(I wrote the following stories as part of an Advent Ghosts writing project in cyberspace, organized by Loren Eaton at http://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com)
Free for all
The Hungry line up outside the
church. Damien frisks each one of them before letting them in.
Inside,
plates fill.
Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes.
Shouts
erupt. Fists bang. The line becomes a mob.
Damien locks the doors.
"Would you like a dinner roll?"
Abdullah asks a man.
"No
white bread. No white food."
"Yams?"
"Yams,
yes. God's first food."
The
man has black hair, a feather dangling with a bead. Eyes wedged with grit.
"Jesus died for all of us."
Abdullah
leaves his station and walks toward the door. He overpowers Damien, lifts the
latch, and lets the Hungry in.
Last Words
Johnson
was irate. He was on TV and Jeanie missed it.
She worked late. Again. She didn’t
call home. Again.
Johnson hurled his hurt like a
whip. “You self-absorbed, selfish ego-maniac.”
Jeanie took the lashes, and poured
some wine. And more.
She switched to vodka.
She started retching and passed
out.
When she awoke, Johnson was
penitent.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m sorry. I made a mess.”
The voice was not his wife’s. He
looked at her and saw bloodshot eyes, and a contorted neck. She laughed. A
diabolic laugh.
Her arm whipped forward and
Johnson’s world went dark.
Shep
met Avery on Philbin Street, while photographing the streets. Avery was
reciting verse.
They
started talking, and Avery showed him his Book of Words.
Shep
left the area, and months later Avery saw his picture with a story about the
homeless. The photo angers him, and he turns to drugs while waiting for Shep to
return.
On
Christmas Eve, Avery sat with his nose in a sack, his eyes glazed but watchful.
His patience was rewarded. Shep
returned.
Avery
crept up.
“Do
you remember me?” he asked, as the Book of Words formed a noose around Shep’s
cashmere swathed neck.
Very well done, Himanee. Some nice themes going on here, and I particularly like the word choices in "Violations of Trust." "Shep's cashmere swathed neck" really makes the ending pop.
ReplyDeleteThree for three, but number two did it for me, just the goosebumps I had been looking for!
ReplyDeleteYou knocked them out of the park with these three chillers, Himanee
ReplyDelete