Gillian Church posts regular Writing Prompts on her Horror Prompts Instagram account and I like to take part with a few snippets and pieces of flash fiction. This time, I asked my followers for suggestions and put together a short piece based on what they offered.
The Prompts:
Sacrifice, Carousel, Lips, Superfluous
The Submission:
Time was running short. It wouldn’t be long until it caught up with them, and Johnny knew that there was nothing he could do; any attempt to resist would be superfluous, and he’d seen far too may torn limb from limb in failed attempts to negotiate of fight against it.
Still, he didn’t want to worry Sonya; the girl had already watched her mother dissolve from the inside out with a smile on her face, and the last thing he wanted was for her to see the carnage unfolding around them.
He bundled her into the back of the car, stroking her face and making soothing sounds, and drove to the park as quickly as he could. “Daddy, what’re those people doing?” she asked, glancing out the window.
“Don’t you worry about that, Peanut,” Johnny quickly admonished. “Just play your game and don’t look out there.” She didn’t need to see those winged demons carrying away her friends and neighbours, or the burning blood raining from the sky.
He hurried her over to her favourite place in the entire world; the carousel. It drifted lazily in the wind, stained from blood and scorch marks, but thankfully free from corpses or the shambling dead.
“Go on now, Peanut,” he encouraged kissing her on the lips and watching, with tears filling his eyes, as she giggled and rotated on that same chipped and ugly looking unicorn.
A dark shadow fell over them; black, broiling clouds crept over the sky and a blazing red eclipse burned in the sky. Johnny felt his skin grow deathly cold as a hand, skeletal and dripping, caressed his shoulder. He took one last look at Sonya, happily enjoying her ride, and steeled himself; perhaps if he acted swiftly enough, he could save her. His sacrifice could mean her survival, even if just for a few more precious seconds of simple joy. He whirled, fist raised, and felt all the breath blow from his body as he locked eyes with the eternity of the Black and dropped dead, ashen and crumbling, as the darkness swept across the world.
What did you think to this piece? 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 and Horror Prompts to take part in the Weekly Writing Prompt challenge.
Dr. K's Waiting Room 