This is a piece for Anna Meade’s flash fiction contest at Yearning for Wonderland. With apologies to Tracy McCusker, who’s heard this idea somewhere before.
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They’d brought her to the country to heal. The fresh air will do you good, they’d said. As if the creaking house and smell of rotting October leaves would somehow undo the slow cellular unraveling inside her. As if she’d ever be allowed outside in the cold autumn rain.
Here was her life. A beachhead of pillows above shoals of white sheets, armies of prescription bottles standing sentry, favorite books stacked in a hopeless fortress against boredom. The distant murmurs of her parents, in some parallel universe where people were healthy.
Rest, and get well.
Then one night she saw the goblinoid shadow, rendered by moonlight, flicker across her bed. The skittering of tiny feet on the roof.
She’d hid under the covers, quivering in terror. In the morning, she’d found a tiny doll. Knots of pale yarn, raisins for eyes, a blank idiot smile stitched across its face. A dry topknot of hair. Her hair.
It liked her.
So she waited. When her parents brought her cookies, she saved one for it. When she saw its shadow in the corner, she begged it to speak. But it never did.
Not until one rain-sheeted midnight when she felt bony fingers take her hand, and woke to see pale yellow eyes glimmering in the dark.
Come home.
It held her hand and beckoned her to follow. Down the stairs in her bare feet, out into the cold wet grass and cold rain and the fresh air her parents had wanted her to have. It whispered of adventures.
She was so happy she barely noticed the first rasping cough that shook her as she followed her friend into the thorny darkness of the wood.
Come home with us, it said. Wither, and live forever.
Sicken, and be healed.
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Daniel, stunningly beautiful writing and wonder-full.
Thank you so much, Jo-Anne.
Wow the descriptions in the second paragraph are priceless. Wonderful entry!
Thank you, Rowanwolf!
Oh goblinoid shadow, you are my favorite of all shadows. xD
Very well-done, Mr. Swensen! I think you did this concept justice with its otherworldly brevity.
Thanks, Tracy. 🙂 Not quite the same story we discussed, but hey, everybody’s doing reboots these days…
L.O.V.E.
Now I want to read more. 😀
Perhaps someday you will!
Daniel, beautiful story and yet frightening as well. Wonderfully written.
Thank you very much, Wendy.
This is just lovely
Thank you, Pam!
Absolutely loved this. Beautiful story.
Thank you so much, Bernadette.
Nice creepy ending!
Thank you Jenn!
Oh wow – that’s brilliantly creepy! Well done 🙂
Thanks, Susi, glad you liked it!
You are my hero….amazing story telling with a bittersweet end. Yummy!
Wow, thank you for the great compliment, Donna.
Beautiful and creepy! Really enjoyed reading this. 🙂
Thank you, Rebecca!
Daniel, you really captured the beautiful darkness at the core of a true fairy story. Well done and thank you for entering.
Thank you for having me. 🙂 It was a pleasure.
Great story, Dan! I love changeling related stories. Also, Yearning for Wonderland is such a cool blog, thanks for sharing it.
My pleasure, Ellen, thank you.
Beautifully creepy. Very well done, Daniel. Poor little girl… 🙁
Thanks, J. My feelings exactly!
Absolutely wonderful. I was completely gripped and completely engrossed. From the detail to the scene setting… great stuff.
And for the record – my top pick of them all!
Thank you so much, Margaret!
Loved this! Fantastically chilling.
Thank you, Dee!
So sweet and so chilling. Beautiful!
Thanks so much, Sara.
I LOVE the ending, how it inverts everything so perfectly. Really well done — the perfect amount of detail balanced with the pacing. Excellent story!
Thank you!