Just for the fun of it!

I go to this writers group here on the island called Orcas Island Writers Roundtable.  Every month we focus on a different topic and this month was "No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader".  It was a really fun class.  We always do a quick little writing exercise.  Part of this one, we were given our opening line.  Mine was "It hovers in dark corners."  I was excited about this, perfect opener for me!  We were given about 10 minutes and this is what came of it:


It hovers in dark corners.


That’s why she avoided the basement. The darkness outside was its ally, the space in which it bred, provided its hunting ground, and hid it from the eyes of humans.

She heard it move in the space below her, causing the hair on the back of her neck to prickle. More noise and she realized there were more than one of them.

She knew she was safe up here. It wouldn’t come up to where she was protected by the light. Here she had separated it from its lover of the night. But she couldn’t let it stay there in the dark corners of her basement, terrorizing her even though she couldn’t look at it.

She fell silent and reached into her purse. She withdrew her weapon, feeling its cool surface in her fingers brought her confidence. She opened the front door, fear hammering in her chest. There were more of them outside. But as long as she kept the light on they wouldn’t come in.

Her knees and hands trembled as she approached the door that led to the basement. Placing a hand on the doorknob, she gave a hard swallow, closing her eyes for a moment.

Grasping her weapon tightly in her hand, she opened the door. As light flooded into the space below, she heard them screech and scuttle about.

Crouching to the ground at the top of the stairs, she directed her weapon in the direction of her tormentor.

It flew at her with viscous intent, hell-bent on escape and on making her pay for its captivity. Wings and sharp claws batted at her head as two of them rushed up the staircase, their ugly scrunched up faces glaring at her with beady black eyes.

She screamed and wielded her weapon in their direction. As it fell on the tormentors they gave a scream as well.

And then things were quiet for a moment. She directed the light of her weapon toward them and realized they had flown in the direction she had intended them to. The flashlight created a halo of light on the two bats as they retreated into their haven of the night.

 
So there you have it!  Some of my madness and one of my only short stories I've ever written!  I just thought it was perfect timing to post since Halloween is coming up so soon!