Happy Halloween: "The Infant"

I’ve been trying to write a Halloween poem for three weeks and finally got fed up.  No matter what I did, it just looked and sounded horrible.  So I took the story idea and decided to try something I’ve never done before:  flash fiction.

Flash fiction is a story told in 100 words or less.  I wrote it in 156, and finally pared it down to 99.  I cannot tell you how much of a headache that was.  You wouldn’t think it would be that difficult to get rid of over 50 words, but you’d be wrong!

But anyways, it’s the holiday for the eldritch and freaky, and this is me sharing a taste of what happens when you leave me alone with my imagination.

                        ***

I’d killed the vampire but couldn’t sleep.

I stood in the hall outside our bedroom.  My wife slept as a hibernating bear.  The vampire refreshed himself from her last week.  She miscarried right after.

I heard her cry and ran inside.  She lay atop the covers, the naked invader nestled at her breast.  It was smaller than my hands.  I watched it suckle at her throat, slurping her blood like milk.

I killed the vampire but left his child.  I saw my wife’s smile and how she caressed the infant.  The baby was still hers, and she happily nursed.