Knock

Story by Glen

Mal checked outside the door once again.

Nothing. The grass and brush were dead and the trees, if not dead, were dying. The bird carcass was still there, untouched.

He shut the door and relocked it, setting the chain, too.

It seemed like only minutes after he sat down in the comfy chair that it happened again.

The knob rattled and tried to turn.

Mal did not stir. Instead, he muttered, “I thought that there was nothing left alive out there . . .”

The rattling stopped. An equally soft voice replied, “If it helps any, you are right.”

The author of Knock is a long-term Fears’erer, Glen of Ask-De-Writer over on Tumblr. Cheers for the spookems man!

It’s three weeks late posting because I’m an idiot. I scheduled it for the wrong month and didn’t notice until Glen prompted me. Doh. Sorry, man.

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Le Cat

“When I was a kitten,” said Cat, “my parents would often say “Excuse my French” just after a swear word.”

“My mum and dad said the same,” sighed Dog.

“I think all parents do,” grumbled Cat. “I’ll never forget that first day at school when my teacher asked if any of us knew any French.”

Oof, the poor kitty. This wee kitten came from the missus. Her art’s still super popular here. Please do say hello to her on Twatter at @DonnaMStrachan and you can nobble her art prints (including this kitty) from Society6 and you can buy her a cuppa on Ko-fi.

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Spike

“I feel like you’ve known me for a longer time than I’ve known you,” remarked Meria.

“Your feelings are probably right,” chuckled Lucy. “I saw you a few years ago. In a pub like this one. You were with James, grinning ear to ear.”

“I’d just seen him spike my drink,” sighed Meria. “I knew if I could swap our glasses, I could save myself some chloroform.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Postcard

“I don’t think you’d break up with your missus over a silly argument,” remarked Meria.

“Oh, we haven’t broken up,” replied Lucy. “It’s just my partner said she enjoys sex more when she’s on holiday.”

“Ah, right,” said Meria.

“I’m telling you,” said Lucy, “that was an awkward postcard to receive.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Ways

“So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?” asked Meria.

“Fallout with the missus, you know how it is,” replied Lucy.

“What’s the problem?” asked Meria.

“She was having a fit over my terrible direction sense,” grumbled Lucy. “So I packed my bags and right.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Mimic

“You know,” said Meria, swiping through her phone. “You’re the spitting image of a woman I once knew called Mabel.”

Lucy peered at the picture on Meria’s phone. “Damn, you’re right.”

“She could be your twin,” pondered Meria.

“She could be,” sighed Lucy. A little peeved that she had another one to track down and kill.

For those subscribed by email, yup, this did appear yesterday. While scheduling this post, I was presented with a big red banner on WordPress that said there was an error scheduling. Then, doh, it was live on my site. Sorry to everyone on email for the double mail.

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Psychic Door

“Where have you been?” asked Meria as Lucy slipped back into the pub.

“I popped across an island to see a well-reputed psychic,” replied Lucy.

“Oh, aye?” asked Meria. “Did she read your fortune?”

“No,” sighed Lucy. “I knocked on her door and she yelled, “who is it?” So I left.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Freeze

“How did you die?” asked Jelly.

“I got too cold,” sighed Cuttle.

“Your obituary said you died of hyperthermia while trekking across the Antartic with a paint company for charity,” recalled Parrotfish.

“That’s right,” sighed Cuttle. “I needed a second coat.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

5 and 7

“Someone stole my coral-mower last year,” grumbled Parrotfish.

“I remember that,” replied Jelly. “The police knocked on my door and asked where I was between 5 and 7.”

“Oh, aye?” asked Parrotfish. “Where were you between 5 and 7?”

“Well,” pondered Jelly, “at school I imagine.”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.

Limbo

“Has your home ever been broken into?” asked Jelly.

“A couple of times,” replied Parrotfish.

“I remember when my home was burgled,” sighed Jelly. “They took my limbo stick.”

“Urgh,” replied Parrotfish. “How low can thieves go?”

Cheers to Kathy & Warren for the continued $10 Patronage. You can find me on Ko Fi, Patreon, Etsy, Amazon, Skillshare and Threadless.