Madman
A Suspense Story
Dusk slowly rolled in as Milo walked along the Osmeña trail, nicely stacked twigs hung above his shoulders. Then he saw a lone figure stumbling into a dingy shack. He wouldn’t have minded it but this eerie-looking cabin had been empty for a very long time—until now. Intrigued, he ran in confused haste towards it.
At the threshold of the shack, he could barely hear hushed voices. With heart beating fast, he shuffled to the nearest windowsill and saw the most maddening scene there is. Inside the cluttered, blood-stained room was a man slumped in a heap of grimy clothes. Cradled in his arms was a limp, mangled body of a blindfolded woman.
“Didn’t you bring a shovel?” the man asked.
“I thought you brought one!” a silhouetted man answered.
“You dim-witted fool!” The man gasped in exasperation. “How could you bring a paintbrush and forget the shovel? What are you supposed to do? Paint this shack red?”
“I’m supposed to paint it with her blood.”
“You’re a madman.”
The man in the shadows motioned to face the window where Milo was peering and there he saw the most sinister smile he’d ever seen. “That, I am.”
Word Count: 198
© 2016 Maria. All Rights Reserved.
Written for Roger Shipp’s flash fiction challenge, Flash Fiction For the Purposeful Practitioner. A sentence is provided and we are to craft a story to under 200 words length.
This week’s prompt is: “Didn’t you bring a shovel?”
Enjoy more stories here:
May 6, 2016 at 11:01 am
That’s an awesome story you created! And very well written!
LikeLike
May 6, 2016 at 2:49 pm
Very dark, time to do a runner I think!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 5:46 pm
DEFINITELY! …If he wasn’t left too stunned. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Yay for sinister smiles!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 5:48 pm
Goosebumps for the sinister smile! Haha. Thanks for reading, Graham. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 4:17 pm
Geez! Run now!
“I’m supposed to paint it with her blood.”
Goosebumps!!! 😀
Love it! ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 5:51 pm
Better run and hide now dear! Hahaha.
YAY! I’m not really very good writing thriller, glad this worked out well. Thank you, Rosema. ❤❤❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 10, 2016 at 11:20 am
You do it sooooooooooo great, Maria!! 😀 Really!
LikeLike
May 6, 2016 at 5:57 pm
Chilling! Awesome take on the prompt!😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 2:35 pm
YAY! GLad to hear that. Thanks for reading and commenting, S!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 9:56 pm
I think its time for Milo to get out of there! Great story. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 10:36 pm
Most definitely! Before the madman needs additional “paint”. Thank you, Louise. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 11:19 pm
Wow! Another great story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 10:58 pm
YAY! Glad you enjoyed this one. Thank you, PJ! 🙂 ❤
LikeLike
May 8, 2016 at 1:56 am
My pleasure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 11:38 pm
Ooh, chilling and goosebump-inducing. It seems you are skilled in sweet romantic stories as well as creepy ones!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Really?! YAY! Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jade. I love suspense/thriller movies and books but I rarely write them coz my mind’s filled with flowers, hearts, or tears. Haha. I guess Game of Thrones helped me a lot. GRR Martin does have a thing for killing a loooot of characters! XD
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 9, 2016 at 4:03 am
Haha I understand! That’s like me & murder mysteries. Love reading them, but I don’t write them because my brain is not wired that way, but that’s the beauty of this art. We can learn and grow and explore, and before we know it, we’re dabbling in genres we never thought we could 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 10, 2016 at 11:14 am
So true… Here’s to an endless journey in the art of writing. 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 6, 2016 at 11:46 pm
This is very creepy, but I still like it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 11:12 pm
YAY! Glad to hear that! Phew. XD Thanks for dropping by, Angie. 😉
LikeLike
May 7, 2016 at 12:36 am
Wow! Scary. Although, this prompt and the sentence together seem to invite murder or burying a body of some kind 🙂 Great job.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 11:30 pm
Thank you, Mandi! I so agree to murder and burying. Haha. I guess we’re all having a sinister story this week. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 2:41 am
Uh oh. Time to run.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 7, 2016 at 11:40 pm
FAST. Before they see him. Haha.
Thanks for dropping by, Jenn. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
May 8, 2016 at 4:19 am
I’m outa here! Brilliant stuff.
Here is my FFftPP
LikeLike
May 8, 2016 at 10:37 am
Very creepy and weird…which makes it interesting! Great job on this prompt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 10, 2016 at 10:54 am
Thank you, Jessie! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person