Written as a response to the Muse on Monday prompt for May 4, 2026: Write a story that has to do with household chores My Sister’s Keeper I dip my hands into the scalding dishwater. As hot as you can stand it, my mother always said. “I’ve been taking care of her for my whole life. I…
Category: Dark
2001: A Taste Odyssey
2001: A Taste Odyssey “The best part of space exploration is setting down on an unknown planet, shooting the first thing you meet and roasting it over a charcoal fire. Sitting back under alien stars and digging into some interstellar brisket, now that’s pure heaven. “Sure, sometimes you accidentally bag a sentient, maybe even a…
The Webs
The Webs The webs felt like a shriek of horror in a fetid boneyard. I staggered, almost blind with despair. Just cut one. The air felt tainted, a gaseous rot that crawled over my boots, turning everything leprous and foul. Cut one. My spirit screaming for me to run, I brought my knife blade against…
The Murder House (Allegedly)
The Murder House (Allegedly) There goes another one, walking into the quaint Island Meats house. The problem is, people go in but no one comes out. I’ve been watching from the café across the street for the last four hours. Tally: 56 people entering, 0 exiting. Finally, I called 911. “. . . and I…
Best-Friend-Teddy
Best-Friend-Teddy I should probably just go ahead and die. But, somehow, I still feel like living. Most citizens died long ago in the Terrible Event. The survivors fled. Now it’s just me: bad-back-white-haired-half-blind me. Me, and Teddy: that missing-eye-singed-fur-depleted-stuffing bear I found while scavenging. Teddy sits across from me at dinner, and I tell him…
The Lobster Pot
The Lobster Pot Stomach rumbling, I spied a restaurant sign ahead: The Lobster Pot. It wasn’t seafood, just a dimly-lit diner at the end of a long hallway. “I’m curious,” I asked when I was paying, “why call it The Lobster Pot?” “The way it’s built,” the waiter replied, smiling. “Easier in than out.” A…
The Horror of Knowing
The Horror of Knowing We found the object sticking out of the beach after the hurricane, exposed by the storm. It looked like obsidian. * * * “We did tests. It’s bone.” “Bone? But it’s black. And 6 feet tall.” “At least.” “So it’s from a whale?” “No. Based on the DNA, it’s human-ish.” “Ish?”…
Eldritch Cutie
Eldritch Cutie Why did people automatically associate a writhing mass of tentacles with the word “horror”? Jesse thought. It was cute. She pushed a scrap of sausage towards a questing pseudopod. It disappeared with a slurp. She wasn’t sure if it would grow legs, but she wanted to bring it to school. She’d been having…
First Snowfall
First Snow I loved the house. Until the first snowfall. I was going to my car when I spotted tracks leading from the shed: odd organic impressions with claws marks splaying at random angles. They led to my basement door, now open. Something is in my house, I thought, suddenly terrified. Sometime during the night,…
Maid My Skin Crawl
Maid My Skin Crawl “You killed her!” Janice said. We stood regarding the prone figure on the floor. “I’m sorry!” I protested. “I came out of the bathroom and saw a doll with glowing eyes.” Matt picked up the doll. “Well, they’re not glowing anymore. What did you do?” “Exorcism . . . I panicked.”…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 