. Don’t miss me too much.”
“I will miss you with all that I am.”
The light in Ethel’s eyes dulled. “Papa swims with me here sometimes.”
Frank sighed and moved back to his own bench seat in the little boat. “I know I promised you that I’d go on, my sweet, but I just cannot do that. Not without you.”
He pulled a second set of cuffs from his pants pocket and secured them to the chain that bound Ethel to the weights. He snapped them onto his own wrists and tossed the key as far into the distance as he could manage. The water inside the boat was mid shin now and it wouldn’t be long.
Reaching out, he caressed the wrinkled cheek of the woman he had loved so hard and so well since the moment he had clapped eyes on her. Life would not be worth living without her.  “Forever, my sweet. I’ll be with you forever.”
Fiction © Copyright Chelle Storey-Daniel
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Please visit Chelle on Facebook for more info. 

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Sheikha A. @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image02green-eyed crows
by Sheikha A.

she steps down her throne –
purple fractal astral walking
on thin sheets of snow;
her waters whisper scars
beneath sectors of humans
beyond skies of soul-bearing;
the nights of dreaming
in washed up driftwood,
the atoms of her battles
calcify like glass in fire,
she walks like a scarlet moon
splitting against wisps of grey;
the trees of her oceans
house phantom crows –
burnt corals under dimming
light – the jade of their eyes
watch from blindness,
their mouths like scry
opening to swallow clouds –
golden wisps of her soul;
wisps of her fate at the gates
of their voice, the noiseless
thumping of her soles
walking on shadow-shards,
sirens of hallows drape her
receding body; she washes
to the shore as secrets,
the kind meant to deafen.
Fiction © Copyright Sheikha A.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Sheikha A.:

Screen Shot 2019-12-17 at 10.57.17 AM.pngNyctophiliac Confessions:
Poems by Sheikha A. and Suvojit Banerjee

“The night is cold enough to inspire poetry,” says Sheikha A. in her poem, “Reading My Bones.” This is the basis of Nyctophiliac Confessions – poems that are introspective and luminal, poems that require a certain amount of silence and space to be fully formed and appreciated. Reading these poems, I imagined that they were the kind of poems that assert themselves unbidden during a bout of insomnia. (A nyctophiliac being someone who loves the night or loves darkness).

Nyctophiliac Confessions is the 17th installment of Praxis’ chapbook series and contains twenty-six poems written by two poets, Sheikha A. and Suvojit Banerjee, interspersed with abstract paintings by Robert Rhodes.

Available Here!

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The Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Tiffany Michelle Brown @TiffeBrown @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image01His Terrible Anatomy 
by Tiffany Michelle Brown

She sees him everywhere.
Always on the periphery,
A whisper, a smudge, a glimpse.
Captured forever in sepia tones,
A memory that just won’t quit.
As the film develops,
She wonders which part of him will reveal itself.
A dismembered limb,
The cleft in his chin,
The sharp curve of his ear.
She remembers each part of him intimately.
She touched every inch ,
All above and all beneath.
He wants her to remember
Her lovely dissection,
The moment she separated them forever.
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t keep showing up,
Screaming from the sidelines,
Trying to get in the last word,
As he always did in life.
She keeps the box of photos under her bed,
A collection of him,
Memories,
Musings,
A map
She’ll never chart again.
He haunts her now,
With every click,
Every whir,
Reminding her of his terrible anatomy.
She waits for the pieces of him
To emerge from the images
And reassemble into a vengeful wraith.
She wonders if ghosts can push
And pull
And slap
And cut,
Just as humans can.
But she never finds out.
His parts remain in the box
Beneath her bed,
And the house they once shared
Is better
Quieter
Safer
Without him in it.
Fiction © Copyright Tiffany Michelle Brown
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Terrie Leigh Relf @TLRelf @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image04

The Truth of Sunset Island
by Terrie Leigh Relf

Tourist season had just begun, and Todd and I were going to spend some quality time on Sunset Island. As locals, we participated in creating tall tales about the creatures that lay in wait to harm or devour unsuspecting tourists. The fishermen’s favorite was mutant fish and other creatures that lurked in the shallow marsh. Another favorite, which grew in proportion every summer, was the number of missing vacationers and pets. Here, the stories varied from abandoned campsites and dinghies to groups of hikers that had become lost while exploring the island’s
series of caves. Then there were all those empty leashes . . .
Both Todd and I agreed that it was good harmless fun, more or less. After all, we really did need the summer tourists to maintain our small community. Besides, most of the vacationers did listen and would glance at the island with a mixture of fear and regret. It was the other ones, though, that Todd, I, and our community paid particular attention to. Those were fair game . . .
The truth?
Sunset Island was our hunting and nesting ground and it was time to feed.
Fiction © Copyright Terrie Leigh Relf
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More from author Terrie Leigh Relf:

The Sisterhood of the Blood Moon

For thousands of Earth years, the Transgalactic Consortium has had a quiet interest in this planet and its inhabitants, the Haurans. While the Sisterhood of the Blood Moon works together with the Consortium and Haurans to maintain balance in the universe, the Blood Moon is fast approaching. The power of this moon reveals untold secrets . . . including a sacred covenant with the Mora Spiders. There is an ancient pact that needs to be honored—but at what cost and for whose purpose? The world may come to an end. But will there be a chance for a new beginning?

Available for purchase from the Alban Lake Store!

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Kim Richards @Kim_Richards @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image03Road Kill
by Kim Richards

Logan’s Jeep trundled down the dirt road. It traveled the bumps and ruts with ease, rocking gently from side to side. He usually didn’t take this way home to the farm, but road crews were doing work along his normal route. This place looked lonely and desolate. It was not a great place to get stranded.
He noticed the car a long way off. It’s front end dipped downward into the ditch along the side of the road. He pressed his foot down on the gas pedal.
He coasted up along side the car. The Jeep’s tires crunched rocks and sticks beneath them as he slowed and stopped. The driver’s side window was open. A pair of women’s legs, feet in sneakers, stuck out the window with ankles crossed.
Logan put his vehicle in park and leaned over to roll down the passenger window. He called out, “Hey! Do you need help?”
A high voice mumbled but he couldn’t make out the words. He turned off his Jeep, climbed out, and approached the black car.
“Do you need any help?” he asked again.
“Help?” the woman asked in a feeble tone—thin and high.
Her feet trembled so Logan moved closer.
The woman—twenty something—lay like a cast off doll across the front seats and console between. He long blonde hair splayed across her face and chest. The woman moaned. Her body jerked in tiny motions.
Logan’s brow furrowed and he leaned in the open window. He didn’t want to open the door until he knew doing so wouldn’t cause an issue. He didn’t see blood which pleased him.
“Ma’am. Are you hurt?” he asked.
“Hurt?” she echoed.
He ducked his head further inside. Then he reached out and gently touched her arm. Her skin felt cold and clammy. He wondered how long she lay here. Still, he saw no cuts or bruises. He reached up to swipe her hair from her face.
A blur of movement surprised him. The sharp pain which followed surprised him even more. The woman’s teeth were embedded in his arm, just above the wrist on the top. He jerked back but her jaw clamped down tightly. He felt his skin give way as she tore a chunk away from his arm.
He stumbled back, hitting his head hard on the door frame. Cursing he backpedaled while clamping his bleeding arm with his other hand. He pulled up the hem of his T-shirt and pressed it against the wound.
The woman pulled her legs inside the car. Her cackling laughter rang out. Then she raised her head in the open window and grasped the door frame with both hands. Her eyes were wide and wild. She opened her blooded lips and grinned.
Logan stumbled around his Jeep and climbed in. As he started it up, he noticed a blur in the woman’s direction. As he threw his vehicle into gear, there was a loud thump on the passenger door. He gaped. She climbed in the open window quick as a cat.
The jeep leapt forward as his foot hit the gas. In a flurry of blonde hair, she leapt at the same time. She knocked him sideways, causing him to inadvertently jerk the steering wheel to the left.
Logan tried to fend her off as the Jeep hit the ditch. It continued forward before striking a tree and stopping with a jolt. Then a pain similar to the one in his arm exploded in his throat. The last thing he heard was that high, cackling laughter.
Fiction © Copyright Kim Richards
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Kendra Hale @DevourAllWords @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image02

Recommendation
by Kendra Hale

“Come join us along the coastline of Azure Beach. The white sands against the crystal clear water are calling you. Enjoy the fun in the sun with a seaside bar stocked full with a wide variety of delicacies from the local brewers. During the night enjoy music with DJ Lex Stroker. Locals swear by the killer vibes! This is definitely a vacation you will never forget!”
She comes to  my bar, timid but excited. I give her my most charming smile, trying to put her at ease. I have been a bartender long enough that I have learned to spot the body signals, she is a vacationer. She is a virgin though, this is her first time leaving home. She has left the nest and is spreading her wing for the first time. It is a sweet sentiment to know that Azure Beach was her choice. 
She is nervous but shyly returns my smile. Her hand comes up to brush strands of her mahogany hair from her face. Her grey eyes catch mine and she looks beyond me to the bottles resting on the shelves behind me. 
“What do you recommend?” she says as she points to the ornate array of bottles.
My smile widens as I let my eyes follow her finger. A hmm escapes my lips and my hand comes up to my chin as I pretend to think on her question. I look over the bottles that range in age and color, size and different levels of alcohol. Each one had different names etched artistically and were filled with gold to stand out against the glass itself. 
Sure the bar had the usual common brews and liquors in stock, but that was not what people normally came for on vacation. That and the girl had asked for him to choose. I let my hand bruh over the bottles one by one ruminating on my decision for this sweet girl. 
“ Let’s see, Alfonso is a sweet sip, Christianna is a more robust flavor, Stephanio builds its flavors in layers.” 
She had come to me and had said the magic words. My hand stopped as my decision had been made the moment I had seen her smile. A deep royal purple bottle that reminded most of the one used in that old show about dreaming and genies. The name on the bottle was Eduardo and this was the only option it could have been. 
Turning back to her, I grabbed a glass out of the chiller and began to pour the dark amber liquid. The smell hit the air instantly of the light fragrance of honeysuckles. I watched her take a seat finally as her eyes went to the glass. 
“That smells delicious.” she brought the glass up to her nose, taking the floral aroma in. 
“Azure Beach offers many exclusive drink selections, but this is a personal favorite. Eduardo is floral, sweet, and light. Enjoy.”
I have played this game too many times. I know to be engaging enough while still remaining aloof. Charming. Charismatic. I turn to put the bottle back in its place and I hear her soft thank you. I turn in time to see her take the first sip. A smile lights both our faces, unbeknownst to her, an ancient deal has been struck. 
The night goes on and along the beachfront people meander along. Some still sway to DJ Lex’s tunes that sing out, echoing along the beach. Some make their way to their rooms for the night, content with tonight’s adventure coming to a close. The crowd had thinned to a sparse dozen or so left. 
The scent of honeysuckle sings to  me and beckons demanding my attention. She is waiting for me. The moonlight encapsulates her and the gentle breeze and sounds of the waves along the shore have set quite the stage for me.
I couldn’t ask for more. 
I can hear muffled noises behind me and I know that my brethren have claimed those who were chosen to have their drinks. 
Azure Beach is special alright. The locals discovered long ago how to merge our vampiric blood, the essence of our lives, into liquors that are unique to us. The receiver of this drink takes us into them. They seal a pact. All with the simple act of asking for me to select their drink. 
She tastes of flowers and sunshine, of honeysuckle touched by the sun after a spring rain. For the first time I am saddened I never asked her name…
Fiction © Copyright Kendra Hale
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Kendra Hale:

je


Just Emotions:
A Gothic Bite Magazine Anthology

A collection of poetry.

 Available on Amazon!  

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Bailey Hunter @DarkRecesses @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image01

Pictures or it Didn’t Happen
by Bailey Hunter

Ray opened the package of fresh photos. The trembling of his fingers caused him to slip and get a nice deep papercut that ripped him out of his fearful focus, if only for a moment.
He didn’t want to look inside. But he had to. Some macabre place buried inside him forced him to. The combined weight of knowing of what he could expect in the packages, and not knowing who kept sending them clawed at his brain, and his anxiety.
Ray took a deep breath and held it as he pulled out the contents. A fresh stack of photos, each one detailing a day in his life, but not one he’d lived yet.
At first he thought it was some sort of elaborate prank sent by one of his more creative friends. He went on a public tirade about it at work, and on-line when no one would come forward. Random pictures of him at places he’d never been, doing things he had not done… at least not at the time. As the packages and the days continued, it became clear that these snapshots in time were of what was to come.
The first week they showed up, they were benign. Quick snaps of him having coffee at his favourite shop. Him at the post office, or on his way to work. They could have been any day, really. A whole week of stills of Ray just living his normal life.
The following week’s images were a bit more obvious. Ray being slapped by a woman. A date he hadn’t been on yet, but where he foolishly said something that did not go well. A trip to the dentist – in the dentist’s office – which turned out to be an emergency root canal. Ray bumping into someone on the way out of the coffee shop and spilling his hot coffee down his shirt. Each time the event happened, he remembered the photo detailing the moment before it came to be.
Last week when the package showed up, the images it held were worse. A broken leg at the ER. The police at his door. The tires on his car knifed. Each event unfolded before him no matter how hard he tried to avoid them.  He had slipped on the stairs outside his apartment complex due to some child’s errant toy. The police showed up because his date made claims that he physically assaulted her – while she’s the one that slapped him. She probably was the one to knife his tires too. He’d been a bit crude, but certainly not enough to warrant that. It had been a week from Hell.
Ray stared at the stack of photos from the latest package. He had to know, yet at the same time a deep fear grew.  Whatever they held, he realised he couldn’t avoid them. He wondered if they came true because he looked or if they were simply fated to happen whether he saw them or not. Ray shoved the photos back into the unmarked envelop. He wasn’t going to look. He couldn’t face each day waiting for the captured future to become his present reality. He had to be able to live.
He placed the envelop on the top of the fridge. “Out of sight, out of mind,” he mused to himself, knowing full well that it was going to gnaw on his brain like a tick burying itself.
Ray steeled himself to go out. He pulled on his coat, and hobbled to the elevator, the crutches digging into his armpits with each awkward step. He was going to get his coffee and do his best to pretend that this wasn’t happening. A mantra of “If I don’t look, it’s not real,” ran on loop in his head.
The elevator doors slid open and he thrust himself in, turning to push the G, That’s when he saw it. A picture of him, this moment, taped to the button panel. It showed only his face turned upward, twisted in a scream, his eyes were bulged in abject terror.
Ray felt the floor drop and his heart thrust up into his throat as the elevator plummeted him eighteen stories to his imminent death. His eyes bulged and an involuntary scream flowed from his mouth all the way down.
Fiction © Copyright Bailey Hunter
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More about Bailey Hunter:
Bailey is a publisher with Dark Recesses Press.

Dark Recesses Press is a publishing house dedicated to providing high quality dark fiction in its many forms to the reader. Our end goal is to impress and entertain, no matter what dark recesses we dare shine our light on.

DarkRecessesPress.com

 
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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author D.M. Slate @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Aug2020_Image04

Rendezvous
by D.M. Slate

A slow, laborious breath escaped Raquel’s blood-stained lips.
Sprawled on the dirt near the water’s edge, her paralyzed limbs lay limply next to her body. With her head kinked motionless to the side, Raquel’s dilated eyes absorbed the tangerine hues of the Rocky Mountain sunset.
Deprived of oxygen, her body spasmed again, causing another quick inhalation.
Raquel knew that death would welcome her soon, and she yearned to feel its touch.
A crunch of dry grass broke her thoughts.
The puma’s massive paw depressed the marshy soil in front of her face, blocking her view of the horizon. She could feel the beast’s warm breath as it lowered its head, licking the gaping wound on the back of her neck with its sandpaper tongue.
Stars danced before her eyes.
The cat shifted its weight again, moving its paw to the other side of her body.
As her vision faded Raquel caught a glimpse of the tiny rowboat approaching. Her final hope was that her lover would not be joining her in death at their secret rendezvous.
Fiction © Copyright D.M. Slate
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from D.M. Slate:

Roots of Deceit

Fueled by the underlying currents of her daughter’s death, Gianna vows to unravel the mystery surrounding the foreboding apparition who keeps making appearances in her new home, but she’s not prepared for the grisly trail of clues that’ll unfold before her; testing not only her sanity, but her guilty conscience as well.

Zack and Gianna call on a team of paranormal investigators to start them in the right direction, and after the initial terror of the ghost’s presence begins to dull, Gianna finds herself sucked into a web of deception, lies and murder, as the ultimate questions are posed: who is the terrifying pale-faced ghost, and what does she want? As the secrets of the past reach their gnarled fingers out beyond the grave, grasping firmly onto Gianna’s soul, she starts to suspect her only neighbor, old farmer Peterson, of committing the unthinkable crime.

But finding evidence to prove a twenty-three year old murder is more difficult than Gianna anticipated, and when the ghost gets tired of waiting, she takes matters into her own hands; at which time the distinction between the two women begins to blur…

Available on Amazon!

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