Tag Archive for: drabble

He Has His Father’s Eyes

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by Warren Benedetto

 

The angel Elom wept over his wife’s broken body. Blood pattered to the floor from the straw mattress upon which she gave birth.

Birth? No. It was no birth.

She had simply…ruptured.

The child was a giant—a Nephilim. It tore through its mother’s flesh: first its hands, then its arms, then its head.

Elom lifted the child. Its eyelids opened to reveal empty sockets, hollow and black. Blind, the baby traced its fingers across Elom’s face, exploring.

Mouth. Nose. Cheeks.

Eyes.

Elom screamed as the baby gouged his eyes from their sockets and pressed them into its own.

 

Warren Benedetto

Warren Benedetto writes short fiction about horrible people doing horrible things. He is a full member of the SFWA. He is also the developer of StayFocusd, the world’s most popular anti-procrastination app for writers. He built it while procrastinating. Visit www.warrenbenedetto.com and follow @warrenbenedetto on Twitter.

 

See You Soon

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by Jacek Wilkos

 

He knelt before the grave. Looked at the inscriptions and placed his large hand on the tombstone.

“Hello Mother” he whispered.

He couldn’t stand what she had done. Old and sick, she wasn’t going to wait for death to come for her and committed suicide.

“You are the son of a fallen angel, there’s no place in Heaven for your kind.” she said to him shortly before her death. She would rather meet him in Hell than miss him in Heaven.

Tears ran down his cheeks. He raised his sight and angrily looked at the sky.

“See you soon, Mother.”

Jacek Wilkos

Jacek Wilkos is an engineer from Poland. He is addicted to buying books, he loves black coffee, dark ambient music and riding his bike. His stories were published in numerous anthologies by Black Hare Press, Alien Buddha Press, Eerie River Publishing, Insignia Stories, Fantasia Divinity, Reanimated Writers Press, KJK publishing.
Facebook: @Jacek.W.Wilkos

Blessed Be the Artillery

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by Bill Bibo Jr.

 

Sister Mary Antagonista strapped the bandoliers over her black tunic. She secured their contents, blessed moments earlier for their holy mission. A steel-plated headpiece completed her uniform.

A pink cloud of bloodthirsty flamingos had descended upon the unsuspecting city and raised their wings in war. The people, used to seeing the usually docile creatures in zoos and habitats, were vulnerable to the terrible carnage that followed.

The Sisters of Perpetual Pain had planned and prepared for such a battle. Thoughts and prayers are never enough against the denizens of Hell. You need high-powered weaponry. The warriors of God were ready.

Bill Bibo Jr.

Bill has written for Stupefying Stories, Havok, Timeless Tales, Black Ink Fiction, among others. For updates on works in progress, go to  billbibojr.com  and sign on to his newsletter, “Bibo Madness”. As he continues to build the website, there will be surprises, especially for him.

Welcome to Swingers Island

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by Jacqueline Moran Meyer

 

“Welcome to Swingers Island,” the musk-oiled Adonis had said, handing an excited Don and Yolanda the flamingo they would be in charge of for their entire vacation. But after spending a day on the nude beach, getting sunburned in unmentionable places, while chasing that bird, their excitement waned.

“Squawk!”

“What does it want?” Don yelled, adjusting his mullet wig.

“Who knows? You’re carrying it tonight,” Yolanda dressed as a nun ordered, tonight being fetish night.

Outside, they were stunned to see the carnage of flamingos attacking the guests.

“They’ve had enough,” Don murmured before his flamingo tore off his ear.

Jacqueline Moran Meyer

Jacqueline Moran Meyer has been published in many Black Hare Press anthologies, Bewildering Stories, Iron Faerie Press anthologies, Eerie River Publishers, Blood Song Books, Flash Fiction Magazine, Grinning Skull Press, among others. Visit her website www.jmoranmeyer.net.

Flaming-O

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by Vijayaraj Mahendraraj

 

“Welcome to The Flaming-O! Tropical resort, spa, buffets—” choked the tearful woman.

“You alright?” asked a concerned couple.

“Yes… yes, I swear,” she replied, eyes terrified.

“Our rooms?” pressed an indifferent tourist.

“Rooms…” she stammered.

“And when do we eat?”

“The buffet… starts soon,” she mumbled.

One by one, they departed. Trembling, she concealed battered arms under a pink coat.

Right on cue, the silence was broken. Screams. Thrashes. Bones splintered by enormous beaks. A deep pink and crimson bathed each room akin to fresh coats of paint.

Then, silence again. Until the next buffet.

“Welcome to The Flaming-O.”

Vijayaraj Mahendraraj

My name is Vijayaraj Mahendraraj. I am originally from Malaysia but currently work as a physician in Canada. Writing has always been a burning passion of mine. I was recently accepted for publication in the Year Four Dark Moments Anthology, the Grimdark Anthology and the Halloween Drabble Anthology with BHP.

The Flamboyance of Flamingoes

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by Bernardo Villela

 

Flamingoes flew after me.

My friends and I came here for Pride. Now they’ve died.

I was scream-queening. A nun fleeing the convent hoisted me onto her back. Grown man becomes baby.

Splashing into the sea, archeologists followed firing at will but missed. The flying pink nightmares wouldn’t be deterred.

Sister carried a violin bow. She swung at them.

The flamingoes cut me with their toenails and kicked me off the nun’s back.

My blood reddening the water, I knew the flamboyance of flamingoes would become pinker and more aggressive. With my dying thoughts I prayed for their future victims.

Bernardo Villela

Bernardo Villela has short fiction included in periodicals such as Coffin Bell Journal, The Dark Corner Zine, Sparked Literary Magazine and forthcoming from Eerie River Press. He’s had stories included in anthologies such as From the Yonder II, Queer as Hell, and Disturbed. He has had poetry published by The Ekphrastic Review, Zoetic Press, and Bluepepper among others. Website:  www.miller-villela.com

Red Feathers

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by Gully Novaro

 

The animal rebellions caught us off guard. We were ready to fight each other, but never thought of them. We barely won the Great Ape Wars, our troops were decimated.

That’s when the flamingos attacked.

Few of us remain. Hiding in basements, only going out at night. Their squawks are scarier than any alarm, the birds show no mercy, and once you see the red of their feathers, you are done for.

Pink?

The birds get the colour from their diet, pink is the colour of shrimp. No, I haven’t seen a pink flamingo since they started feeding on us.

Gully Novaro

Gully Novaro is a non-binary writer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a love for all things out of this world. Their work aims to explore feelings of dread and solitude, in the genres of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. You’ll be able to read some of their work in upcoming anthologies Wyrms, Planetside and the Dystopian Showcase edited by Shacklebound Books. 

Twitter: @GullyNovaro

Pink is the New Green

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by Andreas Flögel

 

Although the flamingos were only plastic lawn ornaments, they were Mary’s pride and joy.

During winter, they were kept in storage, not to take damage in the cold.

In spring, they got polished until they glistened in the sun, then carefully planted on the lawn.

Then Mary had a baby. The flamingos were forgotten, and they lost their shine.

Mary left the cradle with the child in the garden, but only for a minute. Returning, she did not see the red spots on the plastic birds.

When she looked into the cradle, her cries were heard all over the street.

Andreas Flögel

Andreas Flögel writes short stories in different genres. You can find his fiction in German magazines and several anthologies.

More about him and his work: www.dr-dings.de

 

Pink Devils

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by Tracy Davidson

 

Later, they said it was toxins in the salt water that sent the flamingos psychotic.

They went from docile to deadly in seconds. Half the missionary camp wiped out.

We fought with everything we could. Sister Mary strangled one with her rosary… then got shredded by two more. Beaks, sharp as scalpels, slashed, sliced and slurped through habits, hassocks and holy water.

Help came in the morning, with guns and dogs. Half-dead myself, still I lashed out with my crop, helping finish off the last pink devils. For my dead sisters.

Maybe some of that salt got to me too

Tracy Davidson

Tracy Davidson lives in Warwickshire, England, and writes poetry and flash fiction. Her work has appeared in various publications and anthologies, including: Poet’s Market, Mslexia, Atlas Poetica, Modern Haiku, The Binnacle, A Hundred Gourds, Shooter, Journey to Crone, The Great Gatsby Anthology, WAR, In Protest: 150 Poems for Human Rights.

 

On Scarlet Wings

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by Evan Baughfman

 

Three boys climbed into a zoo enclosure, stoning colourful birds with baseball-sized rocks, killing a sixteen-year-old flamingo in their attack.

The children, facing criminal charges, were ultimately exonerated due to their ages. Each boy: younger than ten.

On his sixteenth birthday, the eldest delinquent was found dead in a park, eyes gouged, corpse bruised and disembowelled.

When the next oldest turned sixteen, he was discovered, broken, at the bottom of a canyon.

The last boy also perished at sixteen. Drowned in his pool, fingers bitten free.

In the sky above each crime scene: a flamboyant flock, circling on scarlet wings.

 

Author’s note: This story is inspired by a real-life 2017 attack on flamingos at a Czech Republic zoo

Evan Baughfman

Evan Baughfman is a middle school teacher and author. Much of his writing success has been as a playwright. A number of his scripts can be found at online resources, Drama Notebook and New Play Exchange. Evan also writes horror fiction and screenplays. More information is available at amazon.com/author/evanbaughfman