Some Call It A Shed – Flash Fiction
Some would call it a shed, others a workshop. This rickety wooden structure has many names and many uses. It is an extension of man. A place to hide those dusty, dark things you wish to hide from your family or neighbors. It’s a place of dreams and nightmares. It’s a place for spiders to live without fear of imminent extrication or the whack of a slipper.
From within a shed empires are planned, mass genocide is plotted. A shed is used for destruction equally as it is for creation. You’d often see men in jumpers or overalls carrying a pot of paint or a spanner or a chisel into their shed to fix something until it was broken. Occasionally something miraculous would come out of a shed, but not often. Nothing ever came out in a better state than when it went in: including the man whose shed it was.
This particular shed smells of rotting meat and pennies. I try and convince myself it’s the rats under the sodden floor. They died a few days ago. The floor, made of thin chipboard is sodden from the blood. It’s turned brown now. When I snuff out the candle I can’t see it anymore. Or her body. So I sit here in the darkness.
I filled every nook and cranny with foaming filler, and paint and newspaper. Everything is as tight as I can make it.
I breathe through a tiny tube attached to a small hole in the shed wall. I covered the hole with a flap of roofing felt so they wouldn’t notice it. It won’t be long before their random pawing will knock the felt away and they discover the tube. But until then I sit here in a lawn chair damp with my own urine because I’m too scared to get up. They are sensitive to noise. Although I do wonder if they can smell it, it makes my eyes water so I sit here with gaffer tape over my eyes. When they do discover me I don’t want to see.
I only know it’s nighttime when I hear them scuttling about in the alley behind the shed. Even in the daylight there are no birds or dogs or people. They’ve feasted on them already and it’s only been a couple of weeks.
I’m out of rations. It came on so quickly I had no time to prepare. A packet of biscuits and a block of cheddar were the only things I had in. That day was supposed to be grocery day, but they got to the driver before he could deliver. I tried to eat some sawdust to stop the hunger pains but that only made it worse. So I sit here starving, hoping my body has enough fat on it to keep me going until…. who am I kidding?
No one is coming. No one cares.
I gave up on the rescue just a few days later. I’ve lost count how long it’s been now. I feel like I’m in a dream where no time exists. I just sit here waiting. They’ll find me eventually, I prey it’s quick. I thought about suicide, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe it’s a perverse need to be torn apart instead. I’ve not been a saint during my life; suicide would be too easy.
***
It’s night. I hear their snide shuffling. Usually one will growl and scratch about in the dirt and move on, but tonight is different. I can’t tell how many of them there are.
They’re on the roof. I can hear their claws scraping through the thin felt.
It won’t be long now.
Posted by ColinFBarnes- Posted in My Fiction
Feb, 15, 2012
34 Comments.
34 Responses so far.
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Colin F. Barnes is a quill-wielder of vibrant, edgy fiction, mixing sci-fi, horror and thrillers.
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Another one of my nightmares: knowing beasts are waiting to feed on me, just not knowing when it’ll happen…nice work, bud:)
Thanks, m’dear, I’m starting to gauge quite a few of your fears these days, I wonder how many are left?
“…to fix something until it was broken” That is just a genius line.
I enjoyed this.
Thanks for reading, Tony (and the kind words), appreciate it
Leaves me wanting more! What are these creatures and will he find any chance of survival? I love that he sits with tape over his eyes. Very intriguing!
Thanks for stopping by, Pam — as for the rest, i’ll leave that up to your imagination
I’ve never thought of a shed the way you describe it. I do believe my view has changed now.
And such a chilling story! Might say sad as well. Thank you for this horror flash
Hi Cindy,
I’m glad to have given you a new outlook on the humble shed. Thanks for reading and commenting, much appreciated
Really good.
I love the mix of the everyday with the horrific. You don’t often find sheds and gaffer tape in the same company as suicide and being “torn apart”.
The subtle reference to “her body” was nice, too.
But, as was mentioned above, the “…fix something until it was broken.” line is fantastic.
Nice work, Mr Barnes!
Excellent short Colin. A man’s shed had been his traditional refuge and place of solitude for many generations, so is a logical place for someone to hide with the body of someone they’ve just killed now they’re paranoia his taken them completely. Loved the psychological angle (at least, that’s how I read it).
I went to a wedding recently where you had to leave advice for a newly married couple in the guest-book. On one page a man had written:
“Buy a shed”
Just below his wife had written:
“Never go in the shed”
Good story Colin.
Great, just when I’ve started to go into the shed and not freak when the door swings closed. I’ll send my husband in next time.
Really enjoyed the mood you created with this, Colin.
Hey Colin, great shorty. Very chilling. Now the squirrel living in my roof is really going to freak me out at night.
Dark, haunting and with a wonderful touch of paranoia. All tied up with a trail of blood and entrails. Well done Colin.
Really enjoyed that. Very creepy vibe to the whole thing.
Very nicely done piece, I like how it started somewhere and ended in a place I didn’t expect. I had 2 issues with it though. First, the use of the word “shed” – you used that word 6 times in the first 2 paragraphs, 5 of those were in the 2nd paragraph alone. It was just overkill.
Second issue is the talk of gaffer tape on his eyes when not much earlier he said he snuffed out a light because he didn’t want to see any more. The way you word the part about the tape doesn’t sound like he had just put it on, it sounds like he’s sitting there with tape he already had on…but then why make such a note about turning out the light so he can’t see the body? That contradiction just took away from the punch that the body comment had.
Other than those 2 things though, good story and very nicely twisted!
thanks to everyone for commenting, it’s much appreciated
@Natalie — very good points, and I agree with regards the gaffer tape bit, I didn’t get the timing of that right.
I like the build of tension, and there are some nice phrases in there, but for me the over-riding fear factor is wondering just what the hell these things are.
Thanks, Steve. As it happens, I may well do a follow up to this…
my, my you wield your words well my friend. a skilled word smith indeed
Yo, Bear, thanks, mate. Very kind of you. Thanks for stopping by
When will I learn to stop reading your flash stories before bed? (And yes, it is only 10am).
Muahhahaha, that is all.
Thanks for reading Krista!
Wow, very eerie and disturbing…love it! Your description is so vivid –I could hear, smell and feel what your narrator did. Well done!
Danke, Ang. Always appreciate you dropping by.
Very disturbing in a good way. I enjoyed the story. The visuals dark and creepy and they reached out and pulled us into this story. It’s well done. I think you created a chilling piece here that will be remembered long after reading it. Nice work!
Hi, Pat, thanks for the kind words.
Wow – either those creatures are horrendous or he is barking mad to sit in his own urine with his eyes taped shut – either way – great buildup – loved it.
Possibly a bit of both
Thanks for reading!
I live in the country and almost every house has a shed like that, luckily no one is out to eat us, yet! haha!
Creepy little piece, thanks for sharing!
It’s just a matter of time….
Hi Colin, just to inform you that on my blog I translated in italian an interview you released some time ago.
We wait for your books to be translated for italian readers!
Ciao, Serena — thanks for the translating. I hope to have all my stories available to everyone
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