{"id":186,"date":"2014-08-09T19:09:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T23:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/?p=186"},"modified":"2014-08-09T19:09:37","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T23:09:37","slug":"flash-fiction-challenge-a-creepy-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/?p=186","title":{"rendered":"Flash Fiction Challenge: A Creepy Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Creepy<\/a>
Creepy picture for Wendig’s lastest challenge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The diabolical Chuck Wendig chose the picture for the newest cover of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as the inspiration for his latest flash fiction challenge<\/a>. Yes, I agree it is creepy, worthy of inspiration. The challenge: one thousand word based on the picture. I’m not quite the horror type, but I gave it a shot anyway.<\/p>\n

The Good Girl<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight-year old Merry knitted her little fingers together, her arms twisted to her back while she surveyed the scene. Her mother\u2019s tea set sprawled over the length of the living room, some of the pieces inexorably shattered, lost beyond repair. Her upper teeth pushed into her pink bottom lip, the barest quivering of tears wetting her eyelashes. It was revenge, and she knew it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t do it, mommy,\u201d she said. Her voice was plaintive, but she knew what was coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never do it,\u201d said her mother with disapproval. \u201cJust like the Christmas ornaments you smashed. Go to your room, and stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went to her room, but only for a little while. Merry was told enough times by both parents that she was a bad girl. She was supposed to be perfect. At times she was. Merry never fussed while mother made up her hair just so before she went to school, and she took care to keep her clothes clean when she was out in public. Even her teachers told her parents how good she was at school.<\/p>\n

But when she was at home, things took a different turn. And it wasn\u2019t her fault.<\/p>\n

Tabby curled around her legs while she crept up the hallway. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn\u2019t leave her alone. Merry ignored him in favor of getting close enough to hear her parents speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong with her. I try and try, Harry, but she does things like this all the time. She\u2019s so destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d said her father. \u201cShe does well at school. And she\u2019s old enough for boarding school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merry almost hissed. No way she would let them send her away. She had to fix this, and fast. She heard her mother get up, her heels clacking on the hardwood floors. \u201cI\u2019ll check on her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Alarmed, Merry scuttled back to her room. She just managed to settle on her bed with a book in her hand. Her face was all innocence when her mother pushed open the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome eat dinner,\u201d her mother said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Mommy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merry was in luck. Dinner was hamburgers. She ate hers quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy, can I have another?\u201d she asked sweetly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly if you eat all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, mommy, but I don\u2019t want the bun. Is that okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother looked at her like she was up to something, which she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d her mother said unable to figure a reason to say no.<\/p>\n

With the hamburger on her plate, she waited until her mother and father weren\u2019t paying attention to her. She slipped the patty into her napkin.<\/p>\n

\u201cMommy, I\u2019m done. Can I leave the table?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Merry. Go do your homework.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Mommy.\u201d Clutching her prize she slipped away without her parents noticing her contraband. After she closed the door of her room so Tabby wouldn\u2019t enter, she slid the napkin and hamburger under the bed. After she finished her homework, Merry put on her pajamas and brushed her teeth. Merry waited for her mother or father to tuck her in.<\/p>\n

It was her father tonight. He sat gently on the edge of her bed and looked at her kindly. Merry did her best not to twist her face into the emotions she felt. He thought she was bad and wanted to send her away!<\/p>\n

\u201cMerry, your mother and me have talked. It might be better if you go a school that is a little way from here. You like school, don\u2019t you, Merry?\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually she hated school. \u201cYes, daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t you like to go to nice school, nicer than the one you go to now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut wouldn\u2019t you be happier, oh, never mind,\u201d he sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy, I\u2019m sorry about the tea set. I\u2019ll be better, daddy, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pursed his lips. \u201cI\u2019m sure you will. Get some sleep.\u201d He gave her a little kiss on her forehead and flicked off the light before he left the room.<\/p>\n

Merry waited. Finally, the scratching she expected started up on the walls, just as it did every night. She heard the scratching since she was old enough to remember. It had gotten worse since Christmas, since she was forced to stop the destruction of the Christmas ornaments.<\/p>\n

Emboldened by her previous victory, she lay for the opportunity to stop all the nonsense that made her parents think so badly of her.<\/p>\n

She heard the noise under her bed. Quickly, Merry reached down and under, snatching the creature in her nimble hands as it bent over the hamburger. It scratched and bit, just as its brother did at Christmas, and Merry cried out. With her free hand she wrenched the creature\u2019s neck until it hung loosely in her hand.<\/p>\n

Her bedroom door flew open. \u201cWhat the\u2026\u201d her father said in shock. He looked at the twisted and ugly white thing, its head, arms and legs limp in Merry\u2019s grasp.<\/p>\n

Merry held the otherworldly creature out to her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis daddy. This is what broke the tea set. It was mad at me for killing its brother for breaking the Christmas ornaments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her father backed away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are always there, daddy, in the walls. You hear them, right? At night? I always do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d said Merry\u2019s mother appearing behind her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh good lord, she broke another one of her toys. And she\u2019s lying again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMerry!\u201d said her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a toy, mommy. Look!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to do something,\u201d said Merry\u2019s father to her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe?\u201d said her mother. \u201cWhat do you expect me to do?\u201d Quickly the row started between them.<\/p>\n

While they were fighting, Tabby scooted in between their legs. He leapt on the bed, and snagged the creature from Merry\u2019s hands. He took it under the bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d cried Merry. She pulled up the dust ruffle and looked. Tabby had the thing half eaten.<\/p>\n

\u201cBad kitty. Now they\u2019ll never believe that I\u2019m a good girl.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The diabolical Chuck Wendig chose the picture for the newest cover of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as the inspiration for his latest flash fiction challenge. Yes, I agree it is creepy, worthy of inspiration. The challenge: one thousand word based on the picture. I’m not quite the horror type, but I gave it a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[96,99],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chuck-wendig-flash-fiction-challenge","tag-chuck-wending"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}