Short on Halloween! Two Sentence Stories and TRILLER: a Short Film/Video

My son had a great idea for Halloween week: the two sentence horror story. We put out the word and had a great response, so much so that I thought it was worthy of sharing. If you  like some of these, visit their website or their facebook page, please give a shout out in the comments, or add one of your own.

Me-The dull eyes of his severed head stared up at me from the water. "I didn't realize you would float," I said, "but they'll never find the other pieces."

Toby Neal She woke, hung over, and shuffled into the kitchen after discovering she was out of aspirin. She opened the coffee can, and it was empty.

Mark Newbold A sharp pain in her right eye roused her from sleep, tiny stiff fingers were pulling frantically at her eyelid. The Harlequin marionette normally dangling akimbo on her bed post was lying prone at her side.

Darren Rome Leo Michele Bachman is president. Palin is VP.

Theron Tatum Her bags where pack, her finger nails were still in his back. He had a black eye he won that fight, so much complaining, she had to die.

Jamie Bruno Grandmother snatched the trapdoor under the kitchen table, fixing me with a liquid eye as old boards screamed. "Little boys who can't keep their mouths shut will have plenty of time to bawl in here."

Ben Ditmars She drank blood from her favorite wine glass, looking at his body on the floor. It wasn't the best first date she could remember, but it was close.

Michelle Berthiaume Darkness like a cancer spread through the house peeling back the cracked plaster of the flesh-colored walls, exposing her breasts in the moonlight peering in through a crack in the heavy, red-linen drapes. Soundlessness filled the room where Kelly lay sprawled, as death crept silently into her dreams, pushing back the soft folds of consciousness with the edge of the blade used to peel open oysters from their sanctuary. Fyrecurl@wordpress.com

William Teague Just a routine colonoscopy. As I came out of the twilight sedation I looked up to find myself in the hands of two hideous creatures placing my insides on a crystal operating table.

Jo Ann Eby true events can sometimes make the best scary stories.... As the storm moved out of the area, she settled in for a good night"s sleep. There was nothing else to do. Lightening had knocked off the electricity/ After falling into a deep sleep, she was awakened by a blood curdling scream and a gun shot. Terrified, she lay very still in her bed trying to remember if she had locked the door. Then she realized the electric had come back on and the tv was on.

Jo Ann Eby It was getting dark so she chose to take the short cut through a grove of trees to get to her destination quicker. Being careful to not slip and fall and tumble down the hill to the highway below , she stepped carefully hearing every little noise along the way. Suddenly, a big shadow jumps out in front of her. She screams before realizing the shadow was her own.

Adam Zobel The strangely silent breakfast continued until finally my father lowered his newspaper and reached for his coffee. Adrenaline shot a burning taste into my mouth as I realized that my father was not my father, but a clown, and my mother as she finally turned, was not my mother.

Justin Bogdanovitch Her fingernails raked across the chalkboard.
"Class, this is my detention," said Mrs. Appelbaum, who never met a child she couldn't make cry, and loved the challenge.
www.justinbog.com

Rob Greene It was a dark and stormy night at the Tea Party headquarters. Suddenly, a thought rang out. www.rwwgreene.com

Joan Raymond Around midnight, only the flickering of the TV lit the room as the cat curled next to me on the couch. Scratching noises behind the mini blinds sent a chill down my spine when I realized I’d never be able to shut the window in time. http://joanraymondwriting.wordpress.com

Ann Wertz Garvin Bankruptcy. Pregnant.

Rob Greene I peered blearily up at the naked redneck, the mullet that had seemed so attractive at the bar now looking like a horse's beshitted tail. "Dang rubber broke," he said.
www. rwwgreene.com

Ted Flanagan The twin boys looked up at their father, and said: "Chuck E. Cheese, please."

  Michelle Berthiaume Didn't I just do this already, she thought. Then, suddenly Kelly said do it again. Oooiiiii. Fyrecurl@wordpress.com

Roxie Herman DEAD SILENCE The street was dark and empty, the blade so sharp she didn't feel it slice through her throat; but she watched, fascinated, as the blood spurted over her fingers. He waited until her eyes rolled back, then slowly walked around the corner shedding his jacket and gloves.

Jerry Ludlum The moon was full and the night was cool. I felt a presence then the boney hand touched my shoulder.

Jay Kendall Mcbee Jesus wept. Blood.

Sandy Keith I was throwing a lit cherry bomb out of my car into a group trick or treaters and forgot to roll down the glass.. Great balls of fire.

 

Cynthia Meyers-Hanson I went to bed after I bumped my head. Even though I was conscious that it was raining and pouring, I never fully woke, again. http://mchanson714.weebly.com/

But why stop at stories? Below is an original short film/music video by my good friend Sam King. Check it out then tweet him at @SK4mc and let him know you loved it!

'Paradise' A Bit of Fiction

 I've written hundreds of short stories over the years.  Paradise took second place in the Writers Weekly 24 hour short story contest and is still, ten years later,  my husbands favorite.

Paradise  

 

Katie tried to ignore the passersby as she hurried through the unfamiliar streets of the city.  A young woman, her face illuminated by a weak street lamp, looked at her and grinned; it was obvious Katie didn’t belong here.  She tried not to draw attention to herself, but it wasn’t easy.  “I will have to hide before daylight comes,” she whispered to herself, careful not to let anyone hear her speak.  It had only been four hours since her escape, but she was sure they would be looking for her by now.

           

She had never seen the city before, and the unfamiliar images that surrounded her were frightening.  Her fear, however, was outweighed by her excitement.  She was determined to find Benny’s Bookstore and inside, hopefully, the key to her destiny.  She glanced at the street sign above her head.  She was almost there. 

           

Katie dreamed of being someplace where she felt she belonged.  It certainly wasn’t this city, and, although the place where she lived was not necessarily a bad place, it wasn’t a home.  Her place of existence, as she liked to call it, was an institution: a sterile, white environment surrounded by medical staff.  She had been taken away from her parents at a very young age and sent to live with Dr. Bailey.  She had never understood why; no one had ever told her.

           

Dr. Bailey was very kind, as were the others that helped take care of her, but they were not family.  Rebellion became her way of coping.  She would not read what they tried to give her.  She played ignorant when they wanted her to speak.  If she knew they expected her to react one way, she acted just the opposite.  Her lack of cooperation had led them to assume that she was of low intelligence, incapable of learning even the basics.

           

But, Katie wasn't stupid.  In fact, she was extremely intelligent, far beyond what Dr. Bailey could ever imagine.

           

Katie had learned how to exit her locked room at night without being detected.  Because of her 'learning disability', no one ever suspected that she was capable of escaping after night call, so no one ever checked.  She knew the night nurses’ routines and could easily run throughout her home without any interference.  And on her own, she learned.

           

She had read every book in the library, some twice.  She had even managed to hack into Dr. Bailey’s computer and frequented the internet at night.  She often laughed at how sly she was, and how easily Dr. Bailey and the others were fooled.

           

Katie’s only knowledge of her family had come from information she had read in her own medical chart.  She didn’t remember them, being taken away at such a young age, and she wept when she read her own history.  Her grandfather had been an astronaut, one of the first.  Her parents worked for a major university, and after reading about them on the internet, she found that they were well respected in their field.  She had no brothers.  She had no sisters.  She had only Dr. Bailey, and her friend George, who truly was ignorant.

           

While she rarely pondered her dreams, Katie had been having the same one, every night, for several weeks.  She and George were on an island surrounded by palm trees.  Majestic mountains bordered their haven and a white sandy beach separated the land from the crystal blue of the ocean.  She was highly respected by the other inhabitants for her intelligence, and she openly shared her knowledge with them.  Astronauts.  Teachers.  Doctors.  It was a different world in her dream.  It was paradise.

           

When she told George about her dream, he had, as usual, quizzed her for every detail.  Katie called him Curious George, although he didn’t understand the meaning behind the nickname. George needed to be here, Katie thought.   

           

“It’s your treasure,” George said.  “Katie’s treasure!”

“Someday I will find such an island,” Katie told him. 

One summer afternoon, Katie and George sat together in the dayroom.  George played with the television remote control as Katie tried to concentrate on the various programs that appeared as the channels changed.  Suddenly, she grabbed the remote from him. 

She went back several channels, slowly, searching for something.  She glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear her speak.  “George,” she whispered, “Look!  It’s my island.  It’s on the television!”  They sat together in silence and watched as the wonders of Katie’s dream world unfolded before their eyes.

“Katie, you must find it.  You must.  Then you can come back for me.” George said as he gazed at the screen.  But Katie required no prompting.  She had already made up her mind.

She spent a week researching before she ventured out on her quest for paradise.  She searched the internet and found that there were several books about her island, but none were in Dr. Bailey’s library.  She sent messages to every bookstore within fifty miles of her home, looking for someone who had one of the books.  Three nights into her search, she received a response.

“Yes, I have one of the books you are inquiring about, but no one has asked for it in years.  I would be happy to reserve it for you.”  It was signed “Benny” from Benny’s Bookstore.  Katie wrote down the address and decided that her journey must begin there. 

           

Late the following night, after everyone was in bed, Katie dressed in the dark and left her tiny room for the last time.  She stole to the kitchen and collected provisions for her journey.  She went back to the area where she lived, opened George’s door, and kissed her sleeping friend goodbye.  “I will come back for you, I promise,” she whispered.  Then with one last look around, she escaped into the darkness, into the concrete jungle that she had only seen in books and on television.

           

Katie didn’t like the idea of breaking into the bookstore any more than she liked the thought of stealing the book.  But, as she stood in front of Benny’s she felt drawn to the dusty shelves inside.  She found a window in the back that had been left slightly ajar.  She was small and extremely agile and she managed to enter without a sound.

 

In the darkness of the old store, she relied on her night vision, which was exceptional.  She searched the shelves, reading the cover of each book.  After hours of searching, she was exhausted, both mentally and physically.  She sat on the floor beginning to feel as if her journey may have been in vain.  Some of the titles on the bottom shelves were difficult to read due to months, possibly years of neglect.  She began to wipe the covers gently, her last hope. 

And there it was.  What George had called her treasure.

           

She pulled the dusty volume from the shelf and quickly made her way to the antique cash register at the front of the store.  She had seen one similar to it before, and had no difficulty opening the drawer.  Forty dollars.  She grabbed the money quickly, thinking she may need funds for the next leg of her adventure.  She made a promise to herself that she would someday pay Benny back, and then darted out of sight, as a young man walked by the front window. 

           

She was anxious to begin the next leg of her journey, but knew once she started reading, she wouldn’t be able to stop.  She didn’t dare open the book.  Not yet.  Not here.  Holding the book tightly, she headed back into the night.

***

“Dr. Bailey?  Officer Scopes, here, NYPD.  I’m calling about the escapee you reported last night.”

“Her name is Katie.  Do you have her?”  Dr. Bailey had been up most of the night, worried about her alone in a strange world.

“No, no, I was just told to call you if I heard anything.  Actually, I doubt this is anything at all.”  Dr. Bailey noticed an aloof, almost jovial tone in the officer’s voice, which irritated him.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he replied.

“Well,” the officer began, “Didn’t you say she was stupid?  I mean, she can’t read, right?"

“No, Officer, Katie cannot read.  Please, don’t waste my time. Do you have a lead on her whereabouts or not?”

“Like I said, probably not.  I picked up a drunk in the park this morning that swears he saw a monkey that matches her description.”  He paused. “He said she was sitting under a tree reading a book.”

“A book?” Dr. Bailey said. “What kind of a book?”

Officer Scopes words were barely audible through his laughter.  “Planet of the Apes.  What else?”