Bookending Winter is an event hosted by Sam of Fictionally Sam and Clo of Cuppa Clo in which book bloggers from all over get together to discuss books using summer themes. There are lots of great prompts I’m excited to respond to.
Today’s prompt is brought to you by Jeimy of A Novel Idea.
This is for all my writers! Using the words below write a story:
Flurries, Snow, Christmas, Blush, Smirk
Rules:
- Write a one sentence story using the words
- Write a one paragraph story using the words
You don’t have to do both. You can do one or the other and add pictures!
Yeah, so I didn’t know the story was only supposed to be a sentence or paragraph long when I got the original prompt. My story exceeds both in length. That said, it’s not one of my longer stories. Enjoy!
Trigger Warnings
Body horror & blood
The Christmas lights on the yellow suburban house flickered, a jolly Santa lawn ornament tipped over by the wind. Angry flurries rushed from the sky onto the cold ground. The creature approached slowly, its cloven feet leaving no mark on the new-fallen snow. The night air smelled of cold and magic, broken by the presence of the creature.
The scent of rot and decay followed the creature wherever it went, burrowed into the follicles of its fur. But the creature didn’t care. The creature was hungry and it had come to collect its Christmas feast.
With unnatural ease, the creature opened the leftmost window of the little yellow house. It climbed inside and the window closed again as though it were never opened.
The creature rose onto its haunches and appraised the room. It was sizeable with a walk-in closet. Toys littered the floor haphazardly and a nightlight glowed upon the wall. In the center of the room sat a twin-size bed. On the bed slept a boy.
Standing with preternatural stillness, the creature considered the boy. He had dusty blond hair and couldn’t have been more than ten. A blush had bloomed across his freckled cheeks, his body warm with sleep. He painted a cherubic picture, curled underneath his navy blue bedcovers.
A dark thrill sizzled through the creature’s body. This, what it was about to do, was its favorite part. It stalked toward the boy, standing ominously over him and waiting. The boy’s nose began to twitch, the reek of the creature rousing him from sleep.
“Kailey, did you poop your pants?” he asked with a smirk. Kailey, the younger sister. The main reason the creature was here. His eyes opened lazily, a cruel glint in them. That is until he laid them upon the creature.
The boy’s eyes widened in horror, a scream forcing its way from his throat. The sour smell of urine stung the creature’s nostrils. Yes, this was the best part. A moment of vulnerability, innocence sullied by true terror.
“Mommy!” the boy screamed. “Mommy, help!” But his mother would not come. As long as the creature was here, the boy’s family would remain blissfully asleep. Tears leaked from the boys eyes, coming faster the longer he waited for a savior that wouldn’t come.
“Who- who are you?” the boy asked the creature. “What do you want?”
“Do you know what day it is?” the creature intoned in a voice that defied nature, like scratching and heat and evil.
“C-Christmas Eve,” the boy said, choking on his tears.
“And who comes to visit children on Christmas Eve?”
“Sa-Santa Claus.”
“No,” the creature said. “He only visits good children. Not bad little boys. Not little boys like you.”
“I’m a good boy!” the boy insisted, stubborn righteousness momentarily overcoming his fear.
“Are you?” the creature asked. “Is that what Kailey would say?”
“K-Kailey?”
“Isn’t it true that you pick on her? Embarrass her? Make her cry?”
“No-no,” the boy lied. The creature simply stared at him. “Well, she deserves it!”
“Does she?” the creature asked, almost gleefully. “And what you you deserve? Do you deserve toys and gifts on Christmas? Do you deserve a visit from Santa Claus?” The boy said nothing, simply trembled.
“No, boys like you don’t deserve toys. They deserve to be punished.”
“What are you going to do to me?” the boy asked, a violent quiver in his voice. The creature smiled, a grotesque grin that stretched its goat-like mouth and betrayed its rotten, pointed teeth.
“What I do to all naughty children,” the creature said. “I feast.” And with that, the creature lunged forward and bit down on the boy’s arm. With a mighty jerk, he ripped the arm from its socket and swallowed it whole.
Blood gushed out of the jagged hole at the boy’s side and he screamed in agony. The creature leaped forward again, tearing off the boy’s other arm and crunching through the bone. The boy sobbed and called out deliriously, begging the creature to stop.
But the creature did not stop. He devoured another piece from the boy and another and another until the room was silent and the last of the boy hit the creature’s stomach.
Satisfied, the creature straightened up. The bed was a swamp of blood. Pieces of flesh stuck to the wall. The stink of death permeated the room. The creature let out a dark chuckle.
And then the hunger called again, so the creature returned to the window. It climbed out the way it came in, and the moment the windows closed again the carnage inside vanished. It was as though the creature had never been there, only the lack of the boy proof of its deed.
The creature walked a few paces from the little yellow house, then paused to sniff the air. It waited for that telltale sign, the lack of Christmas magic in a child’s house. There— three towns over. There is the creatures next meal. In a swirl of black wind, the creature winked out of sight.
Overhead, a red sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer soared across the sky. The driver guided them down and they landed on top of the yellow house. A rotund man with a thick, white beard climbed out of the sleigh, slinging his bag of toys over his shoulder.
Santa Claus headed for the chimney, eager to leave presents for sweet little Kailey. He paused only once, when the smell of rotting flesh greeted his nose. He merely sighed and clambered down the chimney. After all, he must do his job just as Krampus does his. Christmas magic will take care of the rest.
So, not exactly the kind of story the prompt was looking for based on the required words. But I needed to write a Christmas horror story. I hope you liked it!
Strange Storyteller 
AHH! I loved it from beginning to end! ❤
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Thank you so much!
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