'Til death do us part. That was the vow. I knew that meant, since I died, that you should be free of me. Somehow, I thought you would be happy to see me. That I dug out. Yet as I shambled up our driveway, grave dirt trailing off my heels, I felt unreasoning rage. Rage … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 21: Vow
No one would get in. I turned the skeleton key in the lock of my own door before pulling it closed behind me. The key went into my pocket, the only one left that could unlock this door, as I had melted the original down to a lump of brass. No one could get in. … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 20: Skeleton Key
"G-O-O-G..." "Dude, what?" My roommate sat across the talking board from me, her hands next to mine on the pointer. "That's what it says," I replied. She had demanded I clean the microwave. When I pointed out I barely used it and already took care of our collective trash, I told her she should do … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 19: Talking Board
When I appeared in your bedroom, you squinted up at me from where you crouched in front of a summoning circle. "Woah," you said. "I just had questions. I didn't need a whole ghoul!" I raised an eyebrow at the wax candles dripping on the carpet. "You better tell me what you want." Your face … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 18: Summon
My early morning commute plunged me into thick fog along a stretch of highway known for twists and turns. Traffic around me didn't slow. When I tapped my brakes, cars began flowing past, honking. I sped back up. Bent over the steering wheel to see, I scanned the gray for my exit ramp. Ahead, several … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 17: Fog
I heard their cries about me from the town square as I threw my belongings together in a sack. "She laughs too loud." "Reads so much." "She's way too smart." "Must be demonic possession." Soon it would be the torches and the pitchforks. Once they worked themselves into a frenzy, there'd be no stopping them. … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 16: Demonic
I laid down among the ashes of my house while they still smoldered. Flakes of gray coated my scorched fingers where I had grabbed the too-hot doorknob while flames licked the walls around me. Everything gone. Burned straight to the ground. When they contained the fire, someone in the crowd said, "It's over." But they … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 15: Ashes
From my angle, arms wrapped around several tree trunks as if holding on for dear life. Just arms, it seemed. Their bodies hidden or gone. I stood in the middle of a forest wrapped in arms, hyperventilating. Because I could feel a pull, a tug, a call to join. And when I walked around to … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Tree Huggers
"You know why they always have a fence around the graveyard?" my grandpa asked me. A brittle October afternoon flashed past outside the truck windows. "Why?" I asked. "Because people are just dying to get in!" Neither of us laughed. As we passed the cemetery, we surveyed all the corpses pressed against the wrought-iron fence, … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 14: Grave
You looked so confused when you possessed your portrait. A portrait you never commissioned yourself. I had spent most of my life painting your likeness. Getting closer and closer to a perfect reproduction. When at last my painting looked just like your face, your soul had no choice but to return to me. At the … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 13: Portrait
S. G. Baker's Blog 