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abracanabraWhat is a serial killer without victims? Rick wakes up the day after New Years Eve to find a dead woman in his bed. He expected that--what he wasn't prepared for was a world where everyone else died mysteriously in the night.
I wrote this to submit to the Dead Bells Anthology. Technically, I suppose this is a horror story, but it's psychological and creepy, not violent or gory. I need to cut about 600 words to meet the preferred 4,000 word max, but that's not an unusual percentage for me to cut during edits.
Title suggestions are always welcome, whether you're interested in critiquing this or not. Possible thematic elements to reflect in the title: death, being left behind, memory, illusion, murder, the sea, a high heeled shoe, or a woman named Lily. Right now I'm calling it, "Missing You In Pieces," but I'm not sure if that's a good title or not.
I might or might not run this through my MinnSpec writing group, too, depending on timing. Subs run through Oct 15th, but if you get a story in earlier, it's better.
Rick woke up spooning with the dead woman in his bed. Rigor mortis froze her long limbs, pale as the calla lily she was named after. A gold Happy New Year! crown tangled in the tide of red hair that spilled over her body and obscured her blotchy face and purpled neck. Her arm dangled off the bed, hovering above a shattered champagne flute.
Rick stretched and sighed, a deep satisfied sound, reveling in the afterglow he found after the absolute clarity of the experience.
...The normally jam-packed cafe sat empty. The door was unlocked, so Rick pushed it open and went inside. A crab scuttled sideways across the sandy floor.
"Hello?" Rick called as he crossed the room and rounded the counter.
What he saw made him look sharply around him. He held his breath for a long moment, listening. When he was satisfied that he was alone, he knelt beside the body dressed in a blue waitress uniform. He recognized her; she'd been watching the fireworks on the beach at dusk. He didn't see any signs of how she'd been killed.
I wrote this to submit to the Dead Bells Anthology. Technically, I suppose this is a horror story, but it's psychological and creepy, not violent or gory. I need to cut about 600 words to meet the preferred 4,000 word max, but that's not an unusual percentage for me to cut during edits.
Title suggestions are always welcome, whether you're interested in critiquing this or not. Possible thematic elements to reflect in the title: death, being left behind, memory, illusion, murder, the sea, a high heeled shoe, or a woman named Lily. Right now I'm calling it, "Missing You In Pieces," but I'm not sure if that's a good title or not.
I might or might not run this through my MinnSpec writing group, too, depending on timing. Subs run through Oct 15th, but if you get a story in earlier, it's better.