Alice

I recently found a horror magazine called Sanitarium ( http://sanitariummagazine.com/ ) and, until recently they were running a short story competition where they gave you word or phrase and you enter a story based on it.  The story had to be 500 words or less and you had 1 week to wright it.  Unfortunately I had missed the competition but, as my writing seems to have a habit of running away with me I thought I'd give it a go.  The first of the competitions just had the word Alice, this is the story I wrote.

Come and play

New woods

After school

Alice

Dave smiled as he read the note, he’d looked after Alice since her dad had died and he had played his ‘games’ with her since her brother had disappeared.  As he reached his car Dave finished the cup cake that had been sent with the note, as he dropped the empty case onto the floor he shuddered slightly at the thought of Alice’s other treats he would get to sample that night.

 Fifteen minuets later Dave pulled into the secluded car park and grabbed the rucksack off the passengers seat ‘you can’t play games without toys’ he thought.  As he lifted the rucksack out of the car he was surprised at how much heavier it felt. He mumbled to himself

“Hope I’m not coming down with something”

But then he remembered what was waiting for him in the woods and this cheered him up.

As he approached a clearing Dave saw Alice sitting on a rug with a tea set, there was a cat on her lap.  As he approached Dave was struck with the feeling that something was not right and he thought he saw a figure standing against a tree at the end of the clearing, he was struck by how dark it seemed to be.  As he entered the clearing Dave moved the heavy rucksack so it would be easier to put down.  Alice saw him and poured a drink from an old teapot a fly walked across the cloth she was sitting on, she looked up at him.

“You came, I wasn’t sure if you would.  Did you like the cake?”

Dave nodded and went to sit next to her on a log, his body felt heavy and he slipped, knocking the cat of Alice’s lap, it hit the floor with a thud, not moving, a mass of flies left it’s body.  Alice lent forward and picked up the dead cat.

“After Daddy left kitty tried to leave as well but I gave him some special food and now he stays with me.”

Alice pointed at the shadowy figure at the end of the clearing.

“Not long after, Johnny stopped playing with me but after I made him cake he’s never left my side”

Dave was confused, Johnny was her brother, he disappeared months ago and what did cake have to do with anything.  Then he remembered the cake that was with the note.  In a panic Dave tried to get away but his body wasn’t responding, he fell forward, landing on the picnic mat and darkness took over him

Alice used rope from Dave’s rucksack to tie his body to a stake; she moved her brother’s body to the mat and poured a drink for both of them.

“Now we can all play together forever” said Alice with a smile. 

© Rhinhart Morningstar (Neil Armstrong) 2013