Write Her Story

Grave Miracles
by Paula D. Ashe

Light thirty white candles. Set a polished human skull — aged fifty years and never buried– near them. Take a necklace from a corpse, affix a shard of amethyst to its end and tie this to your dead bride’s neck. This is for your protection.

She’ll be ravenous. Serve her the hearts of strays in a hot stew. Waste nothing. Give her the bones; she’ll suck out the marrow. Give her the brains; she’ll separate the folds and lick the fluids from her fingertips as you or I would an orange. Give her the offal; she’ll unspool those slick delicacies as if they were taffy. Perhaps, save the liver for yourself. You look like you could use the iron.

Pray nightly to the Queen of the Prickling Things. Every month, scrub down with a fetish of yourself from crooked nails, used needles, pieces of shattered cups, and dried rose stems. Don’t forget your face. She could do your back. Ensure she has eaten, first.

Some nights she will sing in a language that blackens her lips, teeth, and tongue. The blisters will heal with time. Never interrupt the song. Never interrupt the voice that responds inside your own head, unless you wish to look into God’s bloody eyes while dangling from His meathook.

Consummating the union is critical. Sex will sustain her against the elements. Sex will sustain you against yourself.

Do ‘normal’ couple things. See a film, go shopping, share a meal (probably best done at home), fight, make love, laugh, be terribly bored and boring together.

Keep your money. Bodies are expensive. I’m just a granter of grave miracles. What? Now that’s one hell of a coincidence! Yeah, come back anytime. Bring Miracle if you want.

I’d love to meet her.

Fiction © Copyright Paula D. Ashe
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com Artist: Enrique Meseguer

More from Paul D. Ashe:

Eulogies III

Nothing so commonplace as a werewolf or zombie lurks within these pages. No, on offer here is an altogether more complex assortment of evils and a sampling of humans who battle, retreat, suffer and are changed. ~Rob Dunbar from his Introduction

…between these covers is a breath of fresh air to those of us who have grown a bit weary of the usual zombies and beasties. ~Gary Braunbeck

Introduction by Robert Dunbarby
The Storm by David Morrell
Mr. Mumblety-Peg by Tim Curran
Terms And Conditions by Violet LeVoit
Hate Me Afire by Thomas Sullivan
The Mouth by Ray Garton
In Hell, An Eye by Gemma Files
Morgenstern’s Last Act by Bracken Macleod
One Last Drop Of Blood To Remember Me By by Matt Moore
Fly Away Home by Elizabeth Massie
The Hole To China by John Everson
She Sits And Smiles by Chet Williamson
Carry On, Carrion by Paula D. Ashe
One Possible Shape Of Things To Come by Brian Hodge

Available on Amazon!

Stop by my other blogs for more Women in Horror Month content!
Sotet Angyal, The Dark Angel – Dark emotive flash fiction written by me.
The Road to Nowhere – Horror movie picks staring strong leading ladies.

And don’t forget to visit the Women in Horror Month official web site
for more great WiHM8 events and posts!