Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Category: Short Story

Day 107 Daily Prompt – Witness – Short Story

I sit here, staring at the screen, lost in the emptiness of the blank page, frozen, like a lifeless, wordless, thoughtless mannequin. I feel the saliva slowly run down my lip and drop softly onto my chin and start its journey downward. How long have I been sitting here? How long have I contemplated writing words on the screen, words, any words, I know writers block sucks, but my words mean so much more than you can understand to the eagerly awaiting audience who sit waiting at my door, for something new to read. Has it been days? The knock on my door makes me jump, and I wearily look towards it.

“Go away, come back tomorrow, I’ll have words for you then,” I yell, and the banging stops. Slowly I turn back to the screen, why do they hound me? Why do they never leave me alone? I stare at the empty, blank screen again, and the banging begins anew, harder, and quicker this time. I jump up from my seat, I can feel my blood boil and I tear open the door, she stands there looking, so, god damn ravishing and walks into the room as if it were her own.

“My god, it’s worse than he thought,” she says, running a hand along a bench top and studying the fine layer of dust now on her fingers.

“Excuse me, but who in the hell are you?”

“I’m your muse,” she says proudly.

“My what?” I know what a muse is, don’t misunderstand my question, I’m not stupid, I just don’t understand what she means.

“Your muse, your inspiration, it seems you’ve lost your gift, so I’ve been sent to help you find it again.”

“I don’t understand, who sent you here and why?”

She ignores my question and looks at my computer screen, I can see the disappoint in her face due to how void of words the screen is, I rush in front of her and try to shepherd her away, even though I know it is too late for that. She gently shoves me into my chair and leans in, digging a finger into my chest.

“So what’s wrong? Where are your words?”

“I-I-I-I don’t know!” I yell, I feel something snap inside, it’s like a door has finally been opened that’s be locked for too long, I feel it burst like a dam, and eventually, out through my eyes, in other words, I cried my fucking eyes out. She slaps me across the face, not once, but twice, and, surprisingly, it helps me gain control of my emotions, not totally, but I wasn’t screaming like a one year old who needed their nappy changed anymore.

“Don’t embarrass yourself any more than you have Witness, I will help ease your ways, help the words return, give you release,” she says as she kneels down in front of me, and her hands slowly make their way towards my groin. I swallow a mouthful of air, it tears at my throat, as it makes its way down, she just smiles, unzipping my fly.

“Wait, please,” I hear myself say, placing a hand on hers as she grips me.

“You are the witness, you are the one who witnesses all things, here, there, elsewhere. Without your words, without your stories, this world stands still, let my mouth be your savior, let you write about this, and let the world continue.”

I sit here, staring at this beautiful woman, and I honestly can’t for the life of me remember why I stopped her in the first place.

END

This is for today’s Daily Prompt

August 27, 2016
Day 106 – Zig Zag – Short Story

“Sometimes it’s best to just leave things alone Nicole, you won’t like what you find out,” her mother says as she slams her mug of coffee on the bench, a crack rips through the cup like a bolt of lightning rips into the ground and it shatters into pieces, coffee explodes out of the cup and across the bench and splashes over both of them. “Look what you made me do!” She yells as she throws her hands up in the air.

“I didn’t do anything, I just asked why dad left so early this morning is all, geeze mum anyone would think your trying to hide something?”

“It’s just been a long morning, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snap honey,” she says as she grabs a towel from the rack and starts soaking up the coffee. “Your father said that work called and he needed to go in early to let someone in, painters, or something like that, as I said he was very choppy on the details, anyway, you need to get going or you’ll be late for school.”

“Are you sure it was just work, nothing happened?”

“No honey, everything is good, get your stuff and get out the door before you miss the bus,” she says with a smile. Nicole leans over and kisses her mum on the cheek, “You better get a clean shirt on as well,” her mother says, she looks at her shirt and laughs.

“Nah, I’ve got art first up, so it’s only going to get dirtier anyway, love you,” she says as she heads out the door, she stands there for a few moments, staring at the coffee as it soaks into the towel and it’s a phone call that snaps her back to reality.

“Hello?”

“Hello Jackie, is Bill there?”

“No, he left to take Nicole to school, why, is there a problem?”

“Yeah, we were supposed to meet up twenty minutes ago and go over some plans for the new store, I guess he forgot, I’ll just meet him at the office when he gets there.”

“If he calls I’ll let him know, he’s a little distracted with everything going on with his mum so I’d say it must have slipped his mind.”

“What’s going on with Patty?”

“Oh, hasn’t Bill told you?”

“Told me what?”

“It’s not really my place, so please don’t tell him you know, but she’s been diagnosed with stage four lymphoma.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t know, fuck, I won’t say a thing, damn, I-I-I’m so sorry, how’s she doing?”

“She’s trying to stay strong, like we all are, but if I hear from Bill, I’ll let him know you called,” she says as she hangs up the phone and stares once again at the coffee. She wipes her sweaty hands down the side of her dress as she slowly walks around the house in a daze, eventually finding herself back in the master bedroom, where she gently sits on the bed and begins to cry into her hands, slowly she pulls her face from her hands and looks across to the other side of the bedroom, where his cold, dead body sits, his dead eyes stare forward, his mouth hanging open, his blue tongue hangs open, and a knife sits firmly planted in his chest.

END

August 26, 2016
Day 105 – Tit For Tat – Short Story

Sanderson grabs the metal fence post and rips it from the ground, swinging it violently at the small crowd who slowly descend upon him, they take a few staggering steps backwards and then forward again, trying to avoiding the swinging post. That is until it finally connects with one, smashing it in the face, and ripping a huge chunk of flesh from it, the thing stumbles about for a few seconds before it eventually crashes to the ground, with its spot in the small pack quickly replaced by another, and they push forward, towards him again. Sanderson reaches a hand out to her, while he still wildly wields the post towards them.

“Take my fucking hand girl, this ain’t going to get any better, the longer you sit there the more chance these scavengers have of chewing on your bones,” he says, shaking his outstretched hand vigorously. She looks up at him bewildered and still a little confused before she finally grabs it and he pulls her to her feet, and then he moves forward and attacks, cutting his way through the herd, swinging the post like a madman, and dragging her along with him. They rip and tear at them, but for every advance, Sanderson meets them with a savage blow of the post, until finally they are clear and break into a striding sprint, away from them, and into one of the rundown buildings that stand dying, like everything else. He slams the door shut and jams the post up against it, effectively acting as a lock on the door.

“Won’t you need it in here, if there’s more? Which there’s bound to be,” She says, he smiles and pulls a large hunting blade form his bag.

“I’ve got that covered, it’s more close and personal in here, if any of those fucking freaks try’s to attack, I’ll take them out,” he says as he leads her down the hallway, they work their way up several flights of stairs, searching through each level, until they find themselves on the fourth floor and he sets up a small camp in one of the end rooms. He tosses his bag to the floor and tips the contents out, and in little time has a small fire cooking and a can of bake beans boiling away, she looks at him over the flames and shivers.

“Here,” he says as he throws her an old, torn and smelly blanket. “It’s not top of the line shit, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Thank you,” she says softly as she wraps the blanket around herself. “Why did you help me?”

“Because you looked like you needed it.”

“A lot of other people wouldn’t have, I’ve seen people leave their family and friends behind, so for someone to risk their life for a stranger, it’s an odd thing.”

“Not everyone is me, and anyway, I help you out, you help me out, that’s how it works in my world,” he says with a smile.

“How can I repay you for saving my life, it’s impossible.”

“Well honey,” he says as he stands up, revealing his hard member poking through the fly of his trousers. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

She smiles at him and slowly unbuttons her top, “Sir, I think we can.”

END

August 25, 2016
Day 104 – Markings – YouChallenge Short Story

Every day for the last six months she’s been there, well okay, not every day. Actually I’ve already fucked this up, and it’s ruining my awesome introduction I had planned out in my head. So let me start again, every day for the last six months, whenever I’ve been on the U-Twenty-Six from Geelong to Melbourne, which by the way is almost every day, she’s been there, in the same seat, not doing anything but starring off into space, looking sad most of the time, frightened other times, but she’s always there. I wouldn’t say she not pretty, but she’s not ugly, I mean if she smiled at me I’d smile back for sure, so I guess she’s pretty enough. Anyway, when I got off the train two days ago, in Melbourne, I saw her as usual, she was dressed in the same business suit she always wore, regardless of the day or time, and something happened when I got off, for the first real time, ever, I think, I looked back, directly at her, and she looked up and saw me looking at her, and she did the craziest thing, she leapt up and banged against the door like a woman possessed as the train flew off, everyone around her acted as though she wasn’t there, but I saw her. It was weird, totally, absolutely, insanely, weird. And it was going to get weirder, you see, as I walked to the office, I stopped to get some breakfast, as I always do, today was a slow one for the small take away store as the bacon and egg muffin felt like it was at least two hours old and a large cup of coffee taste like it was not just burnt but cremated. Anyway as I was trying not to choke on the stale muffin I noticed the flyer on the pole outside the shop, it was a picture of this woman, and it had big letter above it that said ‘MISSING.’ I recognised the woman from the flyer immediately and dropped my fucking coffee on the floor, no great loss really. And then I panicked and ran out of the shop, to the pole and ripped the flyer down. From what I could gather eight months ago, Melissa Wong, the woman I had been seeing on the train for the last six months, left for work as she always did, catching the morning train from Geelong to Southern Cross station in Melbourne, and just disappeared, she never showed up for work, never used her pass card to leave the station, she just vanished into thin air. There was a number on the bottom of the flyer, and against my better judgment, I called and spoke to her sister, Anne-May and explained what I knew, she grew quite the more I explained to her about how I had seen her sister every time I was on the train and then she agreed to meet me, at the station, that night, and I went off to work, although all I could think about all day was Melissa Wong, and what she was doing on the train.

When I first saw her I was gob smacked, turned out Melissa and Anne-May were identical twins, which made it very bizarre as I had spent most of the day thinking about Melissa. We chatted while we waited for the train, mostly small talk, nothing of any importance, but we did find out that we had a lot of things in common, hell we even had a laugh together at one stage, and then, right on time, the train arrived, half empty as normal and a shit load of people wanting to get on. We stepped, sorry, we were rushed through the doors and there she sat, sad and looking at the ground, as always, and for the second time, since I had started seeing her, she looked up and I saw a tear run down her face and she smiled and so did her sister, she had finally been found, and then a beautiful white light engulfed the whole train, and I was left with a feeling of total happiness, as were the other passengers and for the remainder of the ride home Anne-May and I talked, about everything and anything and made plans to see each other again. It seemed the unfortunate fate of her sister brought us together, and for some reason we both knew somehow, it was meant to be. The hunt still continues for her body and whoever purported the crime, but at least I know, her soul is at rest.

END

The challenge was, ‘lonely girl on the subway.’

August 24, 2016
Day 104 Daily Prompt – Learning – Short Story

Ivan drops to his knees and the knife falls to the ground, blood spills from his side, cascading down his leg, quickly forming a growing puddle on the ground beneath him. He forces himself to look up, into her eyes as his face screws up with anger. Her eyes dance devilishly in the candle light, like the women from his local strip joint do every night. She smiles and licks her tongue across her ruby red lips, flicking it like a scorpion does its tail.

“Does it hurt Ivan, does it remind you of all the good times we shared when I was younger?” She says, sarcasm oozes from her words likes sharp slaps across the face, he sucks a breath in and lets out a hiss from his clenched teeth.

“Fuck you Lilly, fuck you and the piece of shit who birthed you.”

She drives a solid right punch to his face, sending him crashing to the floor, in seconds she has her knee jammed in his throat as she pulls his head back by his hair.

“Don’t you fucking ever,” she says as she drives another punch to his head. “And I mean ever say anything about my mother again, you shit stain! She may not have been there, but when she was, she made sure I was looked after, not like you!”

“Please, Lilly, enough,” a voice says from behind her, she releases her grip on his hair and Ivan crashes into the ground.

“What are you doing here? Father still doesn’t trust me?” she says as she quickly gets to her feet and turns to face a large, brute of a man who steps out of the shadows, his eyes lost somewhere beneath all his muscle, dirt and hair.

“I’m just here as an observer Lilly, there is no need to spit towards me with your temper little flower. I stayed your hand because Ivan may still hold the answers you seek, killing him now, may remove your chances of ever learning what he knows about who you…”

“F-F-Fuck you Salick, bitch might as well kill me, because Baltimal will if she doesn’t, or is that why your here, to do his dirty work?” Ivan interrupts as he wearily pulls himself to his knees, spitting out a mouth full of blood on to the ground and lets out a grimace of pain as he settles back into a sitting position, casting a vicious looks towards Salick as he does.

“If I wanted you dead, I would’ve let her do it.”

“She was never going to do it, we both know that.”

“Don’t speak like I’m not here in the same room as you both!” She screams.

“Trust me sweetheart, with a fine body like that, no one is forgetting where you are, but you’ve got to understand, right now, the adults are talking, so…” she smashes him across the face with a powerful right and once more he crashes to the ground, quickly she spins around to face Salick, tightly clenching her fists.

“Is this how it’s going to play out?”

“Lilly, this is not what needs to be done, he holds the answers you seek, let us sit, talk with Ivan, find them toget…”

“Why?” she interrupts.

“Why what?”

“Why do you want me to know what secrets he holds? And why are you so intent on keeping me from doing what I came here to do?”

“I don’t understand little flower, I only think of you, I only want to help.”

Ivan starts laughing on the ground, as he rolls onto his back, his laughter grows louder, mildly mixed with a cough, here and there, they both turn, and look down on him in wonder.

“What’s so funny?” She asks.

“I-I-I-I think your puppy dog has something of his own to show you,” he says, tears running down his face, as his laughter continues to get louder, and they both uncomfortably look at each other…

END

This is for today’s Daily Prompt

August 24, 2016
Day 103 – Seal The Deal – Short Story

He looks towards the front of the line and sighs, turning back to her he smiles and shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think it would be such a big deal, we should have left when you wanted to.”

“It’s okay, we’ve still got fifteen minutes before the movie starts, and there will be at least ten minutes worth of trailers and shitty advertising after that, so we should still make the start,” she replies with a smile.

He shuffles his feet and digs his hands in his pockets and stares at the ground, “I really wanted tonight to be special, I mean, we’ve been going out for three weeks now and I really like you.”

“I really like you to Jerry, it’s been great, you don’t need to be sorry, and it’s special because we’re here together.”

“Yeah, I guess, it’s just, I wanted tonight to be like extra special.”

“Extra special?”

“Yeah, I thought maybe, if we had a good enough night, we might, you know get to fool around a little, you know, hit a few homes runs.”

She laughs, “Are you talking about sex?”

“Well, yeah, I guess, I mean, we’ve know each other for six months, we seem to get on pretty well, and we’re more than just casually dating, I thought, you know, maybe we could ramp up some of the off field fun.”

She laughs again, “Do you reference everything to do with sex into sports analogies?”

“Yeah, I mean, no, god, I knew I should have just gone for the grope during the film,” he says as his cheeks go red.

“Jerry, why rush something? Don’t you want to be sure we’re compatible before we start getting all our bits involved?”

He looks up at her and frowns, “Are you saying you don’t think we’re compatible? Is that why we haven’t even kissed yet?”

She laughs, “You haven’t even tried, sometimes you don’t need to ask, when the moment is right you just do it,” he leans in and quickly kisses her and leans back away, he blushes some more and she giggles. “I don’t think that was the right time Jerry,” he says as she grabs his hand out of his pocket and grips it tightly. “How about this, we can hold hands and see how that works for now, and then move up to the other stuff as it progresses?”

“Yeah, but, I really want to have sex, I think about you constantly, I’ve even masturbated to you a few times, actually a lot of times, heaps before we started dating, and, well, I just think it would be fun.”

She giggles, “I think you just gave me too much information, I’ll make you a deal, how many times a week do you masturbate?”

“A few I guess.”

“How many times is a few?”

“Ten or eleven times,” he says as he looks at the ground.

“Okay, if you can stop masturbating for three weeks, I’ll let you kiss me, if you can hold it in for four weeks, I’ll let you feel me up, and if you can hold off for six week, I’ll let you do whatever you want,” she says with a cheeky smile.

“Six weeks?”

“Six week, think you can last?” she says.

“I can sure as hell try,” he says with a wide grin.

Five hours is all he lasted, just so you know, as soon as he was home alone, but he told her the truth and in the end, that sealed the deal better than a kiss.

END

August 23, 2016
Day 102 – Partners – Short Story

“You think you’re better than me? You think you’re worth more than you’re getting paid?”

“I think I’ve done a lot for this company, without me you wouldn’t be sitting as pretty as you are, for the money we’re bringing in I think I deserve a little bit of the cream.” David says as he forcefully pulls himself up out of the chair.

“Are you that fucking stupid that you seriously think you, you, of all people, have been making money for this company? Get your head out of your arse David, you’ve been given easy files, money that we would’ve made regardless of who had control of the account, can’t you see that, you may be my son but I’m not going to allow you to sit here and dictate to me that the wages you are paid, which by the way are more than generous already, is not enough. I will not…” He doesn’t get to finish his words as David leaps across the desk and smashes him across the head with a crystal drinking decanter that sits on it. Not once, but five or more times, and with each hit it becomes more violent than the last, until finally David stands over his father’s now lifeless body. Blood runs down his face, down his neck and seeps into his white shirt, the decanter now bloody, bits of hair and skin stuck into the intricate weaves and patterns cut into the decanters shell.

“Fuck you old man,” David growls as he spits on the body, he turns around and Fiona and Sally both stare at him wide eyes, both clutching each other, he places the decanter casually back on the desk and smiles to the girls. “You both saw it, he provoked me, it was self-defense.”

“T-T-That, was so n-not self-defense,” Sally says, he slowly walks up towards the pair and places a blood hand on Sally’s shoulder.

“It was self-defense, he attacked me first, you both saw it, I was defending myself.”

“Full partners!” Fiona blurts out.

David turns to her and smiles, “What?”

“Full partners, you make us full partners and we’ll back your story.”

“Fiona?” Sally says.

“Think about it, we’ll never get another chance, the old bastard would’ve never offered us a full partnership regardless of all the work we did for him, he hasn’t handled any of his case work in eight years, not since we started. Yet, Fillmore just walked into a partnership position and he’s a complete jack off, with no skills, at all,” she say, the turns back to David. “You give us a full partnership, both of us, and we’ll back up your story.”

He smiles and turns to Sally, “It’s was self-defense.”

She looks at him and then at Fiona, before turning back to David. “He tried to attack all of us, I don’t know what he was thinking, if you hadn’t been here and saved us, I-I-I don’t want to think about it.” He smile’s broads and holds out his hand.

“Partners,” He says.

END

August 22, 2016
Day 102 Daily Prompt – Jeopardize – Short Story

She sits there studying the floor boards, paying close attention to each plank of wood as it run into next, how the grains blend from one to the other. She finds herself beginning to wonder how long it took the man who laid the planks down, how hard he tried to hide the changes of each plank, and was that his specialty. She’s pulled from the world inside her head as the door opens and a man walks into the room, he clears his throat as she gently wanders her gaze towards him.

“Thank you for waiting Mrs Walters, I’m sorry it took a little longer than I said,” he says as he places a folder on a desk and shuffles into a seat behind it, his face grey, dull, his cheeks withdrawn, his sandy brown hair thinning, she beings to question in her mind how long his doctor must have given him, or if indeed he has made that terrifying move yet, he coughs violently, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the mucus and saliva from his mouth and nose. “Sorry, I just can’t seem to shake this damn cold.”

“That’s okay, and for the last time Rodney, its Gloria, we’ve know each other long enough for the titles to fall away. Now what did you want to see me about in such a hurry?”

His open the folders on the desk and pulls out a piece of paper and slide it across the desk towards her, “Do you know this man?”

“Samuel Dekker, and I didn’t really know him that well, he used to date my Mum, but it’s been years since I’ve seen him, he left town after they split,” she says as she picks up the paper and studies the words written on it. She looks back at Rodney, her face slowly turning pale as the blood runs from it, and her eyes widen. “Is this serious?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“How in the hell can he contest the will? He left a long time ago, Mum never talked about him much after that, he was history, What grounds does he even have?”

“At the time of your mother’s death he was still legally married to her.”

“What, you’re fucking kidding me?”

“I wish I wasn’t, but it is true, and now he’s contesting the will, claiming he has an updated version, one that leaves everything to him.”

“Bullshit?”

“I’m sorry to say it’s true, he’ll be here in two days, I’ve arranged a sitting for Thursday, I suggest, if you don’t have one, you get yourself a lawyer, things could get messy.”

“Is this your way of saying you’re not going to represent me?”

“I can’t Mrs… Gloria, as executor of the will, both will surprisingly, I am unable to help you in your case,” he slides a card across the table. “His name is Thomas Grenada, a brilliant lawyer, expensive, but, his speciality is dealing with probate cases, and his success rate is almost one hundred percent. I suggest you contact him as soon as possible.”

She grabs the card from the desk and launches herself to her feet, “Fuck you!” she says as she storms out of the office and out through the main doors, into the street. Quickly she pulls a mobile phone from her bag, and dials a number, some seconds later a man answers the phone on the other end.

“We’ve got a problem, seems the old bitch was still married to that piece of shit Sam Dekker, and the fucktard is going to jeopardize everything we’ve done up to now, he’s after it all. So you need to get rid of the old son of a bitch before he gets into town, otherwise killing the witch was a waste of fucking time.”

END

This is for today’s Daily Prompt

August 22, 2016
Day 101 – Signs – YouChallenge Short Story

“That wasn’t what I was trying to say,” she says as she places a hand on his lap, he looks down to the floor and then up into her eyes and forces a smile.

“I know, but it still came out that way.”

“I promise, I’ll keep my stupid mouth closed in the future, just don’t go all sideways on me like you did last time.”

He places a hand on hers and grips it tightly, “Don’t worry honey, I’m here with you, the only place I want to be, but you’ve got to understand, it’s not my fault, I just can’t do it, never have been able to, god knows I’ve tried.”

“It’s okay, I won’t try forcing shit on you, I guess we all have our strange phobias.”

“It’s not a phobia, I just fucking hate them, that’s all.” He says as he gets to his feet, running his hands through his hair, until he grabs chunks of it and pulls, letting out a groan of displeasure.

“Marc, seriously, you’re taking this too far again,” she says with a giggle.

“It’s not funny, look, I’m going to head home, I need to, I need to be out of this place, sorry, tomorrow, somewhere nice, I promise,” he says as he rushes out the door.

“Okay, bye,” she says softly as she collapse on the floor and lets out a giggle, “What a strange one,” she says as she stretches out on the floor, tightly closing her eyes, she hears the cat scream from outside and is quickly to the door, Marc stands there, blood covers the front of his top and the body of one of the local cats hangs lifeless in his hands, he looks at her and the look on his face is pure rage.

“What? You should have seen what the little shit was doing, taunting me like it was some sort of king shit, it was asking for it!”

“oh my god Marc, leave, get the hell out of here, I can’t fucking believe you, GET AWAY!” she yells as she starts throwing punches at him, he grabs her arms in defence of himself and she drives a knee up into his groin and he tumbles forward, she drives another knee up into his face, spreading his nose across it, and he slams into the ground in a ball.

“Don’t ever come around here again, or next time, so help me god I will do more than break you’re fucking nose!” she yells.

“You don’t understand, it was taunting me, look, look at my car, look what it did!”

“Get the fuck out of here, you crazy son of a bitch!” she yells as she storms back into her house and slams the door. He slowly picks himself up off the ground and stands there for a few moments, as he toys with the idea of going in and trying to talk to her, but he decides against it and walks over to his car. He peers over the roof of the car, looking over at the hood and lets out a sigh of disappoint, written in what he can only guess is cat shit is the word ‘arsehole.’

END

The challenge was, ‘man who hates animals.’

August 21, 2016
Day 101 – Fifteen Years – Short Story

“Don’t make me tell you again!” He yells as he drives a punch into his face, sending him crashing to the ground. “So stay the fuck down until I say you can get up, you piece of shit!”

He slowly forces himself up on all fours as he drives a kick into his side, sending him rolling over onto his back, letting out a groan of pain.

“For fuck sake Sammy, you think you can come in here and tell me what to do, like you own the place. We’re not kids anymore, you don’t get to tell me how to run my life, so why don’t you pick your arse up off the floor and get the fuck out of here before I put you on the ground permanently!” He yells as he spits on him. Sammy lies there, starring up at the ceiling for a few moments, as he tries to focus his vision on the beam that runs through the centre of the ceiling instead of the four blurry versions that he can see and he slowly forces himself up into a sitting position, clutching his ribs, he looks up into Oliver’s eyes and sees the hate his brother has for him right now and he smiles, he doesn’t know why, but he smiles.

Oliver’s face twists up with anger as he winds back with another boot, “You don’t hear to good do you?” He yells as he kicks forward, but Sammy catches the boot and pulls Oliver to the ground, and desperately scrambles to his feet, Oliver laughs as he lies there on the ground.

“I gave you a chance because we’re blood, I’d rather you not make me kill you, but you just can’t seem to understand can you? Things are different now, this is my dog house and you can’t just walk back into my life and expect things to be the same, you can’t expect to be the top dog anymore, not without a fight.”

“This is my home first, my kingdom, I built this and I’m the one who went in for fifteen years instead of you, I took the blame for Debbie’s death and you think I want this all back, fuck you Oliver, I only came back because you owe me and I want it, I want my pound of flesh.”

“I don’t owe you shit, and don’t’ try to play the martyr, you didn’t take a dive for me, you took the fall because if you hadn’t I would’ve sent you to the hole myself and made a deal, you knew that. We’re brother by blood, not by anything else, we ain’t had love between us since we were stupid kids, and Debbie, she was just a problem, and you knew that. Shit Sammy, you knew that if I didn’t off the bitch you would’ve had to eventually. But it ain’t no thing, I’ve built MY empire on bodies dog, do you want to know how many other pieces of shit I’ve had to deal with since you’ve been away? Do you really want to know?” Oliver says as he slowly gets up to his feet, Sammy stumbles backwards and tumbles into the wall, still clutching his ribs, blood runs down his pant leg, and he still can’t focus on just one object in front of him.

“What happened to you?”

“Fuck, I grew up!” he says as he pulls a revolver out of his jacket pocket and aims it at Sammy, “Look at you, how pathetic, you thought you could just walk in and take back everything, well, it’s not going to happen, this is my world now.”

The doors burst open and three armed men quickly enter the room, their guns trained on Oliver.

“What the fuck?” Oliver says as they grab him and slam him into the ground.

“Fifteen years,” Sammy says as he pulls up his shirt, showing a wire taped to his chest. “Fifteen years, and now, it’s your turn, brother.”

END

August 21, 2016
Day 100 – One Hundred – Short Story

One hundred days, one hundred days, one hundred creations and still the focus that was initially instilled in his work shines through. He stands back and looks at the images before him, his creations, his mark on this world. He runs his hands through his hair and pulls, letting out a short, sharp grunt of frustration, one hundred days and today, for the first time since he started this journey, he feels lost. A sudden knock on the door startles him and he grits his teeth together, grinding them, he feels his jaw lock for a moment and a sharp pain shoots up through the side of his face and into his temple, his eye twitches vigorously for a moment before he turns quickly around and storms towards the door, as the knocking continues. He pulls it open and is greeted by an empty hallway, for a few moments he stands there, confused, lost, until he finally steps out from his apartment and looks down each side, but spies nothing out of the ordinary, just an empty, vacant hallway. He steps back in and slowly closes the door and shakes his head in confusion and makes his way back towards his workspace, before the knocking begins again.

“For fuck sake!” He screams as he charges at the door and pulls it open, once again revealing an empty hallway. “You’re not fucking funny!” He yells as he slams the door, standing there, he peers through the spy hole and waits, sweat pours quickly from his forehead as he presses his face against the door, a spark of white explodes in the hallway and the bagging begins again. He stands there, his eye widens, he sucks in a breath as he watches the white glowing bubble hover in front of the door, it buzzes around like a bee, searching a garden bed for the best, succulent flower to pollinate. His lip trembles as he pulls himself away from the door and rips it open, he stands there, as the white bubble hovers in front of him, and then, shoots into his apartment. He spins around and watches as it buzzes around his working desk and then, turns back towards him and takes the shape of a young girl, she stands there, staring towards him and the room ignites as an explosion rips through his work, and he goes crashing to the floor.

He opens his eyes and slowly lifts himself to his elbows and looks towards his workspace, the smoking remains of his desk wisps into the air, he feels the rage burn in his belly and he scrambles to his feet, screaming at the top of his lungs, his heart beats furiously in his chest, he staggers over to the remains of the desk, as tears run down his face.

“Today, you begin a new challenge,” a voice says from behind him, he spins around to face the ghostly girl’s image.

“W-W-What the fuck are you?”

“I am its herald, its omen, I am the word before it comes, you have been chosen, you are its seer, and you will foretell its coming. You will make its name known, you will hear its words and you will spread it, and you will prepare the world.”

“Listen, whatever you are, I’m not doing anything for anyone, especially not someone who…..” His words freeze in his throat as he feels the room drop in temperature, the lights flicker, the TV switches on and off, and the little girl smiles.

“It’s coming……”

END

August 20, 2016
Day 100 – Fool’s Gold – Short Story

He digs the knife into the table and looks over into the three scared young men’s pale, frozen faces and laughs. “You boys want to be looking a lot braver if you really be here to send me down to ground like you intend to.”

“W-W-We came here t-to t-t-talk,” one of the men says.

“Don’t be making me laugh, we all know why you’re here, so don’t try and act all high and mighty, I killed your daddies twenty five years ago, and now I’m back, and you three have tracked me down, so it’s only vengeance you could be wanting, nothing more. If this was to be all proper and above board, the cops would be here, but they’re not, so this is vengeance you’re after, let’s not mince words children, I’m old and have found that taking the time to lie and deceive is not the way life should be lived, it should be fast, truthful and enjoyed to all its excesses.”

“O-O-Okay old man!” one of them yells out as he pulls a revolver from his jacket and holds it nervously towards the old man, the gun shaking in his hand, but the old man just laughs. “What’s so funny you old buzzard? We’re here to pay you back for what you did to our dad’s, we’re here to send you back to whatever hole you crawled out of, aren’t you scared?”

“Boy, I was scared a long time ago, once, but I learnt something, something that has kept me warm, deep, down, warm to me very soul. Do you want to know what it is?”

The young man fires away, empting the revolver into the old man who crashes to the floor in a heap, he spits on the body and nervously laughs to the others. “W-W-We did it,” he says, he notices the other two’s eyes widen and all the blood drain out of their faces, and then he feels a warm, putrid breath on the back of his neck and hears the old man’s cackling laugh.

“See boy, if you had let me finish you would have heard my tale, but now,” he says as his hand bursts through the mans chest, his heart in the old mans hand. “Now, you’re just going to join all me other victims in the pit.” The other two turn to run, screaming in fear but the door won’t budge, they bang and they kick, they scream and they cry, and all the while the old man cackles gleefully. “You boys were brave to come here alone, not knowing what you were facing, any amount of evil existing in this world, sometimes you just manage to avoid it, but you see, your vengeance, it sent you into the lure of the spider, like a fly. Me, I’m old, have been for years, decades, centuries, and I’ve been killing kin of kin of kin, always coming back to the roost where me been before, years later o’course, decades. It’s like you are with your favourite snack food joint, you kids love all them fast foods don’t you? Well, so do I, and I can’t help but come back for a good old snack at a place where I know a good meal will be waiting. I lead you boys to me, I knew what you would be wanting and I laid the breadcrumbs, you each have your own families, so the blood will continue, and in twenty or thirty years, I’ll come back, and I’ll snack on them,” he says with a cackle as the two young men look at each other and then slowly, nervously turn their heads around towards the old man, as he stands there licking the blood off his bony, clawed hand, and he smile’s a toothy smile as he licks his lips with a snake like tongue. “Who’s next?” he says.

END

August 20, 2016
Day 100 Daily Prompt – Eyes – Short Story

I feel it run across my face, soaking into my skin, like a sponge, the thick, heavy, sticky substance soon engulfs me completely. I struggle for a moment, making one last effort to free myself from its clutches, but soon the blackness of the nothingness swallows me, and I am alone in the darkness. I don’t know how long I laid there before the darkness was torn away and replaced by a blinding light. I tried to shield my eyes from it, but my arms wouldn’t move, I’m more or less paralysed, except for my eyes. Slowly, over time, I see shapes, movement, and then a figure walks towards me, their smile is the first thing I see, they say words, but I don’t understand any of them, they’re muffled behind a wall of silence, and then it is gone and sound rips into my ears.

“Mister Jones? Can you hear me now?” She says.

My mouth is dry and I try to swallow, but it feels like someone has poured concrete down my throat and all I can do it make a raspy noise that sounds more like a hiss than words.

“I bet you’re a bit thirsty, this should help,” she says, I feel something touch my lips. “Now, nice and slowly, suck on the straw,” I close my lips and suck, I feel the liquid, the glorious, wet, cold liquid run down my throat, and I suck harder. Too hard, I splutter and cough, she pulls the straw from my mouth and I gasp and wheeze some more. “Slowly Mister Jones.”

“W-W-Where am I?” I finally manage to say, my voice sounds rough, gravelly.

“Saint Mary’s.”

“H-How long?”

“Have you been here you mean?” I nod, “Three weeks, police received a call out to Macy’s Arcade and you were found unconscious and brought here, do you remember what happened?”

“No, the last thing I remember is….” To be honest, I remembered exactly what happened, and I know she knew more than she was letting on, I could tell in her voice she wasn’t just your everyday nurse, she was something else, a cop maybe, or worse. “I-I-I was heading home after working the late shift and, and that’s all I remember before waking up in here, what happened to me?”

“I don’t know all the details, but all I know is you weren’t the only one brought in, you were just the the only one we managed to save.”

“Oh my god, I wasn’t the only one?”

“No, there was another three people brought in from the same location, but there was nothing we could do for any of them, they were all gone, you were lucky.”

“Yeah, by the sounds of it.”

“Anyway, I’m sure you want some rest, Detective Fitzgibbons will be in later to ask you a few questions in relation to the night you were found, so just try to relax and get some rest, whatever happened that night should come back to you in time,” she says, the smile she gives me is fake, way fake, just like her nurse shtick, and her eyes, something familiar, I force as smile and lean back in the bed and half close my eyes as she awkwardly leaves the room, and softly shuts the door. I wait for a few minutes, just to be safe and force myself up from the bed. The pain is fucking terrible, I collapse to the floor in a heap, cables and tubes attached to various, areas, and I mean various, rip free and I do everything I can to stop myself from screaming. After a short breather, and by that I mean five minutes of crying like a baby I force myself to my wobbly feet, I look around the room and spot a supply cupboard that I slowly make my way towards, my mouth drops when I pull the door open, in the other side of the door is nothing, just empty space. ‘What the fuck?’

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” she says, I turn quickly.

“What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck are you? And don’t give me shit about you being some nurse, because you’re not, so what the fuck?” I take a step towards her and the bitch smiles, my mouth drops open again as she changes right before my eyes, and I know straight away, what the fuck is going on before she even opens her mouth. Because the last thing I remember before the blackness soaked me up, was putting a bullet in the bitches head.

“Hello Christopher, I’m afraid the impression you’ve been given about your survival was grossly misleading.”

END

This is for today’s Daily Prompt

August 20, 2016
Day 99 – Ghosts Of Forever – Short Story

She looks over to Bennett, and grips his hand tightly, he squeezes back in return and forces a smile, but his eyes tell her a different tale, one filled with uncertainty. But she didn’t expect anything different from him, for the past two days all he’s done is try and talk her out of tonight’s venture, but she hasn’t budged, and to his credit, he kept his promise, and came along with her. She turns slowly towards an older gentleman who sits at the opposite end of the table and tightly grips hold of her other hand. His grey hair recedes as it gets closer to the crown of his skull, his jet black eyebrows hang over his eyes, which remain tightly closed, and the moustache of his goatee quivers due to his lips trembling as he mutters sentences under his breathe, she feels his grip slowly begin to tighten, and lets out a small grimace of pain. His eyes shoot open and the room’s temperature drops quickly, her eyes widen in disbelief as she can not only see her breath in front of her, but she can feel the thickness of it in her lungs each time she breathes in…

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August 19, 2016
Day 99 – Date Night – Short Story

He sits across from her, looking into her eyes and she smiles as she gently dabs the serviette on her mouth.

“What?” she asks.

“What?”

“What are you staring at?”

“You,” he says with a smile as he leans onto the table as she blushes. “That’s why we’re here isn’t it? To look at each other, to see if we’re the real deal or not.”

“I guess, it’s just, well I’ve never had anyone say the things you say to me it’s just a bit unusual.”

“You’re a beautiful woman, I’m just telling you the truth.”

She laughs, “I’ve been on seventeen of these dates and no one has been so up front and, and well, as nice as you, so tell me, why are you still on the market, what’s your faults?”

He laughs and leans back in his chair, “We’re already to that part of the night?”

“That’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?” she says with a cheeky grin.

“Touché,” he says with a laugh. “Okay, honestly, I haven’t found the right person, the right companion, I mean, I’ve been looking, but it’s always in the wrong spot, that’s why I’m here, doing this, trying to find miss right.”

“You’ve practiced that one haven’t you?”

“Well,” he says as he leans back on the table again. “Like you, I’ve done this too many times to really count, so, yeah, it’s a little practiced, but it’s true, I’m looking for that person who can make me feel a part of something special, not just another fling, I want someone who will make every day worth it. So, now your turn, why are you here?”

“The same reason I guess, looking for the one, I had him once, but it ended badly and I’ve been searching ever since, hoping one day to find it again, but all I ever seem to find is sleaze bags and no hopers.”

He laughs, “Isn’t that generally what single men are?”

“You don’t seem to be one,” she says with a smile.

“I could be, anyone can, but, I like you, you seem normal, interesting, and that’s what gets me, the interest.”

“The challenge?”

He laughs, “I’m not really into challenges, I’m into people, so no, not a challenge, an interest, that’s it.”

“Well, I’m glad I interest you, so, do we leave or do we sit and make more small talk?”

“Well, if you’re finished, you don’t want desert?”

“Oh no, that was more than I wanted to eat anyway,” she says as she gets up from her seat, after they go to the counter and pay for the bill they walk out into the night.

“Well it’s been an enjoyable evening,” he says with a smile. “I’d really like to do this again.”

“Do you say that every time as well?”

He laughs, “No, very rarely.”

“Well, then, I’d love to, when?”

“Friday?”

“I’m busy Friday, Sunday?”

“Sunday I’m going to my friends to watch the game, what about Saturday?”

“Saturday I’m busy in the afternoon, but if we catch up around seven I can do that!”

“Seven it is,” he says with a smile. “Where are you parked?”

“Oh, I’m not parked, I live eight blocks that way, so I’m just going to walk.” She says point down through an alleyway.

He looks at her and pulls his jacket on, “No one in their right mind would let someone as lovely as you walk home alone, please let me give you a lift.”

“I’m fine really, I walk it all the time.”

“Please, I really want to, I promise my hands will be on the wheel at all times and I’m not some wacko serial killer.”

She smiles, “Okay, but really, I can walk.”

“I won’t have it,” he says as they walk to his car and climb in, and he looks over to her and smiles as he starts up the engine as all the doors lock. “I sort of lied back there, about keeping my hands on the steering wheel.”

She laughs nervously, “I thought you were going to tell me you were a serial killer, that would have been so crazy.”

“Crazy? I just said I’m not going to keep my hands to myself, aren’t you worried?”

She laughs louder, “No, if you were a serial killer, then maybe, but only because it would have been, one of those freaky things that happen from time to time, you know, a coincidence.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

She pulls a taser out from her bag and zaps him into unconsciousness, “What I’m talking dear Freddie, is about how funny it would have been if we both ended up being serial killers.”

END

August 19, 2016
Day 98 – Confession – Short Story

She said the words I knew I didn’t want her to say, for six long years I’ve managed to avoid any issues, avoid any problems, but tonight, of all nights she drops the words I never wanted to hear, but knew one day would come.

“I’m in love with your sister!” She says quickly, giving me that awkward, mixed with a little bit of curious, topped off with a shit load of innocence look she gets when she doesn’t know what is going to take place once she finishes what she has to say.

“Now? You want to fucking do this now?” I say back, honestly, this was probably the best time in the world to bring it up, but I wasn’t going to sit back and just let it take place.

“I need to get it off my chest, Stu, you have to understand, I can’t hide it any longer, I can’t live with myself without being honest.”

“I know, everyone does, we’ve always known it, shit, Carol knows it. You two have just been so hell bent on lying to yourselves, and everyone else, that you hide your feelings away, because you think its wrong, but it’s not, its just the fucked up system this world has made you believe. But, honestly, can it wait? Just until we deal with this shit first.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why the fuck would I be mad? Its not like we’re dating or anything, we’re mates, always have been, always will be,” I say as I place a hand on hers, she smiles, and blushes a little as well.

“So, you think I should tell her?”

“Wrong time, remember?”

“I know, but is it? Shouldn’t this be the perfect time? Shouldn’t this be the time when life is reevaluated and we make the changes that need to, no, the changes that must be made?” She gets so cute when she gets worked up like this, I can tell by the way she’s looking at me, she knows what I’m thinking, the punch she deliverers confirms that. “Get your head out of the gutter!” She says.

“It is, just lay off, anyway, isn’t now the…” She hits me again.

“Don’t be a smart arse Stu, it’s not your strongest quality, just concentrate on how the fuck we’re going to get the hell out of here.”

“I am, that’s why I keep telling you can we do this later, otherwise there’ll be no later,” I say, as I look back out through the windscreen, and tighten my grip on the steering wheel, before us stagger hundreds, and when I say hundreds, I mean hundreds, of mindless, blank, rotten, soulless corpses. Most of them are standing silently, waiting, while others shuffle about, aimlessly, bumping into some of the others, which is no surprise considering how many have slowly worked their way around the car since we first stopped to make out. Okay, yeah, I guess I missed that part, we’re REALLY good friends, who happen to sleep together every now and then, by sleep, I mean fuck. Anyway, when we finally came to our orgasmic end we noticed the small field had become a bit over crowded, and they just kept coming. Starting the engine would send them into a rage, and we didn’t need that, trying to make a run for it, wouldn’t work out that good for us either, so, we had to think of another way, and that’s when she started going on about my sister.

“Are you sure starting the car is as dangerous as you think?”

“Have you seen what….” I didn’t have a chance to finish my sentence as her phone came loudly to life, and with it, so did our friends out in the field, turning their heads towards the car, and all I could hear, was the sound of a thousand hisses as they move towards us, I looked at her, her face was pale, her eyes wide, I quickly turn the key in the engine as they hit the car like a freight train…

END

August 18, 2016
Day 98 – Resistance – Short Story

“I do this because I love you, you know that don’t you?” He says softly into her ear.

“Don’t try and justify this, you purveyed piece of shit,” she says, he laughs and leans away.

“Don’t be like that, we have something special, can’t you see that, can’t you feel it?”

“The only thing I feel for you is something a lot more primitive than love,” she says as she lunges forward, but the chains around her arms pull her back, he laughs again.

“Remember how we first met?” He says as he looks out the window, into the night sky. “Remember how happy we made each other?”

“That was a long time ago, you turned out to be someone different, like all the rest, a liar, a thief and worse of all, someone who I can’t trust!”

He laughs, “Venom in those words, I’d be hurt if I knew that’s how you really felt.”

She spits at him, and lunges again, screaming and growling, “Fuck you, why don’t you just get it all over and done with instead of dragging it out, you’re a sadistic fucking piece of shit!”

“Calm it down sweetheart, we’ve got all night, so you just stop worrying your pretty head, because I’m going to take real good care of you,” he says picking up a large bone handled blade from a small table and takes a seat on a stool that sits a few feet from her. He looks out at the night sky again, letting out a sigh of thoughtfulness, not frustration, and turns back to her, she sits huddled in the corner, soaking into the darkness, letting out a low, deep, growl.

“Let me out!” she screams.

“Ain’t going to happen, not in this life time honey,” he says as he places an apple on his knee and begins peeling off the skin with the knife, he slice a piece of apple off and holds it out towards her, she growls again, deeper this time. “I’ll take that as a no, but you don’t know what you’re missing, these are Mrs Watson’s prize winning apples honey, best in the county.”

“I’d rather rip into your flesh,” she screams as she lunges again, coming out of the shadows, her hands elongated and clawed, her teeth pointy and many and her body covered in a thick, grey hair. He topples backwards in surprise, and tumbles off his seat, crashing to the ground as she screams and growls, desperately trying to reach him, but the chains hold her back. He scrambles to his feet and lets out a groan as he looks down at his side, the knife sticks out, wedged deep into his chest, and stuck between two of his ribs, he breaks out into a cold sweat and he feels the blood rushing down his side, he looks over to her, she sits there, looking at him, still growling that low, deep growl. He tries to pull the knife free but its well and truly stuck, he begins to feel faint and topples to his knees, as he hits the floor he catches sight of the wolf breaking free of her chains and leaping towards him.

END

August 18, 2016
Day 97 – Mistakes – Short Story

She grabs his arm tightly and tries to pull him close, but he takes a step away, a tear runs down her face, followed quickly by several more, her bottom lip trembles so she bites into it and squeezes his arm tighter, he pulls himself free from her grip and heads quickly for the doorway as she falls to her knees.

“Don’t leave like this, don’t let this be the way it ends!” She yells out, he grips the door handle and spins back around, his face flush red, his brow furrows as his eyes, like daggers, stab towards her.

“Fuck you, why should I even entertain standing fucking here and talking to you about this?” he yells, waving his free arm around. “Tell me for fuck sake? Because I want to know, I’m just itching to find out why me leaving is the wrong thing to do? Is it so you can save face? Because that isn’t happening Sandy, not by a long fucking shot. You’re the one who fucked up here, not me, so don’t tell me this shouldn’t be the way for it to end, when you’re the one responsible for it, you fucking bitch!” he yells, spit sprays from his mouth, he clenches his free hand into a fist as he pulls the door open and takes a step through it.

“Don’t you even want to know why it happened?” she screams, he turns back to her slowly and stands there in silence for a few moments.

“Well, am I going to stand around all day, or are you going to try and make yourself feel better?” he growls.

She wipes the tears from her face and struggles to her feet, “It was Chris’ idea, he said it would be the smartest thing any of us did in our whole entire life, he said if we didn’t go all in we’d regret it once we worked out the sort of return we would’ve made if we threw everything we had at it. He was good Parker, he said all the right things, did all the right moves, everything seemed too good to be true, but everything he showed me said it was.”

“Did you suck his dick?”

“What?”

“I said, did you suck his fucking dick Sandy?” He says as she takes a menacing step towards her.

“No, no, why the fuck would I suck his dick?”

“Because you gave him everything, not just what was in the bank, but the bill money, the rainy day savings, fuck, Sandy, you gave him everything, so you might as well of sucked his dick while you were at it!”

“Please, Parker, please, tell me what I can do to fix this, please?”

“Just do what I told you, pack your shit and be gone by the time I come back.” He says as he turns quickly back to the doorway.

“What are you going to do?” She says softly.

“I’m going to start with breaking his toes and work my way up from there, no two bit con man will take advantage of my sister and get away with it!”

END

August 17, 2016
Day 97 – Be Happy – YouChallenge Short Story

“Mister Rivers, come on in, I’m glad you found the time to come and see me,” the man says as he gestures for David to follow him into a small cubical, and to sit down. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to get around to calling you in, as you can see we are very much under the pump lately with everything going on in the factory, as we call it,” he says as he places a yellow folder on the desk and opens it up. “David Christopher Rivers, born on the twenty-third of October, nineteen thirty-seven in Hobart, Tasmanian,” he says as he looks up, and smiles. “It’s a wonderful place Tasmania, it’s been a long while since I’ve been down there, is it still beautiful?”

“Sights that take your breath away,” David replies.

“Magnificent,” he says as he looks at the photo on David’s file and then at the young man sitting before him. “You’ve had some work done I see.”

“At first I wasn’t interested but after I saw the work Doris had I couldn’t resist,” he replies, clearing his throat.

“Everyone always succumbs to it David so please, don’t be embarrassed, if you can do it, and it makes you happy, then you do it.”

“That’s what everyone said,” he says with a smile.

He smiles at David and looks back down at the file and then back at David, “Sorry for this, there was a time when I knew everyone, but we’ve grown a little larger than we were when I started all this, and well, I’m not as young as I used to be, it’s a young man’s game now days and my children are better at this than I am, but sometimes, when we have someone like you come up for review, I like to come down and do it myself.”

“I’m honoured.”

“Tish tosh, you need not be honoured David, it is I who am honoured to be sitting here with you, you see, you’re the sort of person this was all built around. A hard worker, devoted family man and above all else, to put it in its simplest form, a good man, what I strive for you all to be.”

“Thank you, I’ve always tried my best to uphold everything my parents instilled into me as I was growing up.”

“Well David, your Father and Mother are proud of the man you became, I know that, but I’m sure you know that as well by now.”

“Yes, it’s been good catching up with them again, it seems like more years than it has been since I last saw them and of course my dear, sweet Doris, my apple.”

“It’s what makes life, family.”

“Can I ask you something? I mean it’s probably the same question you’re asked all the time, but why?”

He laughs, “Why what?”

“Why all this, I mean, what’s the reason for it all?”

“For it all?”

“For life?”

He laughs again, “David, I may be God, but even I don’t have all the answers, not ones that can answer that question in a way you want it to be answered anyway. But I can tell you one thing, and it’s the most important piece of the puzzle that so many misinterpret, it’s just be happy,” he says with a broad smile, “That’s all you need to be, the rest, well that’s just how you find it.”

END

The challenge was, ‘guy meets God.’

August 17, 2016
Day 96 – Hunger Pains – YouChallenge Short Story

They all sit around the table, no one really knows what to say or do, so they all just sit there as he tears into the sandwich like someone who hasn’t eaten for several days. He looks up from the food, his cloudy, lifeless eyes look over his family and he smiles a dirty, rotten smile.

“What’s everyone looking at? Haven’t you seen someone eat a frekin sandwich before?” He asks.

“I-I-I-It’s not the sandwich Wilhelm, its you, y-y-y-your dead,” Lukas says as he looks at his brother.

“Don’t seem like I’m dead, in fact I feel better than I ever have, you on the other hand, you look old, and so do the sprouts,” he says as he stuffs the sandwich into his face again.

“It’s because you’ve been dead for eight years.”

He chokes on his mouthful of sandwich and spits it back out, onto the plate. “Eight years? Bullshit?”

“Why the hell would I lie to you?”

“Because you’re a penis breath, that’s why, so where the cameras? When’s everyone going to jump out and say, got you Uncle Wilhelm!”

“It’s not going to happen, because, you’ve really been dead for eight yours, but not only that, what I don’t understand is you were cremated, how in the hell can you be here if you were cremated?”

Wilhelm stares at his brother through dead eyes, as his brain tries to turn over, as it tries to piece together what he’s been told and then he takes another large bite of the sandwich. “How the fuck should I know, I woke up in some shitty hotel and realised where I was, so I thought I’d come over for a surprise visit. Besides Alice fainting, the kids screaming and you wetting yourself, I thought it was a good visit so far,” he says as he flashes another rotten smile.

“So you don’t remember anything else about how you got here?”

“Didn’t I just say that?”

“I know, I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Fuck the same page, if I’m supposed to be dead what the hell am I doing waking up in some fucked up hotel, hungrier than I’ve ever been before?”

“That would be my fault,” a voice says from the doorway, they all turn to see a woman, standing against the door, her hair a mixture of red, pink and green, bright purple lipstick covers her lips and a multicolour rainbow covers her eyelids.

“Gwen?” Wilhelm says.

“Who the fuck is Gwen?” Lukas asks as he gets to his feet, “What the hell have you done to my brother?” he says, she grabs him by the throat and stares at him with her black, soulless eyes.

“Paying a debt, you should be so lucky, enjoy the time with your brother, because soon the hunger will take over.” Lukas gasps for breath as she releases her grip and smiles towards Wilhelm, “We are even now.”

“Did we need to be?” Wilhelm asks as he shoves the remainder of the sandwich into his mouth.

“Pig, you weren’t going to escape me in death like you did in life, I will have the last laugh, and it will be the loudest,” she says as she disappears into the darkness of the night, he lets out a maggoty burp and rubs his stomach as it lets out a groaning noise as he feels his hunger build.

“Tell me you’ve got something else in this house I can eat? Because I could eat a baby elephant right now.”

END

The challenge was, ‘Uncle Wilhelm is back.’

August 16, 2016