Creative Writing: Short Stories - Mel Nichols (red seas under red skies .txt) 📗

Tim had to get out of the room quickly, had to leave the bloody and gruesome scene behind him. Frantic, he ran into the night, climbing the nearby tree and hopping from one to the next to avoid leaving forensic evidence on the ground. He didn’t know how long he jumped from tree to tree, each leap taking him deeper into the forest, but when he came to his home, a cave that no one besides himself had discovered, he sat and thought what he had just done, reliving the gruesome scene with relish.
He had been angry and that stupid mongrel, John, wouldn’t shut up, thus further antagonizing Tim. He balled his fists and grabbed his hair, trying to block out John’s words but he was disappointingly unsuccessful. When John remarked on Tim’s beloved Betty’s recently improved looks and his wish to share with her pastimes best left for the darkness of the night, Tim snapped. He spun out of his chair and grabbed his drunken opponent by the throat and effortlessly lifted him into the air, then threw him into the wall-sized mirror across the room. While John lay there among the broken glass, dazed, confused and bleeding, Tim advanced on him, his nails turning into claws as the rage Tim felt turned him into the werewolf that he was. With a sadistic, cruel and…animal grin on his face, Tim raised one clawed hand…

The first day of school, a whole new year filled with promises of success and new friendships. In my case, the promise of a relationship with the girl I’ve liked for a couple years now. My note was written, ready to be placed in her locker and it sat on my desk next to the snuggly white bear with the red ribbon bow around its neck, also an intended present for her. Now all that needed to be done was the making of the chocolates. Over the summer, I had discreetly discovered her favorite sweet and just how she liked it. Since it was chocolates, she preferred white chocolate with vanilla and peppermint extracts.
Now, I stood in the kitchen, the house empty except for myself, the dog and my little sisters. I pulled up the recipe for my love’s chocolates and started cooking.
I was almost done when my sister woke and started bawling as newborns do so I rushed to her aid, my elbow narrowly avoiding the glass container my great great grandfather used to own. It didn’t have any value or purpose, it wasn’t even allowed to be opened, so we just kept it on the counter as a paperweight for the stack of our family recipes.
When my elbow brushed it, I spun around on my toes, arms tucked in so I wouldn’t hit it square on and knock it out of my reach, grabbed and steadied it. When I was sure it wasn’t going to fall, I hurried upstairs to my sister.
As I was placing my sister in her crib, fed and changed, there was a crash and the dog yelped. I cursed silently and put my sister down for her nap then I hurried downstairs. Grandpa’s glass jar was broken, shattered on the tile, and the dog was rubbing his nose with a paw. I sighed and , steppe over the broken glass and shoved the dog into the backyard before I cleaned up the glass, with gloves, a broom and a dustpan, then I bleached the whole kitchen, as Mother has always told me to do in case it ever broke.
As I emptied the trash can into the trash can the trucks empty, I called the dog and he came running up. Taking his snout in my hands, I carefully inspected his nose. A welt was forming and there weren’t any signs of a cut so I left him to finish the chocolates. I scooped out several batches, let them cool on the table and put the pot in the sink. SO my other sister wouldn’t think of eating it, I put the boxes together, stacked them and put them in the very back of the highest shelf in the fridge to harden.
I breathed a contented sigh of relief. She was sure to tale me as her boyfriend now!
I let myself imagine how everything would go before I marched myself upstairs again to help Maria with her homework.

Nothing went according to Riley’s plan the next day. He put his gifts in Rose’s locker and hung around to watch her rejoice at his presents but instead of keeping them, she trashed them. While she read his note, she nibbled on some of the chocolates before she trashed the chocolates and the note.
Two weeks later, she was dead. The doctors at the local hospital told a very stricken and heartbroken Riley that she had died of cholera, one of the diseases thought to be eradicated. Naturally, a full-scale investigation ensued, spurred not only by Miss Rose’s death but also by the disease that killed her. When the police found took samples of the jar, which was still in the trash can in the backyard, they found it to be riddled with the bacteria that caused it.
As it turns out, Spike, the dog, had jumped up on the stove to sniff the chocolate and burned his nose on the pot. When he jumped down, he knocked over the jar and a couple shards flew into the pot, thus contaminating the chocolate.

I never thought I’d go to Prom. I just wasn’t the type of girl for dances; I wasn’t very social and I’d never had a boyfriend so why go? I don’t know how but my twin sister managed to weasel me into going with her. I’ll never forget that night no matter how hard I try.

Tonight was the night…Prom. The one dance of the year that you must go to or be labeled as a social outcast forever, and it was the single most important thing to my sister except boys. Since she had recently gotten her car keys yanked by our parents, she relied on me to get her from place to place. SO that’s how I ended up at Prom on that fateful day, driving my dumb sister.
The party was to be held at the old warehouse that the school used only once a year for Prom. It sat in a deserted area of town, far away from anything else, least of all the slumbering town. Because of it seclusion and the thick concrete walls and no windows, the music and lights were dampened so the tiny little town could sleep at night. This is what made the warehouse so perfect for Prom.
The party was already well underway when I put my Spider Fiat into park.
“Okay, we’re here.” I said with distaste as I turned the engine off. As was expected, my sister was climbing out of the small car even before the car was in park and now she was heading for the door, her dress gathered in her hands. I could hear her heels scraping and clacking on the asphalt as she rushed to the door. I shook my head and sighed at her predictability before I gathered my purse and keys and slowly climbed out. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and drive home but my sister depended on me…and besides, Kane Hennessy was here!
Immediately, an image of him popped into my head and my heart grew light as I let myself daydream about dancing and sharing a fairytale romance with him. The invitation in my purse seemed to suddenly turn to marble as I made my way up to the door. The invitation was what came with the ticket when one paid the fees for going to Prom.
For a long time, I stood there, content to watch everything, but then one of my eccentric friends, Courtni, came up to me.
“Hey, Desiree!” She greeted me.
“Hi, Courtni. What’s up?”
“A couple friends and I are going to play a game. Want to join?”
“Aren’t we a bit old for games? And we’re at PROM. Why would you want to play a game when you can dance?”
“Because not all of Star High are crazy about dances like your sister is. And besides, Kane will be there!” She said in a singsong voice and my mind was instantly made up.
“Where are you friends and what’s the game?” I replied, grinning.
She also grinned, grabbed my hand and tugged me to the far corner.
“Hey, guys!” Courtni said when we came to a group of people. “Desiree will be joining us!”
“Fantastic! We’ve all got partners now. Desiree, do you mind teaming up with Kane?” One of the guys exclaimed.
“Not at all.” I replied and my eyes went to Kane, who sat majestically and kind of away from the others yet close enough to participate. I sat down beside him and waited for the game to begin.
“So, what are we playing?” Courtni asked a red-headed girl.
“It’s a new game, Kind of like Spin the Bottle but also like Truth or Dare. It’s quite simple. A pair spins the bottle and the pair the bottle lands on has to do a dare that the spinners demand. Here, I’ll go first to show you.”
She reached forward and spun the bottle. The neck landed on Zac, Courtni’s partner.
“Now, Zac, since the bottle landed on you, my partner and I get to choose the dare that you and Courtni will have to do. We’ll skip this part since this is a demonstration round. Then Zac would spin the bottle again after the dare and the whole would repeat.”
All of the gathered people said their praise and soon the game was underway. Everyone’s dare were amusing and creative by turns. I talked with Kane about which dares we could use while the other teams did their dares.
The other teams soon grew dismayed because Kane and I were the only team the bottle always skipped over. At every round, at least one person would throw their hands up in the