Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Today’s story is brought to life by the following prompt…

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS August 3, 2024 

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “pore/poor/pour.’” Use any of them or use them all. Bonus points if you fit ’em all into your post. Have fun!

A Fool and His Incantation

The glass tumbles to the floor, splitting into four large pieces and a few dozen smallish shards that spray out in all different directions as it hits the tiled concrete slab.

Josh grumbles as he stares down at the glass, its contents pouring across the floor. He bites down and tucks his nose upwards before putting his hands firmly on his hips and sighs.

“Oh, poor baby,” she purrs as she lies provocatively across the kitchen counter, her red skin looking several shades brighter against the kitchen’s white palette.

“W-W-What are you doing here? I thought, I thought I-I was rid of you,” he stammers as he runs a nervous hand through his hair.

“Oh baby, that silly little incantation couldn’t get rid of me. Nothing can,” she says with a wink and a pucker of her lips as she blows him a kiss.

“B-B-But Sturges swore t-t-that it would work, h-h-he…”

“Sturges is a fat, boring old man that I grew tired of, well before I slipped him that stupid incantation.”

“Y-Y-You gave him the incantation?”

“It’s my out, honey, every girl has one. See, when the slobs get boring, and I wanna move on, I find a way to slip them the incantation. Sometimes it’s in a book, sometimes it’s some crazy carny who hands it to them. I even had one find the incantation in a tattoo shop. But, long story short, yeah, I gave the fat slob the incantation, and yeah, it doesn’t sever the tie if I don’t want it to,” she says with a smile as she twists and turns within herself until she sits proudly on the edge of the kitchen bench.

“W-Why can’t you just leave me a-alone?”

Her brow furrows, and she smiles playfully. “Because you’re so much fun, Josh. Why would I want to be with anyone else?”

He bows his head, closes his eyes, and lets out a sigh that scrambles from his tightly clenched teeth. “I-I-I, I can’t do this, n-n-not again.”

“I know it’s not what you wanted, but I promise, it’ll all be different this time. I’ll behave myself. I swear,” she says with a wry smile across her black lips.

“I don’t believe you. I-I-I just can’t, not after last time,” he stammers, shaking his head as his eyes begin to well up.

She pouts. “But last time was just a silly little accident.”

“YOU KILLED MY FUCKING MOTHER!” he screams, as tears stream down his face.

“Oh,” she says with a tilt of her head and a tightening of her lips, “are you still upset about that?”

“OH MY GOD!” he screams as he throws his hands in the air. “YES! YES! I’M STILL UPSET OVER THE FACT THAT YOU KILLED MY MOTHER! I WON’T EVER BE OKAY WITH IT! EVER!”

“Oh,” she says softly as she looks to the floor and pouts. Then, her eyes spring open wide, and a huge smile explodes across her lips. “If I bring her back, will you stop being a cranky pants?”

He stares at her with a blank, empty stare, blinking several times, while his bottom lip quietly trembles. “Y-Y-You can d-d-do that?”

“Sure, honey chops, it ain’t no sweat off my nose to resurrect someone I put in the ground,” she says with a smile, as she leaps off the bench and gently sails through the air, landing in Josh’s arms. “If that’ll make you happy, lover boy, I’ll bring your mamma back.” She nods her head, and suddenly his mother is standing in the room with them, silently staring with empty, voidless eyes.

“M-M-Mum?” he stammers, but she shows no signs of awareness and continues to stare emptily forward. “W-W-What’s wrong with her? W-w-what have you done?”

“I did what you wanted. I brought her back.”

He forces her from his arms and rushes to his mother’s side. “M-Mum, are y-y-you okay?” he asks softly, reaching out to her with trembling hands.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, chicken,” she says.

“W-W-What, why?” he asks as he looks over to her with a confused look across his face, just as his mother bites down on his hand. He screams in agony as he fights her off. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” he screams as his mother lunges at him again.

“I did what you asked, dipshit. I brought your mamma back from the dead. Sheesh, maybe you’re right, maybe it is time for me to move on, instead of retreading this catastrophe again,” she scoffs as she rolls her eyes and disappears in an explosion of red mist, while Josh’s screams fill the air as his mother tears the flesh from his bones with her teeth.