The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
O Brave New World that has such people in it
by Amanda Worthington
The god in her massages her brain
And she tries not to faint
.
The glasses she wears
Came from a corpse she encountered
In an abandoned library
.
She had brown skin like hers
.
She does not know her own name
But the dead woman was called Miranda
It was emblazoned on the badge she wore
Like a cipher
.
And it felt powerful
Like it alone
Could keep the tempest at bay
.
And so she wears it like armor
As she ascends the pulpit
Not quite knowing what she’ll say
.
She prepares to read
And they listen, faces upturned
Eager to receive the ghosts
That spring suddenly to life
In the rich dark of her eyes
.
The assembled crowd blurs before her
She feels them shift uneasily as she begins:
.
“We are stories in the end
Our truths are stitched into our skins
Which bind our pages
Your gods within will soon awaken
They will rage drunkenly until they settle
Into the rhythm of you, their new hosts
.
You will remember then the days of sun
And how the ash darkened our skies
And how the First Ones
Ate it in handfuls
Hoping maybe it would revive them
Knowing as they did what it really was
Less fortunate bodies reduced
.
You must be prepared to consume flesh this time
Before it is dust
And when you do, you must trust in the power of the act
Vow that you will remember the form your meal last took
Promise to speak the departed’s story
Every day
.
And you must not ask what I am
I’m afraid I ask the only questions here
.
Here’s my final one;
Will you be saved?
The promised land beckons
To the brave
But the price of entry
Isn’t a thing
Every soul can afford”
.
She turns to a fair woman
Who has blanched noticeably
The pink receding from her cheeks
Like a tide that only ebbs, recedes
Retreats forever
.
Several women nod
They are the hard kind who will outlast the men, she knows
Some of these darker, larger shapes draw knives in hunger
But they are fewer than she’d imagined
.
And when Miranda steps down, she feels shaky
Falls to the earth
Struggles to rise
And wonders at the looks on the faces
Of those who had drunk
The god’s sermon down
Like communion.
.
The blonde woman reaches a hand down
Helps the fallen child to her feet
Kneels to her height
“You’re so young…none of this is right.”
.
She goes on then
Fades into the shadows
And the night rushes in to fill
The void her passing leaves
And it is blessedly quiet
.
And the girl thinks only of sleep.
.
Fiction © Copyright Amanda Worthington.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
Wicked Deeds: Witches, Warlocks, Demons and Other Evil Doer’s
Sometimes wicked people do wicked things simply because they can… The twelve stories in Wicked Deeds tell tales of witches and warlocks with ill intent, devilish demons bent on destruction, and other doers of evil who make the world a terrifying place. What is a mother to do when her daughter is gifted but lives under the thumb of her fanatical preacher husband who will brook no talk of the supernatural? What of a demon so desperate to free himself of a trap that he will force another to repeat his atrocities and condemn a young boy to his demonic fate? Or maybe the story of a crotchety old witch with a score to settle against the town she lives in is more to your liking – what evil will the seemingly harmless town-crazy call upon when faced with an ultimatum? If you’re looking for wicked people with supernatural abilities doing wicked things, this is the collection for you!
Available on Amazon!
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