Following on from Frost in 2012 and While You Sleep in 2011, here's my 2013 entry: The Box of Special Decorations. When I started it I thought it was going to be a gently eerie ghost story. Christmas hauntings on a frosty night sort of thing. But it didn't end up like that. It didn't end up like that at all...
The Box of Special Decorations
Once the baubles and lights had been arranged on the tree, Ven unlocked the cupboard where he kept the box of special decorations.
If there had been anyone else to see, the objects would have puzzled them. Ven knew every one intimately. Each was a totem. A memento. He hung them with great care. The clumps of hair. The vials of liquid. The finger-bones.
That evening, as the darkness gathered, he sat to admire his work. It was good. Except … there. A gap.
He frowned. It wouldn’t do.
He'd need one more special decoration in time for next year...
Happy Christmas all!
Um…gentle eerie ghost story? Not! But you know I enjoyed it anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll do gentle and eerie next year, I promise..
DeleteWow! Now that's a creepy Christmas story. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story. I can imagine someone like that making these decorations!
ReplyDeleteSubtle horror is the best. Loved it, Simon. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNow THAT was a ghost story!
ReplyDelete"intimately" - shudder. Well done!
ReplyDelete