February 24th
Welcome to Laurita Miller's second Femmes Fatales entry, Consumed. It's an appropriate title as according to Laurita's blog she has been consuming the old vino lately. If you are considering a wine trip or a tasting festival she has some very sensible advice - in vino veritas.
Reaction to Laurita's earlier short, Red was excellent. I'm sure you will enjoy Consumed just as much. The delivery is vocal and clever, and the whole piece is full of Laurita's unique style and dark, teasing prose.
I - for one - absolutely love it.
Consumed by Laurita Miller
She worked from dawn ‘til dusk on the farm her daddy left her, trying to coax milk from emaciated cows and crops from the dry, cracked earth. Only destitution thrives here.
She wanted better things, fine things. Instead she suffered a solitary life, chained to a ramshackle farmhouse, unable to keep a farmhand long enough to bring in the pitiful harvest. They seemed to disappear as fast as they arrived, leaving her to take care of things on her own once again.
She said she was meant for great things, remarkable things, and she was right. She said nothing ever happened here, nothing worth staying for, and she was right about that too.
Nothing ever happened here, until that day Jim McNally found those indentations behind the remains of her barn, six of ‘em, and the whole town came out to see the other remains, the ones that lay beneath the soil.
They would have asked her about it, but no one has seen her since that night the farm burned to the ground.
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Bio:
Laurita Miller enjoys writing in the dark and walking through revolving doors. Her work has been featured at Gloom Cupboard, Six Sentences, Flashes in the Dark, The New Flesh, Yellow Mama and has appeared in several anthologies. She blogs here: http://ringkeeper.blogspot.com/
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A perfect piece of dark storytelling. Bravo.
ReplyDeletechilling - i can't even begin to imagine what preceded the outcome - very creepy indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou never disappoint us Laurita. Fantastic piece!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful - short and sharp! I loved this!
ReplyDeleteI loved the voice in this story. Great ending that managed to take me totally by surprise.
ReplyDeletePerfect for a Twilight Zone kind of show this.
Short, sharp shock indeed.
A haunting piece, desolation, hardship, and a graveyard! Still leaves one wondering- nice little write.
ReplyDeleteShort, scary and sinister. I liked it!
ReplyDeleteDark, haunting and fantastic, Laurita. Reall liked this one. Well done.
ReplyDeleteLoved the voice of this. Reminds me of a crime I read once of a schizophrenic lady who kept getting pregnant, and having late term miscarriages. She'd hide the infant bodies in the flower pots in her apt.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to read more of this voice. Reminds me of Steinbeck.
Nicely told. You build sympathy for this woman, only to hint at the monster she might be...to be continued...?
ReplyDeleteAh, am I to pity her or detest her? A nice psychological horror story! You´ve said much in so few words!
ReplyDeleteLove the rural feel of this, offset by the dark secret you expertly reveal at the end. Elegant and thrilling writing as always Laurita!
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