Belated Campaign Challenge Flash Fiction

Last week, Rachael Harrie, the host of I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner, gave us a challenge to write a flash fiction under 200 words starting with "Shadows crept across the wall..." Last week was super busy for me. Thus, I didn't know about it until it was a day too late to enter.

Well, I wrote one anyway. It's a few words over 200 but close enough. Enjoy!

A Father's Love
by Julia King

Shadows crept across the wall as she crouched, awaiting her father’s return. She’d been there two weeks now, trying not to let anxiety overcome her. But it had set in after five days. They needed food so he left, hugging her tight, saying he loved her more than anything in the world.

But the world had changed. No one was safe anymore, least of all healthy men like her father. Even though he was on the emaciated side, he could still fight if he were caught. Inside, she knew he was gone—a machete in his hand to slaughter the enemy, if not the enemy himself. Years before an epidemic infected the land driving some people insane—cannibalistic.

He’d told her if he wasn’t back in two weeks she should leave. It was time. She picked up her scant belongings and trudged out of their hiding spot. Upon leaving the alleyway, she tripped over something. Picking herself up and dusting off her pants, she found her father’s zombified form holding a knife, a jagged slit across his bloodied throat.  

He’d killed himself to save her, humanity still a part of him in some way. Tears trickled from her horrified eyes. She was alone now. But her father’s love would carry her through whatever lay ahead. 

_________________

Creepy, huh? I hope you don't have to sleep with the lights on tonight... 

PS: Don't forget to enter my flash fiction contest to have a chance to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card. The contest ends today, Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 5:00PM MST. For more information, follow this link.

Writing. Jewels.