The last day of September. Oh my. Writober begins tomorrow! I’m excited to get creative, and get into what makes scares fun. A little too excited I guess, because I woke up as the sun rose and grabbed my camera to respond to today’s photography prompt. These are my responses to today’s early-bird prompt post House.
Then I had a bit of a frustrating morning. So I started my writing time by doing the fun writing exercise and I’m glad I did. My search for seven “H” objects got me to the object that inspired my poem.
New Poem
Haunting the House I Grew Up In
The heart-shaped crystal box
with a silver lid
tarnished almost black
under papers
on the antique washstand
holds a purple and white
plastic penguin lying
on its side
Its head hinged back
reveals an emptiness
I could put the tiny crayons—
red, yellow, green, and blue
—inside
and the tio öre piece too
So I do
The problem is his head
won’t stay closed
while he’s on his side like that.
Everything will fall out again.
Chlump, Chlump
I listen to the silver and crystal join
Lost treasures linger
left behind in
my old room
Chlump, Chlump
Oh, there’s a mirror in the lid
Now I’m in there, too.
Flash Fiction
Give It a Rest
Hay poked and scratched through Kenna’s shirt as Devin’s lips pushed her back into the hay bails. Light slanting through the loft glittered with motes. Magical, she thought, then closed her eyes. The horses below neighed and kicked at their stalls. Kenna turned her head, breaking the kiss, “Was that thunder?” she said.
Devin shook his head. “Can’t be,“he said. “It’s sunny and clear out there.”He pushed into her and kissed her again.
She rolled onto her side pushing him onto the hay. “I felt something.”
He smiled, looking soft and goofy. “Oh, me too.”
“No. The barn moved. Didn’t you feel it?”
He shook his head. “It’s an old barn, but I don’t think it’s coming down today. Come here, babe, “ he said, pulling at her, but then he stopped still.
“You felt that,” she said.
They both looked up. Wood crunched and splintered, bending in, falling.
“Devin, what’s happening?” Kenna screamed. She tried to scramble out of the hay, but their legs were tangled.
The roof was no longer wood, but filled with green flesh. It came closer and closer filling the loft. Devin’s last breath choked with sulfur and decay. Kenna clawed her way to the ladder, dropped down and freed the horses, opening the last stall as the loft’s support beams broke.
The monster stood back up and continued on its journey to the city.