If you read the October Recap blog post, you would have read about the writing prompt of the month. As always, we like to highlight one of our members for their fantastic writing and creativity, and Madi presented this excellent piece. Below are the finished sentences that she presented to us at the final October meeting. And Madi went the extra mile! Read all the way to the end for a bonus piece this month!
Two-Sentence Horror Stories
by Madi Wolff
1. The porch light turned on before I reached the door. If she sees me now, I wonder how long she saw me peeking in her windows.
2. A pungent smell wafted up from the old well. I hope grandma knows she's still with us in some ways.
3. I was the last person alive. It’s a shame that I had to make more room for the dolls and this nursing home was just far too crowded.
4. The person standing in my grandma’s hospital room was not the doctor. And the woman in my grandma’s hospital bed was not my grandma-- I was in the wrong room.
5. There was a baby carriage on the side of the road, so I pulled over. I never knew a grown man could fit inside one-- though I bet the dissecting made it easier.
6. It didn’t taste like beef. It made it hard to forget about the slicing accident at the packing plant last week.
7. I reached under my bed to pull out a flashlight. The man under my bed was sweet enough to place it right into my hand.
8. Her hair was always perfect. It looked even better when it held up the weight of her severed head.
9. My dad regretted never letting his kids experience death. So last week he changed that by prying our eyes open while we watched him take death into his own hands.
10. I remember the snow. Though, I found it far more mesmerising with crimson red splatters.
11. I enjoyed hiking on my days off. Now I only find myself doing it when I need to make the police think it was an accident.
12. The camera flashed and I was blinded momentarily. Through my spotty vision, all I could see was a featureless face, still finding a way to grin at me.
13. There were so many spiders. They looked so beautiful and almost poetic coming from her dead little mouth.
This exercise reminded Madi of a piece she did in high school called A Woman Named 'Cat', which she revisited. After reading the piece again, she edited and added a bit to perfect the following piece. Can you find one of her two-sentence horror stories hidden in the piece below?
A Woman Named “Cat”
by Madi Wolff
I could hear the waves crashing upon the shore in the dark emptiness of the night. I was almost there. The rotating beam from the lighthouse shown through the sky, cutting it like a knife with each pass. I was like a moth to that light, for I was heading straight there. I was heading for the house near the sea. The one with her.
Her name was Catherine. Cat for short. Her soft, jet black hair gently hung right above her petite shoulders. Her eyes shone with a grey hue that almost seemed unnatural. Her legs were long and frail. She hated them. I loved them. She dressed older than her 25 year old appearance let on: soft sweaters, loose cotton pants, shoes that were only purposeful for comfort.
Cat led a simple life-- one that prioritized family and her love of animals. She always wanted to be a veterinarian. Her brothers made fun of her dreams despite being exactly 15 years older than her: twins that ruthlessly put her down yet she would drop everything to be there to babysit their children, housesit, go to a movie with them, or to be a shoulder to cry on during their divorces. Cat was perfect.
I’ve known her for years now. I remembered seeing that hair go from a length just below her breast to a feathered pixie cut and back again. I saw her pale grey eyes shed tears that turned the whites of her eyes to a bright red that looked like she had smoked all of the weed in a 100 mile radius. I saw those long legs carry her miles and miles, destination to destination. I saw them bare, I saw them haphazardly covered, I saw them when she felt insecure about being a “towering giant”. I was there for those family dinners and I heard her brothers make fun of her childhood dreams. I heard the teasing that made her face turn red and giggle with her hand fully encompassing her mouth to hide her flawless smile.
As I walked to Cat’s house, I couldn’t help but feel the nerves kick in. My stomach was doing flips. Every time I saw Cat, my day improved no matter what challenges I had felt. The only way I could describe my feeling at that moment was excitement. I hadn’t felt so much excitement since the first day I saw Cat. That day that my entire life changed by the enigma that was my kind-eyed, beautifully insecure Cat.
I moved up close to the house near the sea, gleefully galloping through the damp grass that surrounded the rear of the house. The soft glow of yellow light seeped from the window that was attached to Cat’s bedroom. Her shadow danced through her room in smooth yet purposeless movements. Her music danced through the air and coincided with her movements in perfect harmony, her lengthy legs carrying her back and forth. She was happy.
I approached the house, my heart pounding so loud that I swear she would hear it over her music. I attempted to quiet my steps, careful not to alarm her of my presence.
I took my usual position; carefully perched on the overturned wheelbarrow that sat a few feet down from her window. It was the perfect height to see everything I wanted without disturbing her fun.
I watched as she swayed and carried herself on the balls of her feet, the pink shag carpet laying down in the directions that her feet slid across. It wasn’t rare that she would do this for hours. It wasn’t rare that I would watch for those hours and then some. Her window began to fog up as the cool air outside and the heat from inside battled on the glass in front of my eyes. I carefully took my index finger and pressed it to the glass, sketching a heart for my Cat.
Maybe one day we’ll meet again face to face.
Until then, I’ll keep protecting her-- right here. Right outside her window.
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