Friday Flash: Deflowered
Emmeline’s throat was raw, and the acid stench of her own vomit steaming in the gutter made her retch again, without results. Angus stood off to the side smoking a cigarette and trying to look like he wasn’t nervous. A few yards away, the thing’s corpse was decomposing rapidly on the sun-dappled tarmac of the road.
“First time’s always the hardest,†said Angus, grinding out his fag with his boot heel.
Emmeline coughed a weak little laugh. “Oh, that’s reassuring,†she said. “Great news. Maybe after a while I’ll actually start to enjoy killing things.â€
“You don’t want that to happen,†said Angus, giving the corpse a wide berth as he walked toward her.
“Oh? Why not?â€
Angus passed the rifle back to her. “How d’you think they got like that in the first place?â€
March 15th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
This must be the shortest piece you’ve posted so far, Paul. And it works: you tell the story through what you don’t tell, and skilfully so.