I met her most nights – somewhere between succumbing to sleep and waking fever-drenched at dawn. Unable to meet the woman of my dreams in reality, I’d created her in my mind. But she was not the image that came to me night after night. This was a half-woman, half-monster, chasing me through horror. There was always a knife. Next morning my bedding was always bloodstained from the self-inflicted scratching of old wounds.
This night, whiskey drunk, I avoided my bed. Stumbled instead into the moonless night. I went out to the hazel wood. Because a fire was in my head, I tripped over roots, crazed to find this she-devil. I wanted to kill her. End these nightmares. Instead, I died that night, victim of her crazed claws They found me in light snow, hazel tree branches clicking in winter’s wind.
Note: Hazel trees are noted for often having protruding roots. They can be either trees or shrubs.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. Today is Prosery Monday where we’re given a specific line from a poem, and we must insert it, word for word (although the punctuation may be changed) into a piece of flash fiction. We must have a beginning, middle and end to our story. It can be no more than 144 words sans title.
Kim is hosting today and asks us to include this line from Yeats’ The Song of Wandering Aengus: “I went out to the hazel wood, because a fire was in my head.”
lillian the home poet 
Such a crazy, wild, and terrifying story. Utterly haunting and creepy with those trees!
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I was tempted to dedicate this one to you, Lucy. How appropriate that you’re the first one to comment! 🙂 I don’t usually go to the dark side like this!
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Hahaha! That’s sweet. 🖤
And hey, sometimes a little trip to the dark side can be fun. It produced a wicked story here!
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Well done, Lillian, you succeeded in both weaving in the lines from Yeats seamlessly and scaring my out of my wits! The stuff of nightmares indeed.
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I love it when you reveal your dark side, Lill! I enjoyed your horror in the hazel woods and bravo for writing from the perspective of a man (or is it?) from beyond the grace. I imagined the character, drunk on whiskey, the way he stumbled into the moonless night – not a good time for running through a hazel wood.
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This was truly horrific… the fever dreams with that woman, and going out into the wood… I wonder if her name was Hazel.
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Horror-drenched, what a haunting story. It reminds me of Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart. Waking up with the sheets in blood from digging at old wounds is such a great visual; the sounds of the hazel branches clicking over the dead body, whew, shivers!
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Oh that last line sent a shudder through me. Wonderfully creepy.
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A wonderful gothic-tinged horror story, Lillian! Very creepy–that last line is so nightmarish.
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Scary!
Sent from my iPhone
>
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This is deliciously dark and enticing, Lillian! I held my breath at; “There was always a knife. Next morning my bedding was always bloodstained from the self-inflicted scratching of old wounds.” The things us humans endure….
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A nightmare becomes all too real!
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Wow! a nightmare of the worst kind… the dead kind! Well done Lillian!
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Deliciously dark tale. I flashed on a monster part werewolf, part succubus. Dreams can be twisted. He dreamed of a knife, but was torn to shreds from teeth and claw.I used to dream of being chased by a pair of black panthers. Thank God they never caught me.
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Murder by tree roots. Very original!
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Definitely darker than your usuals, Lillian, but horribly GOOOOOOOD!
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YIKES! Is that you, Lillian?!?! Deliciously horrifying.
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Well that’s a bummer Lillian. Think I will avoid hazel wood.
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Lillian,
The clicking tree branches are like the cherry atop this amazing cake. Fantastic!
-David
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Whiskey drunk and scratching at old wounds. Sounds like me in a past year. Now I do it coffee high with a peanut butter jelly sandwich in my right hand.
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I love it when you type dark! 🙂 Good writing Lillian. I like the idea of clicking branches.
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Great Prosery, Ms. Lillian! Foreboding and dark, you captured that genre well
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i have always enjoyed the darker side of storytelling i love this
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Great
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Eerie, dark, very good. 👍
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Nice. I love it.
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