Infectious

Tags

flash fiction, micro fiction, second place

Earth trickled in through the cracks above her supine body, slowly filling the coffin like a lethal hourglass.

“Witch!” they had yelled as they dragged her towards the open grave.

She understood their fear. She had been watching the spores spread like a plague since they had arrived with a flash of fire in the sky. Studying them, she figured out how to stop them. It was too late. They saw only death and needed someone to blame.

Now the crops would die and people would follow when winter tightened its icy grip.

Fear was as infectious as those things. And just as deadly, for her and for the colony.

 

Lament

Tags

poetry

The spectral warmth of dying embers
Melting frozen eyes,
Rivulets from a glacial heart.

 

In the Mouth

Tags

flash fiction, micro fiction

A hearty and familiar aroma rose from the umber broth. This was his first time in a soup kitchen and the first hot meal he’d had since everything went wrong.

The last time he’d been happy was at the race track. His wife said it was addiction, but it wasn’t. He simply felt good there. But now she’s gone and so is all of his money. All because of that damned horse.

A chunk of meat melted over his tongue. He ate voraciously until his teeth hit something hard. He spit it out and stared at the object, disgust welling up in his stomach as he realized what it was.

“Happens ev’ry now an’ then,” the old man, unnoticed until now, said. “I got one t’night too.”

Beside the old man’s bowl lay a perfect match to the object in his hand: a tooth too large for any human mouth.

“It’s food. It’s free. Best if ya just don’t look.”