The days are getting shorter and colder. The nights are getting longer and more depressing. A perfect time for ghost stories! Haven’t you ever wondered about the song line “scary ghost stories of Christmases long, long ago”? People used to sit around the fire and share stories to pass the long night.
For the last few years, my writing friend Loren Eaton, through his I Saw Lightning Fall blog has organized a call for writers to contribute flash fiction ghost stories set around Advent, Christmas and the winter solstice. This is the modern equivalent of gathering around the fireplace. It’s not a contest. There is no judging and there are no prizes. It’s just a chance for writers to play and stretch their legs a bit. The catch is, the stories have a maximum limit of 100 words. No more. No less.
I don’t normally write in the genre, so I look forward to trying out something new and seeing what I can do with it. This is my fourth year participating.
Here are the links to 2014, 2013 and 2012 respectively.
When you’re done with my stories, check out the rest of the 2015 Advent Ghosts submissions. It’s amazing the stories you can tell using only 100 words!
And without further ado, here are my 2015 to the 2015 Advent Ghosts collection!
I saw mommy kissing…
Christmas eve. It’s midnight. Santa should be here. I have to see him. I hear something downstairs. Something’s going on. I just know it’s him.
I creep down the steps, straining to step past the third one. It creaks. As soon as I can, I peak. I see mom. But who is that with her? And what is he doing to her? I see blood on her lips and nose.
“Mom! What’s going on?”
“Run, child, run!” she yells.
I don’t listen. “Who are you? Are you Santa?”
“Santa isn’t coming here this year. I come for the naughty children!”
What if?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“I’m so tired of these people. When are they going to understand I don’t have any rooms!” the old man grumbled. “What do you want?”
“Sir, my wife is with child and we need a place to stay. Can you help us? We’ll take anything.”
“There is nothing. Try someplace else.”
“We’ve tried everywhere. No one has any rooms. Please sir. We can stay in your barn.”
“I have nothing left. Even my barn is completely full. The man who arrived just before you brought his entire herd to town. You’ll have to sleep on the street.”
