THE QUILL

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antique-desk

Copyright:  Jan Wayne Fields

 

Here we are once more to show our creativity. Once again we’re asked to compose original stories for the Friday Fictioneers’ weekly challenge. This challenge is to write a story with no more than 100 words. It’s supposed to include a beginning, middle, end, and follow the picture prompt supplied for the week. The gracious and talented author and artist, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host for the challenge. The prompt this week was supplied by Rochelle’s husband. Jan Wayne Fields. Thanks Jan.

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/15-august-2014/

Genre:  Horror Fiction

Word Count:  100 Words

THE QUILL By P.S. Joshi

People laughed at Connie still writing with a quill. She’d found it in the drawer of her great-great grandfather’s desk, behind a secret panel. It still looked brand new despite its age.

Connie had heard numerous rumors about this ancestor, all  unpleasant.  People had feared him in his lifetime. No one now knew  why, but the fear had spread. One faithful servant was paid well to keep secrets.

People often saw the ancestor by a window, happily writing.

Connie sat and took out ancient, yellowed parchment she’d found and began to write.

“Who dies now?” the quill wrote in blood.

friday-fictioneers

64 thoughts on “THE QUILL”

  28. Love the use of the prompt here. People seeing the ancestor through the window – it left me wondering…had she left the desk in place, and people were actually seeing her ancestor transposed over her as she wrote? great job!

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    • Thanks Grace. It was my intention to describe what the rumors in the past about her ancestor had included. This was so the reader would know some of what had been going on in the past. She might have very well left the desk in the same place. No one would have known about the evil quill with the possible exception of the ancestor’s one servant who’d been payed to keep his mouth shut about it. I’m glad you liked the story. 🙂 —Susan

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  37. Sadly, there have been people in my life that I’ve disliked enough that I thought I would appreciate having such a quill. Perhaps in the long run I would have regretted it. Being bullied makes a person wish such things as voodoo were real.
    Thank you for visiting The Netherworld.

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    • Thanks Thaliatia. I’ve found that actually it’s better to just leave those types of people behind me and find people it benefits me to know and have as friends. If we’re nasty to someone it kind of ties us emotionally to them. They’re not worth spending our thoughts on. Not everyone is going to like us, and it often has nothing to do with us. They have their own problems. Leave them to their problems and move on. If they are in our own family, that’s unfortunate, but there’s usually nothing we can do to change them. If it becomes too bad, seek help from a third party who is qualified to give that help and/or advice.
      I find the other stories very interesting and creative. 🙂 —Susan

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  39. When I started reading your post and saw “Horror fiction” as the genre I thought “hmm fairly tricky to provoke a feeling of horror in only 100 words,” but this really succeeds because the horrific element is so sudden and absolute that it needs no further explanation.

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  42. Wow. Is she like, under the control of the previous owner of the quill? I wonder who dies now? Maybe she dies, or maybe that old boyfriend who only took her out on a dare. Or that nasty old English teacher who kept her after school….Okay, I’m getting carried away. Nice ending. Good story when readers ask about a character as though she really exists. Well done. May she’s possessed? Lucy

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  43. I wonder …
    Does the pen control her or will she place it back in the secret panel and permanently seal it closed.
    Will it call to her late in the night … in her dreams … will she answer?
    Creepy.

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  44. I especially liked your focus on the quill: it’s not central to the picture, but after this story, I won’t be able to avoid looking at it.

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    • Thanks Kestrel. Well that’s what those prompts are all about isn’t it. It’s great you can pick out some item in them and make it the central theme of your story. That’s of course why we can get so many stories from one prompt. It’s great fun. 🙂 —Susan

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