Clarissa Johal: Tangled Tuesday-What Gets Left Behind

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Tangled Tuesday-What Gets Left Behind

Continuing with my flash fiction month, the photos this week are my own. I had the stories in my head when I took them. I went inside this abandoned building after I took the photo. It pretty much contained what my character found...with the exception of a thing or two.


What Gets Left Behind

The place was an eyesore. Abandoned, the only thing the building was good for was housing drunks and prostitutes. It stood for the past thirteen years on her father's property. Now that he was gone, she had every intention of leveling it.

She picked her way through the refuse, kicking aside the empty beer bottles, used condoms and needles. Her father always made her promise to stay away from this place. Even on his death bed. Now she could see why. Not only was it cluttered with the darker side of human nature, it smelled like something had died.

She spied a dark form huddled in the corner. Crap. Thinking it was a transient, she started to tell him to leave. Before the words could pass her lips, the form dissolved to the ground. She blinked. Must be a trick of the light. Suddenly, a form darted to the other side of the room. Her heart raced. What the hell? A cat? No cat moved like that. As a matter of fact, no animal she could think of moved like that. Quick. Fluid. Without gait.

The chain of her necklace slid along the back of her neck. Whipping around, she faced nothing. Her breath quickened. Calm down. She turned back, her gaze searching the room. A small noise like a whisper arose from the corner. Taking a quick step backwards, she caught her foot on the handle of a shovel and tripped. The darkness slid to the other corner. Hair stood on the back of her neck. Her eyes watered. That wasn't right. Nothing moved like that. Nothing from this world, her thoughts warned. Get out of here. Now.

Backing away slowly, she kept her attention fastened on the corner. She could see whatever it was, still huddled there. It was watching her. Gauging her movements. Waiting for her to drop her guard. Which I have no intention of doing, she thought. One move and I'll run so fast, you'll be eating my dust. And trust me, I can run pretty damn fast if I'm scared enough. Her stomach churned. And I'm pretty fucking scared right now.

Little did she know while backing away...that there were two of them.
And the other one was right behind her.

2 comments:

DarcNina said...

Terrific flash, and a fantastic photo! :)

Clarissa Johal, Author said...

Thank you, DarcNina!