in the Times, and Other Spooky Stories

The extremely exciting news, for me anyway, is that I was published in the Times. The newspaper. Me. My story. In a national newspaper.

So, OK, I was a runner-up, and it was only a 50 word story, but there were over 1500 entries so I still think that's pretty impressive. You can see my entry, the winning entry and the runners-up here.

It wasn't the story I intended to write, I was going to go for scary, but it came out sad. I had such a good feeling about it though, I knew it was something a bit different and I'm so happy the judges obviously thought so too. It's been crunched a little to fit their formatting requirements, so here it is, as I originally wrote and submitted it:
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Simon wrote on the misted window pane with his finger.

I miss you

Four weeks since Michelle had died. Four weeks since her last message.

A tear slid down his cheek as he watched the words fade. He huffed on the window to bring them back.

I miss you too


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And since I said 'other spooky stories'...

For Halloween, my 101 Fiction today is a ghost story: Lily. "They say the pier is haunted..."

Here's a few more 101 word, dark and creepy horror stories from the 101F archives:
Disease, by C.B. Blanchard. "Hear her cough, a deep-down, unhealthy hacking."
Fullback, by Stephen Hewitt. "Alamo Jones tipped the gritty, grey dust over the gunnels."
Presence, by Erin Cole. "Malevolence looms."
Tattered, by John Xero. "He stands in my backyard, watching."
Reconciliation, by Lily Childs. "Years of scurrying around filthy alleys..."

Enjoy! Here's hoping your Halloween's a haunted and harrowing one... in a good way, of course... ;)

Mwa ha ha ha haaa...