I had a dream once. Haven’t we all? Dreamt once? About love, loss, things we fear most.

Silly that I think of this dream now, a dream so far in the past that I care not to remember what aroused it.

But as I descend the stairs to his basement, floorboards creaking beneath my feet, I can’t ignore that the knocking, growing louder as I approach, causes the same shortness of breath as that dream.

There’s a second door on the back wall, hidden in shadow. Whoever’s behind it senses my presence. The beating quickens, and so does my heart.

© 2018 Nortina Simmons

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A to Z Challenge theme: A Drabble for a Tag

This year, I’m giving you 26 drabbles (~100-word stories) using some of my favorite unused or underused tags.

Today’s tag is “dream interpretation.”

Read previous: “C” is for “creepy basement.”

Read next: “E” is for “Edgar Allan Poe.”

The drumming stops and starts again. All night it’s kept me awake. A constant, measured thump, like the swinging of a pendulum, unnoticeable until you listen for it. It almost lulls me to sleep, but I make it a point not to sleep in strangers’ beds.

Never mind that we’ve already had sex.

His arms are still firmly hooked around my waist as if he doesn’t want me to leave. I pull myself up, feel around the floor for my dress.

It’s while I’m on my hands and knees that the sound gets louder, and I realize it’s coming from underneath.

© 2018 Nortina Simmons

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A to Z Challenge theme: A Drabble for a Tag

This year, I’m giving you 26 drabbles (~100-word stories) using some of my favorite unused or underused tags.

Today’s tag is “creepy basement.”

Read previous: “B” is for “bad decisions.”

Read next: “D” is for “dream interpretation.”

Thirty. Thirty years old and all I have to show for it is this drink and a lifetime of bad decisions.

I gulp down to the ice as he watches me, waiting for approval. He did buy me a drink after all. After the bartender accused me of lying about my age.

Who would lie about being thirty?

“Thanks for making this birthday a little less forgettable.” I raise my glass.

“I can make it unforgettable,” he whispers. His accent is laced with something exotic, dark, and dangerous…

It wouldn’t be my thirtieth without one more bad decision from my twenties.

© 2018 Nortina Simmons

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A to Z Challenge theme: A Drabble for a Tag

This year, I’m giving you 26 drabbles (~100-word stories) using some of my favorite unused or underused tags.

Today’s tag is “bad decisions.”

Read previous: “A” is for “accessory to murder.”

Read next: “C” is for “creepy basement.”

The water is scalding. But I have thick skin. Like a rhinoceros. I feel nothing. It’s easier this way. To burn alive and feel nothing. I imagine this is what hell is like.

“Carol?”

His voice is so soft, caring. As if from a different man. Not the man I witnessed plunge a knife into a woman’s spine, fold her into her own trunk, then kiss me goodnight.

The drain is slightly clogged. The water doesn’t go down as fast as I want. Looking at its reddish tint, I wonder…

Is it her blood I’m washing off, or my own?

© 2018 Nortina Simmons

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A to Z Challenge theme: A Drabble for a Tag

This year I’m giving you 26 drabbles (100-word stories) using some of my favorite unused or underused tags.

Today’s tag is “accessory to murder.”

Read next: “B” is “bad decisions.”