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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

When a Fragmented Soul Screams (RVFF #15)

What is Random Vocabulary Flash Fiction (RVFF)? I write a flash fiction story (a short story you can read in a flash) using a random vocabulary word. Click here to read my rules.

Today's word: Torpid (TOR pid) - 1. sluggish 2. inactive 3. apathetic



When a Fragmented Soul Screams (RVFF #15)
A Chiller Edition

Trish, unable to run any farther, collapses against a wall inside the abandoned warehouse. Two rats approach and sniff her. Trish wants to scream but can’t because that thing – whatever it was – might find her. She kicks at the rats, and they scurry away.

Something sharp drags along the building’s exterior and scrapes at Trish’s sanity. Her heart should be pounding, but it’s deathly still. Why isn’t my heart beating?

The doors suddenly swing open and shut – open and shut – open and shut –. Bursts of lightning fill the dark space, and a gust of wind rips the doors from the hinges. A dark figure hovers in the opening.

Trish bolts toward the back door not noticing the second dark figure hovering in her path. She hears herself scream as she merges into its form. She struggles inside it, but her movements become torpid as if fighting quicksand. Its raspy voice stills her.

“I’m your descender, Trish. The mutilation of your soul will be less painful if you relax.”

“No! I don’t want to go with you!”

The descender laughs. “You’re dead. It’s too late to change your mind.”

Trish can no longer fight. They begin to sink through concrete floor, into cold earth – down – down –. A shock of pain, then slicing torture. Dragged through large chunks of jagged glass, her soul rips into tiny fragments – every piece scraped raw. Each fragment enters its own special chamber of eternal horrors, and Trish, feeling it all, screams. “God, save me!”

But God can’t hear her, now.

Word Count = 250 (I know. I'm over by 50)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Waving Girl (RVFF #14)

What is Random Vocabulary Flash Fiction (RVFF)? I blindly select a vocabulary word from Word Smart, and write a flash fiction story using that word. Flash fiction means it's short - you can read it in a flash. Click here to read my rules.

Today's word: Bastion (BAS chun) - 1. stronghold 2. fortress 3. fortified place


The Waving Girl (RVFF #14)
A Chiller Edition

It was raining as the ship ventured toward the port of Savannah. First mate Beals wondered if she’d be there. Her presence had become a bastion of comfort to Beals after the long days and nights at sea and made Savannah his favorite seaport.

As the ship neared Elba Island, Beals saw her - waving the handkerchief as usual, her collie by her side.

At the dock, Beals asked about the woman.

“The waving girl statue?” the man said. “It’s down at the park.”

“I’m not looking for a statue. I just want to know if anyone knows who that woman is out on Elba Island.”

The man laughed. “Stop pullin’ my chain, buddy. That was Florence – the waving girl. She died in the 40s. Comforted a lot of mariners like yourself back in the day, though. Sweet ol’ gal, I hear.”

Beals walked to the park that evening. He gazed at the statue in disbelief. It was her, but she’d died sixty-seven years ago.

Will she be there? Beals wondered the next morning as the ship pulled out of port. When they passed Elba Island, he saw her waving, her collie by her side. And when he waved back, he was sure he saw her smile.

Word count = 205

Note: The waving girl was a real person, who spent 40 years waving at ships going to and from the port of Savannah from her home on Elba Island. The ghost story is not true. It is simply my imagination going wild with a place (Savannah, Georgia) and a story (Florence Martus - the real waving girl) I love. You can read more about her here: Savannah's Waving Girl