February 2016 75-word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO CAT'S CRADLE!

[LittleStar]

RULES:

Write a story inspired by the chosen theme and genre in no more than 75 words, not including the title

ONE entry per person

NO links, commentary or extraneous material in the posts, please -- the stories must stand on their own
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WHEN WRITING YOUR STORY, PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY FORUM

All stories Copyright 2016 by their respective authors,
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who grant the Chronicles Network the non-exclusive right to publish them here
The complete rules can be found at RULES FOR THE WRITING CHALLENGES

Contest ends at 11:59 pm GMT, February 23, 2016

Voting Ends at 11:59 pm GMT, February 28, 2016

You do not have to submit a story in order to vote --
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in fact, we encourage all Chrons members to take part in choosing a winner



The Magnificent Prize:

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The Dignified Congratulations/Grovelling Admiration of Your Peers
and the challenge of choosing next month's theme and genre



Theme:

The Things You Don't See

Genre:

Horror



This thread to be used for entries only.

Please keep all comments to the DISCUSSION THREAD

We invite (and indeed hope for) lively discussion and speculation about the stories as they are posted, so long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot.


** Please do not use the "Like" button in this thread! **​

 

[Ashleyne]

STM

Such a sharp jaw. I trace her fingers along his stubble, her other hand pushed against his six pack.

I feel the crowd gyrating to the bass.

I run her tongue across her lips, and he kisses us. I slither out from her throat and bite onto his tonsils. No one bats an eye.

She furrows her brow, not remembering our union. She'll be dead by morning. His body'll last me at least a month.

 

[Cathbad]

GOOD RIDDANCE!​

Ungrateful children, one and all!

Tomorrow, I’m revising my will! I’ll have them forcibly removed from the house! I’ll be rid of them once and for all!

Try to put me in a home! I’ll show you all! I’ll be rid of you all for good!

What’s my loser son doing? Now it’s dark!

“You can start the memorial service now.”

Don’t make me laugh, boy! Play your games; we’ll see who’s laughing tomorrow!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Overpopulation

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to see ghosts. It took me many years of study. I devoured entire libraries of dusty old books, most of them worthless. I sacrificed decades of my life which might have been filled with friends and lovers, but I achieved my goal.

The dead far outnumber the living. You are surrounded by dozens of them, every second of your life. Be thankful you cannot see them.

 

[Starbeast]

Research Complete​

Back against wall, I heard my heart pounding. They exist...invisible aliens. I hear breathing...drawing nearer in my darkened home. Moonlight reflected off my papers thrown at my feet...I understood.

#

Fireplace destroyed my work, everything...then I asked sincerely for forgiveness, for discovering them. I flinched, when the floor creaked...

#

Silence..........strange lights outside.........he or she, was gone....I hasten to my typewriter. Something struck the table hard.....I backed away, trembling.............

 

[Cascade]

Because I Love You

I will describe for you the morning.

The glow, rising, reaching, and turning the river from black to grey to violent shimmering gold.

The ferry chug-chugging its first crossing. Its only cargo, the earliest of early risers and young women carrying their shoes.

Ducks and rowers.

Joggers and an old brown dog on the riverside path.

There. You needn’t see all that.

Let me check your bonds again before I go.

 

[Dan Jones]

Snowblind

The invaders settled in Mediterranean population centres: insidious, intelligent, invisible.

Decimated, our survivors drove north, to the Arctic.

They followed, wrapped in bearskins, tracking the copper heat of human blood. Piecemeal, we were picked off.

Few remain, and I don't trust those that do. I'm carving this message into the rocky ice. They can't see the cold. So stay frosty.

And if you catch yourself wondering, "where are they now?" - look over your shoulder.

 

[Shyrka]

What Dreams May Come

You told yourself I was wind in the trees.

You told yourself I was air in the pipes.

You told yourself I was a trick of the light.

You told yourself I was only a nightmare.

A nightmare I may be, but do not fear:



The knife is real.

 

[Vaz]

The Silence of Fangwood Deep



The black keep, it never sleeps in silence.


Shakari gulps back his water; sweat slicks his skin as he retches.


Vomit spills from his lips, then blood. Panthera soldiers howl victorious, the Fangborn are losing.


"None of that matters." He speaks to the darkness, caressing his stomach.


"By morning they will all be dead, part of me will escape this war."


Blood warms his legs; he swallows a scream as it pours from his navel.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Tea and Clover

A breath excites goosebumps on my neck. Russian tea with clover honey — his scent when we’d return to bed on lazy Sunday afternoons...he’d caress me while quietly singing arias.
I haven’t opened my eyes for many hours, nor stirred from bed. We buried him months ago and I’ve no idea what lies here stroking me while mewling corrupted splinters of Aida, nor why it smells of tea and clover.
But I miss being loved.

 

[Droflet]

Belasco Manor.


Only two hours till dawn. Just Sarah and me left. The house wanted us.

The others died screaming. Not a mark on them. Their faces, oh God, their pale dead faces, contorted into such unfathomable dread as to choke the heart. What did they see at the very end to freeze their eyes wide with such terror?

Sarah’s scream chilled my blood. Her body shook uncontrollably, then nothing.

I’m alone.

Only two hours till dawn.

 

[StilLearning]

As below, so beyond.

Her soul rose towards the light. Towards love. Towards paradise.
A spectral stinger shot out of the dark, paralysing her. The light pulsed brighter, revealing itself as a luminous appendage.... attached to a maw.
Screaming, Theresa was ripped apart and eaten.

I saw this, and my spirit guide told me: “They consume the energies of compassion, altruism. Some souls escape: Cruelty, selfishness.... are inedible and repel them. Living or dead.... the cosmos rewards not goodness."

 

[Ihe]

On Track (aka Nothing)

Nothing. My flashlight's beam fidgets along worn metro tracks and cold bedrock. There's nothing behind me; I look again.

A sound. The tunnel groans and exhales dank air from somewhere deep and foul. Nothing--wait. Footsteps approaching. No, my own echoes.

Something cold brushes my shoulder, barely perceivable. I trip; look around. Nothing.

A breath by my ear. I won't look. I'm sure it's nothing. Nothing at all. Please.

Please.

 

[Clockworkbot]

Death and Blindness in the Southland

The first time I saw her, I knew it would be the last.

She was a comedor de ojos, what the Doc would call an Opthalmophage - and she had me cornered. Her sister had taken my left back in Juarez, and it that was the side she came from. Just my luck.

Don’t know if you ever tried to shoot down an eye-eater, but they don’t hurt, and they move damn fast. Too fast.

 

[J5V]

I Always Win

You think you know me, but you will never see me.

I am behind every door, in every phone call you answer, in every shadow you approach.

I will always be ready for you. I am a split second away from touching you. I know all of your past.

I always win. The only way to be rid of me is to die.

I am the future.

 

[Parson]

Blood Dreams

My eyes close....

Splot, splot, splot

My eyes fly open. “What's that?”

silence

“Get it together Patty! It's nothing.”

My breathing slows. My eyes close.

Splot, splot, splots

“Yiiiiii!” Something warm runs down my forehead. “What the blazes is dripping!!?”

I look. It's raining and the top window is open.

I get up, shut the window, and lie down again.

My breathing slows. My eyes close. I drift off.

Mom's blood goes unseen.​

 

[johnnyjet]

Il Compagno Ombroso

He followed me everywhere. He shadowed me, but he was no shadow. I could not see him, but I felt him.

Sometimes he replaced my shadow with a repulsive stain. The stain would follow me for days. People recoiled from me.

Sometimes he replaced my face with an ugly countenance. I couldn't go out looking like that. I looked evil. I called off sick.

He frightens me.

Someday I know he will replace me.

 

[Mr Orange]

The Unseen


A blissful afternoon. Listen. Can you hear the whispers? of the breeze in the trees? The shadows, are lengthening but they are forgotten in the firelight. The evening is coming, bringing the warmth of the fire, free of darkness and pain. Family, They come for food and joy with you. Between the fire and gathering kin, this world looks good and the next. day will be even better.

You will see them in your dreams.

 

[Bowler1]

Do you tip the “Delivery Boy”

I can hear zombie scraping and shuffling and a low moan filled with hunger, so I had to be careful.

They’ll bite and fight if cornered, like a wild animal.

I miss killing zombies; I always knew what to do when fighting against a hungry hoard.

Now they’ve got rights, and jobs, like everyone else… supposedly!

‘I’m not paying for that,’ I shout and rant, for what good it does. ‘You’ve eaten half my pizza!’

 

[Inca_UK]

Actually a True Story

I knew they were there. I could feel it. A presence in my room.

I opened my eyes. Shadowy figures hovered around my bed. Real enough to make out, but almost faint enough for me to doubt.

The light went on, the figures faded.

Returning to sleep was hard. Did I imagined that or had it really happen?

Again I felt a presence. This time I would not look. I kept my eyes firmly shut.