Mother has been away for some time now. I cannot frankly recall when she left, but I was rather glad when she did. She was an overbearing woman. Whenever she wanted something she would smack the wall with the butt of her cane, stirring up a cantankerous racket until her ungrateful demands were met.

BUNK! BUNK! BUNK!

Now it is just I alone in this old house, enjoying the peaceful bachelor life. Peaceful, until I heard that very sound mother would make from her bedroom.

BUNK! BUNK! BUNK!

I approached her door carefully. "Is that you, mother?" I stuttered. Slowly, I creaked the door open. There she was. The room was dark but I could make her out from the moonlight that shun through her window. My mother's decaying corpse laying in her bed as she once did, waiting to command me once more.

#horror #shortstory #flashfiction

My best friend’s brother, Sam and I had been dating for what seemed like decades. Every Halloween we dressed up and went to the local bonfire. Out standing meet up time was 10:00pm and this year was no different. It wasn’t like Isabelle to be early. Which is why it makes me even more sad that she had to join her brother in death.

Soaking up the sun.

All the folks in the village were having fun.

Every tribe, of varying tongues dancing to the sound of the ngoma.

Soon they spotted a group of enormous grey clouds approaching.

‘‘Lightning’s coming toward us!’’

One of the elders cried.

Everyone huddled together underneath the hut made out of red clay.

Several of the older men muttered, some advising the Chief and other kinsmen to seek aid from the sangoma.

She appeared in a cloud of smoke beside the hut, and chuckled.

“Peril seems to only come in a time when you think it’s not in sight.”

The elders scoffed. They did not like to hear what solution would be provided for the clan.

The sangoma grinned knowing what troubled the elders as she knew how to help the people. She asked them to bring a goat. So, they did.

Once she had one in her palms, she pulled a knife out from her cloak, and slit the goat’s throat. She let the fresh blood run into a wooden bowl. As soon as the bowl was almost full, she raised it to her lips, and took a sip. She informed everyone to do the same. They all gathered around her in a single file, and each person— young-even old- took a taste of the goat’s blood.

The sangoma trembled. She raised the bowl, & after her wailing, as well as chanting, she dropped it to the ground.

The crowd all gasped. Pieces of the bowl scattered on the ground & each piece was now a similar shape to the goat they had killed.

Every tiny goat rose into the air. Charging off into the sky toward the clouds that seemed to form like a cloudy starry sky.

The little pieces that looked like goats pierced the clouds with their horns. Then the folks who at this time had all been staring at the sky…felt droplets of water splatter onto the tops of their heads, on their bare feet, and rolling by the sides of their sleeveless arms.

“Pula!”

One of the elders exclaimed.

They were all glad. Some folks checked around the many faces all smiling for the sangoma. She was already gone before any of them could give her a warm embrace for bringing them rain for the maize and other crops in the field.

Pula! (c) Septembre 15, 2022.

Dollhouse

By: Makila Scott-Saxby

Alice Winter was a rotten, spoiled, little brat and got everything she wanted. One day her and her mom went to the store and she saw a doll that was really pretty. “Mother, may I please have the doll.” Alice said, looking at her mother. Alice’s mother looked at the doll and said “No Sweetie, I’m really busy and your grandmother is waiting to see you.” “MOMMY!!! PLEASE!!!” Alice started to have a fit. Her mother finally gave in and got the doll for her.

Once they got to her grandmother’s house, she showed the doll to her grandmother. “Sweetie, that doll is dangerous.” Her grandmother warned. “Grandmom, it’s a doll, what can it do?” Alice laughed. What Alice didn’t know is that her grandmother owned the doll when she was little, but once she got older, she sold it to the store Alice got it from. “I’m going to name her Luna,” Alice squeezed her doll. Alice didn’t notice when Luna’s eyes turned pitch black.

When they got home, Alice sat Luna in her dollhouse with all her other dolls. While Alice went downstairs, Luna got up and walked to the closest doll next to her. Once she touched the doll, it came alive. “Hi, I’m Luna. What's your name?” Luna asked the doll. “I’m Gabby. What do you want with me.” The doll asked.

“I want you to help me with an important job for me.” Luna reileped. “Umm...what is it?” The doll asked. Then Gabby’s eyes turned red as blood. “What's happening to me?” The doll asked. “You are going to help me kill Alice.” Luna. said, rolling her black eyes at Gabby. “Why? She is the nicest person I have met.” Gabby hesitated as her eyes grew redder. “That rotten little girl deserves death.” Luna said with a smirk.

That night while Alice was sleeping, Luna started to creep up in Alice’s bed and said in her ear “Goodnight, I hope you sleep tight.” Alice woke up only to see her doll next to her. “Silly me, I must have forgotten to put her back in the dollhouse.” Alice said as she went to put Luna back in the dollhouse.

Then she heard a grunt that sounded like it was coming from her doll, Gabby, but she just shrugged and went back to bed. Gabby grunt again and said softly “Alice, this is your self-consciousness.” “Huh, what do you want?” Alice sighed. Luna got down from her spot and went over to Alice's bed and put a knife through her heart. Alice woke up from a dream and looked over at her dollhouse to see if Luna was still in the dollhouse. Alice swore she heard a sigh, but she went back to sleep.

The next morning Alice went down stairs and found her mom eating oatmeal. “Goodmorning, sweetie.” Her mom said, smiling at her. “Morning mom.” Alice said. “Had a goodnight?” Her mom said kinda creepy then her head popped and Alice screamed. “What is it, sweetie?” Her mom asked. Alice realized she just had a nightmare. “Nothing! Am I taking the bus to school or are you driving me there?” Alice asked, trying not to sound scared. “I guess I will.” her mom answered.

When she got to school, Alice walked to her class room, she felt as though a present was behind her, but h-how? W-why? She ignored it, as usual and got to her classroom. In her mind she was thinking, ‘What the heck is going on? Why was she feeling so weird?’ She soon realized that ever since she got that doll everything has been going weirdly.

Her teacher came up to her desk and smirked a bit at the little girl. “Alice, love, what do you have there?” Alice raised a confused eyebrow. She looked beside her and the doll that gave her creepy vibes.. She gasped and turned to her teacher. “I-it’s just a doll my mother brought me. I-I have n-no idea how s-she ended up here, Ms. Maggie I swear!” She was quite scared.. Ms. Maggie chuckled, “It’s alright, dear. May I see the doll?” The scared girl nodded and handed her teacher the beautiful, but scandalous doll.

As Ms. Maggie took a look at Luna, the eyes of the doll blinked and turned a bloody red. The teacher rubbed her eyes to make sure she saw it right, but when she looked back, Luna looked normal. ‘Okay, this was weird….’ The teacher thought to herself. “This is an interesting doll, she must have been a lot of money to buy, sweetie.” Alice nodded.

To be continued……

May's mother had died several weeks ago, however, May continued to see her at every turn. From the farmer's market to the little bookshop around the corner, May saw her mother. She had spoken to a therapist regarding the matter, but he carefully explained to her that seeing a lost loved one was a common occurrence during the grief process. But it kept happening!

May finally decided to follow this doppelganger. She was surprised to see what seemed to be her mother visiting her own grave. To her horror, the woman began to dig. May hunched over in secret, spying on the odd occurrence. When the dirt settled, May inched her way to the open casket, only to see a woman with her mother's face tear off flesh from her mother's rotting corpse.

Startled, the imposter jumped out of the grave and bite May's arm in an attempt to distract her as it fled. May dropped to the ground in extreme pain before smelling the most divinely appetizing stench she had ever come into contact with. The smell brought her to the edge of her mother's grave, and as she looked down, her mouth watered.

May awoke from her bed, writing off the whole experience as a dark dream; her psyche attempting to heal itself from the trauma of loss. She stumbled her way to the bathroom, eyes barely open. She did her usual routine, about to brush her teeth when she caught a whiff of an awful, pickled smell. She glanced in the mirror to check her teeth only to find her mother's face staring back at her in terror.

All the neighborhood could do was stop

and stare.

Their neighbor,

the woman across the way,

was being escorted out of her house

covered in blood.

It glowed in the strobing red and blue lights,

on her hands,

on her clothes,

everywhere.

Whispers traveled through the growing crowd,

"It was her husband, how could she kill her husband?"

"I'm sure it was for money."

"I always knew she was crazy."

"How could she kill such a kind and respected man?"

"What do you have to say for yourself?" asked the police officer,

as he tucked her into the police car.

The woman looked back to her abuser's house,

she only had one thing to say,

"This is the best day of my life," she replied.

His hand was soft to the touch as he held mine in his and led the way through the dark familiar street to a door without a welcome mat. "You're home." He said sinisterly as my trust in him quickly turned to panic. I fell to the floor like a crumpled blanket when his unapologetic boot met the small of my back, forcing me through the entry onto the cold, wet floor. "Why are you doing this?" I asked before darkness swallowed me whole.

No longer part of this world, no longer even human, I lurk in this house of evil.

I've left my humanity behind, now I crave terror. I want to shock them, make them scream, send them running.

If I'm being honest, despite my wish to horrify them, I'm a little horrified myself. Can I do this? Can I really claim new victims?

Sure I can.... after all, a new haunt season is beginning. Bring on the opening night.... time to give these customers what they paid for and scare the hell out of them!

You stand at the cash register; the grocer begins to scan the items. You're almost too short to see over the counter. Suddenly, your mother has realization.

"Crud, I forgot the tomatoes! Stand right there and do not move." She darts off.

1 minute.

3 minutes.

5 minutes.

"So how will you be paying today?" The cashier looks down at you, playing with your fingers. A panic sets off within you. Your mom still hasn't come back, and the grocer is making you pay. Your heart is beating a million beats a second, sweat starts dripping down your forehead, you don't know what you're going to do. Then you hear the graceful sound of your mother's heels.

"Sorry sweetie, I bumped into Janice!"