Microfiction: The Vampire and the Wizard
An unexpected meeting, in less than 200 words.
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The small man crawls through the darkness. His mouth gapes open, revealing fangs as they extend from his raw gums. He moves silently towards his sleeping friend, gaze set firm on throbbing veins.
A match strikes, illuminating the face of Gandalf. His cheeks hollow as he sucks to light his pipe.
Samwise freezes, drops of saliva dangling from his fangs.
Great sadness sits on the wizard’s shoulders. Eventually he speaks: “Take what you must, Mister Gamgee, but suck only from the Weathertop wound.”
Samwise retreats. Tears of shame sparkle in his eyes, even as they hungrily survey Frodo’s sleeping form. “It will tire him.”
The wizard beckons Samwise to return. “You are part of this fellowship, despite your affliction. You must eat too.” He puffs his pipe. The tobacco’s glow casts his features in shades of red and amber. “We will tell Frodo it is the ring-bearer’s burden that exhausts him, and the Witch-king’s cursed wound that never truly heals.” The pipe’s glow dims. “You know, he would do this willingly if you asked.”
“I never could.”
“Then it will remain our secret.”
Samwise pulls back Frodo’s shirt, and sinks his teeth into the scarred flesh.
~fin~
Enjoyed that? Check out some of my earlier short horror:
Short story: A good human father
The Inciting Incident is a weekly newsletter about writing horror, writing tips, and some fun things on the side (often, but not always, related to my old Matazone content). Thanks for reading!
Come along, Grandpa
For today’s short horror story, I did a quick search of stock photography, then wrote the first story that came to mind.
Leather babydoll
It’s time for a short horror story - this one in epistolary form (i.e. written as if it were a letter). I think this was my first time using this form, but it was enormously fun, and the story was first published in Elegant Literature magazine, issue 19
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!
Go be awesome to yourselves and others,
Mata xxx
Choosing these characters and this world for a microfiction story is a great idea! It does a lot of the intellectual and emotional heavy lifting, and you need shortcuts in short fiction. This particular shortcut can be abused, but you handle well•