My mouth was a weapon. One I could aim and fire at anyone. But once. Just once. Too obvious and the authorities would take me down. Shouldering my way through the crowd, I grinned at the knowing. So, so many people had gathered for our high school reunion. I hadn't been invited, but found out … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 30: Plague
Seven mirrors in the house and I smashed every one to pieces when you left me. Seven times seven equals forty-nine years of bad luck. Worth it to never see your face look back at me again. You wanted to 'be your own person.' To 'do things for yourself for once.' But what about me? … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 29: Mirror
On my way into the kitchen to make breakfast, I tripped over something soft and squishy. When I flipped on the a light, there was a teddy bear, sitting in the doorway. Facing the fridge. I had no kids and owned no teddy bears. Following the teddy's gaze to the fridge, I found words spelled … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 28: Nightmare
Her influence started small, but she caught you up in her spellbound following early on. You obsessed with her - the pictures, the status updates, the videos. All about her. You wanted to be her so bad. It didn't matter that I said you were more than enough. Coming home one day to find her … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 27: Spellbound
We started sticking together when more and more of us disappeared each night. At first we consoled ourselves with the story that those who went missing had made it off the streets. Reconciled with family. Gotten clean. Begged enough to rent an apartment. Until seven of the homeless community vanished at once. Huddled together beneath … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 26: Culling
I fought against the tide of people shoving me from behind, pushed forward by indifferent forces funneling us into a featureless corporate building. I had seen creatives, my friends, enter this place and come out the other side wearing business suits and complaining about taxes. I knew what was coming, but I couldn't escape. As … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 25: Purge
Deep in the woods, I built a mound of dirt and twigs and pinecones, an altar upon which to make my sacrifice. Packed together with my bare hands, mud squeezed cool and alive between my fingers, under my nails. Rain started drizzling through whispering pine needles. I laid my phone down upon a bed of … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 24: Altar
The cold had seeped deep into my bones by bath time. Shivering, I lit a fire beneath my oversized cauldron hanging from a metal hook driven deep into the brick above my hearth. Deep enough to hold my weight. I started to melt the moment I settled into the bubbling water. My skin began to … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 23: Cauldron
"Smile," you said. "People will wonder what you're up to." So I smiled. I couldn't not. Your voice cursed my very bones with an alien desire to make you happy. If you wanted my smile, you could have it. Though inside I seethed with fury. You never thought to wonder what I was up to, … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 22: Cursed
'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
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