A Trio of Drabbles

Cricket | Send in the Clown | Samhain

Just found out that my wife will be stuck working out of town until next Monday. As I often do in times of disappointment, I turned to horror. Here are 3 drabbles based on images churned out by Midjourney.

Cricket

He fought against the cloth bindings, the rough fabric removing another layer of skin with each movement. Blood began to drop from the open wounds, falling silently onto the dirt floor of the farmhouse cellar.

Something stirred in the corner, roused by the sound. While it was dark, he could see enough, could see the thing stand. It called out, chirping like a cricket, sending out a signal.

He tried to remain silent, but a sob escaped, eliciting a trill of excitement from the creature. He opened his mouth to scream, but it took his life before the sound escaped.

Send In the Clown

The parents watched on, horrified, as the party clown emerged from behind the curtain. “Hey kiddo’s,” he screeched, rough and jagged like broken bottles.

The children applauded, seemingly mesmerized by the clown, even though it seemed his skin was actively melting as he juggled a trio of mewling kittens.

“We should do something,” one of the parents said, but they all remained rooted to the spot.

“Who wants to see Grinner do a magic trick?” the clown asked.

“Yay.”

Spurred on by their youthful yells, Grinner tossed the kittens high, his jaw unhinging to swallow them whole as they fell.

Samhain

Their home had been the envy of the neighborhood. Everyone tried to get in the spirit of Halloween, but none could do it like the Knight family. Every year, their front yard display grew bigger and better. People came from all over to see their Halloween home, but now they came for another reason.

Ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts flocked to the now abandoned home every year to see what remained of Samhain the Skeleton, a 10-foot-tall Halloween display that supposedly came to life and killed the family after a power surge ran through his lighted bones.

Samhain simply waited.