The tiny knife hissed by Anastasia’s right eye and tinked off her headset. She swore softly and backhanded the malicious doll into the cockpit glass. The meurtre effigy sprang up and resumed threatening with its sickle arms.
“It can’t harm us as long as the sun’s up,” she reassured her pilot.
Her private Citation X thundered west of NOLA at 618 knots.
“Ease a few points north. Every degree of latitude reduces the necessary airspeed and buys us more time. This little bastard is weakening, it should lose animation soon.”
“Damn my Aunt Cassy and her hostile voodoo takeovers. I’m gratified she’s never learned to anticipate a technological response.”
110 words, for this week’s Microcosms (10) prompt: billionaire/plane/horror
Selected co-winner of Microcosms (10). There’s probably a badge involved, once I figure out where to get it.
For my second read though of this week’s stories, this was the one I kept comparing all others too. This piece screamed Twilight Zone and the writing was detailed, yet tight. So much in so few words. In fact, I had to check the word count because it felt three or four times longer than it’s 110. That’s good writing.
–Brian S. Creek
Well, I realized this morning where my little murder-doll idea got into my subconscious. A little Karen Black picture (from 1975, I haven’t seen it in 40 years!) “Trilogy of Terror”. All three segments of this film–including the cool segment with the Zuni Fetish doll that chases a screaming Karen Black around her apartment with sharp things–are based on short stories written by Richard Matheson.
It was the very first Chuckie film, essentially.
It feels Twilight Zone because Matheson wrote sixteen Twilight Zone episodes, also “I Am Legend” (a.k.a. “The Omega Man”).
ParkInkSpot 