Gillian Church posts Writing Prompts every week on her Horror Prompts Instagram account and I like to take part with a few snippets and pieces of flash fiction.
The Prompt:
You were talking in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?
The Submission:
“The orderlies said you were talking in your sleep again,” Doctor Michaels said, barely glancing up from his notes. “What were you dreaming about?”
I shifted in my seat. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Michaels finally looked up; his face shimmered behind the glass that separated us. “Come now, I think it would be–”
“Good for my therapy,” I finished with a grimace. “I’ve heard it a hundred times, Doc.”
Doctor Michaels laced his hands together. “Sometimes talking helps, Cody.”
I rolled my eyes and coughed. “Fine, you wanna know? I saw a man.”
“Was it your father?”
I screwed my face up in disgust. “No, it wasn’t my father. He had a face.”
Doctor Michaels raised an eyebrow. “His face was stoic? Expressionless?”
“It was missing. There was … nothing. He carried a meat clever …”
“Your father was a butcher, wasn’t he?”
“IT WASN’T MY FUCKIN’ FATHER!” I screamed, leaping to my feet and sending my chair flying. “He was bald … a giant! He wore a torn smock and laughed … God, he laughed!”
Doctor Michaels scribbled on his notepad. “And what did this man want?”
“Me,” I whispered. “It’s the same thing every night”.
“Because of what you did to your father?”
I lowered my head and took a deep breath, then grabbed the leg of my chair and swung it at the glass with all the force I could muster. It cracked but didn’t shatter; Doctor Michaels’ face splintered as a result, seeming to split in two.
I ranted and screamed and gnashed and roared and he just sat there, impassively jotting down notes as I hammered away at the glass again and again. With each hit, his face distorted and twisted; it became blank … empty.
“I can see we still have a lot of work to do”.
What did you think to this week’s writing prompt? Did you submit anything for it? Have you ever written any flash fiction before? I’d love to know what you think to my snippets and writing prompts, so feel free to sign up and let me know what you think below or leave a comment on my Instagram page. You can also follow Gillian Church amd Horror Prompts to take part in the Weekly Writing Prompt challenge.
Dr. K's Waiting Room 