The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Shut In
by Sheri White
Vicky opened the front door to her father’s house, pushing it with her shoulder a few times so she could squeeze inside. She turned sideways and shuffled through the small opening. She shut the door behind her, putting the back of her hand lightly against her nose, breathing through her mouth until she got used to the foul soup of odors wafting through the house.
“Dad?” Vicky walked through the narrow hallway, stepping over old paint cans, mildewed books, and other junk, careful not to bump into the stacks of junk piled up against the walls. “I’ve got your meds for the week.”
She turned into the living room, holding the door jamb for support to avoid the rotting garbage on the floor. She grimaced and wiped her hand on her jeans. Roaches scuttled away from her shoes, burrowing under empty soda cans and moldy frozen meal trays.
Her father’s chair (“my throne,” he would call it) was empty, a section of a decades-old newspaper draped over the stained fabric. He spent his days staring at reruns on the nostalgia channel and cutting spools of wire — the pile on the floor had grown over the past week. Barney Fife yelled at Andy to nip it in the bud as Vicky backed out of the room. She knew her father couldn’t have gone far – the downstairs bathroom was one of the few accessible areas in the house.
Vicky tiptoed the few yards to the bathroom and peeked in. The room was silent except for the leaky faucet drizzling into the clogged sink. She backed out quickly, trying not to see the wet, stained toilet paper strewn about the floor.
She walked to the kitchen, kicking aside trash. “Did you like those new Lean Cuisines? I’m not a big fan of most of them, but I thought the veggies enchiladas were — “
Her father lay sprawled face-down on the filthy tile, covered by the cookbooks and small appliances he had shoved on the top of the refrigerator. The freezer door hung ajar, its contents oozing over the side.
“Oh, god! Daddy, are you okay?” Vicky hurried over and knelt beside him, for once not stressing about the slime coating her jeans. His eyes were vacant, staring at nothing; his skin ice cold as she felt for a pulse on his neck.
“Oh, Daddy. Even you didn’t deserve this. I’m sorry.”
She sighed, then stood up to call 911. She grabbed the dining table for support, but yanked her hand away, screaming as roaches skittered over her skin. Her feet slid out from under her and she cracked her head on floor. Tall, precarious piles of damp, moldy newspapers and magazines fell on top of her, covering the upper half of her body. She screamed under the sections of newspaper concealing her face, but her hot breath only molded the paper to her nose and mouth.
As roaches swarmed her and she gasped at what little air she could breathe, Vicky wondered how long it would be until their bodies were found.
Fiction © Copyright Sheri White
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Author Sheri White:
It is the Halloween holiday season and that means Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2016! These drabbles will keep you entertained and amused throughout!
Features the talents of Samantha Benford, Stephen Blake, H.R. Boldwood, Cynthia Booth, Rex Booth, Roy C. Booth, Lisanria Carlomagno, Stuart Conover, S.J. Dobson, Janice P. Egry, Anthony Ferguson, Ken Goldman, Pedro Iniguez, Kevin J Kennedy, Thomas Kleaton, Axel Kohagen, David LePage, Angela J. Maher, Frank Martin, John F. Mollard, Lee Murray, Thomas Oliveri, Kenneth E. Olson, Tina Piney, James Pyne, Jo-Anne Russell, Andrea Stanet, SR Stewart, Laurie Treacy, William Tucker, Chuck West, Donna Marie West, and Sheri White.
Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, fairies, djinns, goblins, trolls, witches, brownies, banshees — all sorts of weirdlings are on the prowl in these spooky drabbles.
Available on Amazon!
The Dead of Penderghast Manor
Spreading the Writer's Word 
