For Her Very Own
By Erin T. Shifflett
CW: kidnapping
The girl tried to hide flat in the field, no daylight between belly and dirt.
“Ruby!” the woman cried. “Ruby!”
The girl, running on rabbit instinct, had fled from the strange woman’s grasp as she reached for her from an open car door.
The woman found her anyway.
The girl’s fingers raked the dark soil in even rows as she was dragged through the budding corn stalks.
Later, the woman poured a glass of wine and sipped slowly, violet staining the corners of her mouth. With dead eyes, she gazed at a photograph, the edges worn thin. Inscribed on the back, “Ruby, age 6.” Then, “Drowned, July 14.”
“You’re not quite as pretty as my angel. Or as sweet. Honestly, all that screaming. But we’ll work on that. Won’t we...Ruby? How fortunate that I found you. My new little girl.”
And a wolf’s sure smile spread across her face, all white teeth and menace as the little girl understood what it meant to be consumed.
Erin T. Shifflett lives on a PA mountaintop, is a part-time college English instructor, full-time voracious reader and sporadic writer. Runs on ennui, snark, gothic literature and gummy candies.
Possessed and intoxicated by your storytelling skills! Well done.
You’ve got my attention , more please