My piece of flash fiction was shortlisted (five in the short list) in the June One Word Challenge (OWC) on Writing Magazine‘s Talkback forum. The word for June was “shimmer”. I’m pleased, as you can imagine. Here’s the story.
SHIMMER
Something shimmered on the edge of his vision.
He spun round.
A strand of moonlight shifting on the mist.
He breathed out.
“No, stupid.”
Then, a whisper, just beyond his hearing.
Was it?
Fear held him motionless in the damp night until he forced himself to relax. “Nothing, you fool: an animal-rustle in the bushes, and the hoot of an owl, hunting, of course.” He bent, and flashed his torch along the murky hedgerow.
The police had found his brother’s body sprawled nearby, the face torn beyond recognition, the corpse ripped and bloody. Clawed. What could subject a man to such a death?
He shivered.
“Stop it,” he thought. “You’re spooked because James died in a horrific accident.”
At the end of skid marks, the car still rested at a crazy angle over the ditch, the driver’s door hanging open. The police did not yet have an explanation.
He peered into the blackness, shining his torch onto the wet grass within the crime scene tape.
An unexpected touch from behind jolted him. He recoiled and jerked upright.
Hairy arms gripped him.
He felt bristles prick his cheek, hot breath on the side of his neck.
The creature howled.
He screamed.
END
(Word Limit 200)
Recent Comments