On a school field trip, third-graders Tony and Martha decided to do a little independent exploring. Slipping away from the rest of the group, they headed into a secluded field.
“I think they’re some kind of scarecrows or something.” The boy wrinkled his nose in thought.
“That seems silly. I mean they look like they’re working, and they’re…” she blushed gazing at the straw women’s attributes. “…women.”
“Let’s have a closer look.” Tony started to run forward.
“Wait! Remember? The farmer told Mr. Pushkin none of us were allowed in this field, and that it was dangerous.”
He turned back toward her. “Oh, come on. We aren’t going to hurt anything. I just want to…”
“Tony! Get out of there!”
He saw the expression of horror on Martha’s face and then spun toward the field. The straw people were moving. One of them was swinging her ax at him menacingly.
I wrote this for the FFfAW Challenge for the Week of April 24, 2018 hosted by Priceless Joy. The idea is to use the image above to inspire the creation of a piece of flash fiction between 100 and 175 words long. My word count is 150.
Yes, I noticed the two straw people were supposed to be women, and of course, the first thing I thought of was that they were haunted.
To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.
Creepy!!
Good stuff!
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Thanks.
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This could be a start of a really thrilling horror fantasy novel.
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Actually, I had planned for the children to escape. Not sure what I’d do with straw women since just lighting a match around them could send them running in terror.
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Hehe. You’re right about that. But surely, in the story, the people terrorised by straw women might realise this quite late.😅
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That was seriously spooky. I’ve still got a chill in my spine.
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A hot pad might help. 😉 Thanks.
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Reblogged this on Dream Big, Dream Often.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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You are most welcome!
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Mad lady scarecrows! Horrifyingly good! Great story, James!
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Thanks, Joy.
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Poor scarecrows, they might only have been cutting the straw lower, to make it easier for the kids,😉
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I intimated that they were attacking Tony. Maybe he was trespassing. Anyway, the kids had been warned.
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Good lesson – always do what you’re told. Enjoyed your horror tale.
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Horror is replete with tales of people disobeying someone and not living to regret it.
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Hopefully, the kids will be ‘once hacked (almost), twice shy’ from now on.
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I’m thinking there’s still time to run away. Thanks.
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Trespassers will be axecuted. Spooky one James
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“Axecuted.” LOL. Thanks.
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Loved it!!!
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I’m glad. Thanks.
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Brilliant!
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Thank you.
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