FLASH FICTION:-- HORROR, SCI-FI, HUMOUR, CRIME, SLICE OF LIFE, ETC.

Friday 29 October 2010

Pumpkinhead

Ah, Halloween is here again, I just love Halloween.

Today I was making my lantern.

The knife was short, but sturdy, and very sharp.

I pushed it in almost to the hilt, then twisted it round, scrolling my wrist over and back, over and back, delighting in the squishy-squelchy sounds it produced. I withdrew the blade, globs of soft flesh and tendrils of thick liquid clung to the stainless steel.

I ran the flat of the blade across my tongue, savouring the juices, aaah...sweet, sweet.

Okay, now for the second eye.... A slight pop as the blade went through the skin, then squish- squelch, squish-squelch. I caught myself singing a few bars from an old George Benson song “In your eyes” and smiled.

I carved the nose out with three deep cuts, leaving a gaping, dribbling, triangular hole.

I held it against my lips, tilted my head back, and sucked deeply, allowing the sweet liquid to trickle down my throat.

The mouth was a bit more tricky, the teeth proved to be a problem, but I hacked and slashed and gouged, until it took on a look that pleased me. A rather lopsided, but gap-toothy smiling look.

I kissed the mouth, running my tongue slowly along the contours of the teeth, flicking it deeply into the wet hole, searching out the loose tiny morsels.

After removing the top I carefully scooped out all of the insides, slopping them into a large bowl, I would eat them for dessert after dinner tomorrow.

I pushed the candle deep into the soft base inside the head, lit it, replaced the top, then turned out the light to appreciate my efforts.

Hmmm, not bad, the Halloween lantern was probably one of my best efforts to date, the candle's glow flickered eerily from the carved apertures. All in all I was quite pleased with it.

I glanced across at the rest of the corpse in the corner of the room, and debated whether or not to use a real pumpkin for next Halloween.


©2010 Stephen. J. Green.

Friday 22 October 2010

Slaves

I used to be a slave-catcher.

We caught them, we shaved their heads, we put them in a blue jumpsuit, we put them to work.

I broke the rules, I fell in love with a catch, such beautiful red hair, such beautiful green eyes, such beauty.

What would a man do to protect all that beauty?

I ran, I took her with me, we ran together.

The further we ran, the more I loved her.

The more I loved her, the harder I fought to protect her.

The harder I fought, the more men I killed.

The more men they lost, the harder they chased.

In the end, I did not fight hard enough.

* * * * *

My freshly-shaven head feels cold, cold like my heart.

The jumpsuit chafes my skin, but the blue definitely suits the colour of my soul.

All that beauty has been taken from me.

And I still live.

My heart will ache for the rest of my life.

In the gaseous tunnels of the Basidium mines beneath the surface of Epsilon 4, 'life' is about six months max.


©2010 Stephen. J. Green.

Friday 15 October 2010

Picking up the tab

He screamed like a bitch when I ripped his fingernails out, even through the gag he made plenty of noise.

I tossed the dripping pliers onto the pile of tools on the table, then waited....

Eventually he stopped thrashing around as the pain dulled. The leather straps held tight, the chair stayed solid on the floor.

“I'll bet you're wondering why this is happening?” I said as I removed the gag.

The thing in the chair sobbed and mewled, tear-flooded eyes downcast.

“Eleven seventeen East Hardaker Avenue mean anything to you?” I asked him.

He raised his head and took a good look at me, I could see the connection being made.

“Look, she never told me she was married, how could I know?”

“All the pictures around the house of me and her would give most people a clue, anyway this isn't about you screwing my wife.”

“Look, I... She was... ”

“I already told you, this isn't about you screwing my wife. I've been impotent for years, and she misses the physical side that I can't do no more, so we have an arrangement, I always know who and when, and I give her the space she needs. I love my wife, and she loves me, she uses men like you, but she loves ME! Comprendez?

“Please... look... I... I'll never see her again...”

“Oh, I already know that.”

“So... why?...” He said, lips quivering, eyes streaming, snot and blood dripping.

“Because you took advantage, that's why.”

“Wha...?”

“You should have left the house when she asked you to, you should have left my booze alone when she told you to, and you shouldn't have slapped her and then fallen asleep in my bed.”

I refastened the gag tightly around his mouth.

His eyes bulged as he watched me pick up the secateurs from the table...

“Now, I reckon you've just about paid for the bed, so I figure you still have to pick up the tab for the slap, and half a bottle of Jack Daniels.”


©2010 Stephen. J. Green.

Friday 8 October 2010

Darklings (A darkening world Part 2)

A darkening world (Part 1)

* * * * * * * * * *

(A darkening world part 2)

There was a time when our kind could exist in only the deepest, darkest holes and caverns beneath the ground.

As the death-bringing, skin-scorching suns above began to die, so our world grew.

We emerged, bred, and flourished in our new kingdom, as more of the hated skyfires dimmed and finally darkened, we swept across the Nightland.

The detestable Lightlings flee from us, they run from the silky life-giving blackness that sustains our eternal existence. They scamper to remain in their searing heat-filled slice of this planet, desperately clinging to the clawhold left to them.

Yes, they run....

And we follow.

We follow, watch, plot, and wait.

Be afraid Lightlings, we will feed on your fear, for we are here, just one step beyond the light's edge.

We will have you, and your piece of this world. Soon.... Very soon.

Your only remaining sun has begun to flicker, just as the others did.

The time of the Dayland is almost done.

Our time is near.

And we are hungry.

----------------

A darkening world (part 1)
Darklight (A darkening world part 3)


©2010 Stephen. J. Green.

Friday 1 October 2010

A darkening world (Part 1)

(Part 1)

There was once a time when our world bathed in the life-bringing warmth of nine suns, our species lived in a constant daylight, and the Darklings could survive in only the deepest darkest pits beneath the land.

One by one the suns began flickering, paling, diminishing, until finally they died.

Now we must travel ever eastwards to remain in the light of the one remaining sun.
For us the dark means pain, suffering, and eventually death. Our skin that absorbs the life-force from the rays, enabling our immortality, would blister in the shadow.

Not so the Darklings, as our world contracted so theirs expanded, they bred and grew until they covered the Nightland.

But as we are cursed, so are they, for they must travel constantly eastwards to escape the creeping daylight, just as we must escape the creeping shadow of night.

I have travelled far today, I have time to sleep before the dark is upon me again.

I am afraid.

Are my eyes playing tricks.... or did the sun just flicker?

-----------------

Darklings (A darkening world part 2)
Darklight (A darkening world part 3)


©2010 Stephen. J. Green.