My Words, My World

First drafts – A few pages in the large wilderness of the world of writing

Archive for the month “October, 2025”

31 Oct 2025
5 Comments

Don’t Turn Your Back (on Jack-o’-Lantern)

Here’s a little something to get you into the spirit of Halloween…

Tommy tied the shirt and trouser cuffs, filled the clothes with straw, and shaped the hands and feet. He placed the figure in the chair at the table.

Next, he took the pumpkin and carved the eyes, nose, and a horror mouth of pointed teeth. As he cut the last one, the knife slipped, slashing across his hand. Blood ran onto the teeth.

He placed a candle inside the head and set the head on the shoulders of the straw man, then went to the kitchen to wash the blood from his hands.

At the table, the candle flickered into life behind a mouth that began to move.
The head tilted down. The carved eyes glowed brighter.
Slowly, the straw figure rose from the chair, and a straw hand reached for the knife.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: dont-turn-your-back.jpg
Posted in creative writing, dark fiction, Flash Fiction, Halloween, Horror, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,
25 Oct 2025
3 Comments

Stop sign

The rain beat against the car roof and she gazed through the sweeping wipers. She hated the short, dark winter days. Traffic was heavy and the cars moved at walking pace.

She couldn’t remember getting in the car and her stomach rolled and tumbled when she thought about it. She had grabbed her keys, her bag and her phone but, despite the weather, she had left home with no coat.

She arrived at the stop sign. Ahead; under the low, grey, evening sky, everything was dark.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Behind her, everything was even darker.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: stop-sign.jpg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, atmospheric writing, creative writing, Flash Fiction, iceberg-theory, Writing and tagged , , , ,
18 Oct 2025
2 Comments

99-word fiction: Return Ticket

The last of the boxes had been taken away – except one, sitting on the table in front of her.

A box full of items of no value: old letters, grandad’s cigarette case, a chipped cup, mum’s funeral service card.

One by one she laid them out on the table.

She pulled out an old purse and looked inside, not expecting to find money.

An old train ticket fell out, its edges worn between finger and thumb.

Her eyes widened and her chest felt heavy. She thought she’d thrown it away.

She stared at the words, “Return Ticket”. What if?

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: return-ticket.jpg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, atmospheric writing, dreams, Flash Fiction, iceberg-theory, Writing and tagged , , , ,
11 Oct 2025
1 Comment

99-word story: Things that go bang in the night

‘What was that?’
‘Mmm?’
‘That bang.’
Dragged from a dream involving Kier Starmers on bicycles dressed as clowns, I groaned.
‘Go and look,’ she said, kneeing me off the bed.
I stumbled to the door, listening. Silence. Then, bravely, I Chuck-Norrised my way through every room, lights ablaze.
Nothing.
Only the kitchen left.
A smell.
Light on.
Fear.
‘What is it?’ she yelled.
My doom, I thought.
Her pristine floor drowned beneath a wine puddle seeping from the fridge door — the one I’d promised to fix.
From the bottle she’d told me not to force the cork back into.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: things-that-go-bang-in-the-night.jpg

Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, Flash Fiction, Humour, lighthearted, Writing and tagged , , , ,
04 Oct 2025

The postcard

The first shock was receiving the postcard, in the day of Whatsapp messages and where even emails were considered old-tech.

Then she looked at the picture: Florence.

Frowning, she turned it over.

Her eyes widened and she put her hand over her mouth.

Him. The holiday, Florence, art, culture. Him.

It was addressed to her with only a signature. His.

So many years had passed. The drive, the argument, the blue, flashing lights. The doctors unwilling to break the news.

The funeral. They had told her there had been a funeral.

She looked at the date.

It was impossible.

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: the-postcard.jpg
Posted in 99-word fiction, 99-words, creative writing, Flash Fiction, iceberg-theory, Short Fiction Stories, Writing and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

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