The Price of Youth – A 100-word story

The Price of Youth
by K.Z. Morano

I was a rotting fruit… fattening flies… waiting to be harvested by death.

I stared at the mirror as the maggots of old age consumed me. Skin, sinew, skeleton, soul…

Then the peddler came, with his potion and persuasive tongue.

It seemed like a fair price at the time.

After all, what need have I for toes…

Or posterior teeth…

Or ovaries…

They’re easily concealed.

Three wealthy husbands later, he returned.

“Fear not, Madame,” he chitchatted as he severed my leg. “Long skirts are fashionable these days.”

I opened my mouth to scream… and silence exploded within the tongueless cavity.

boo! happy almost Halloween, everyone! xox 😉

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Words and Whispers

PHOTO PROMPT -Copyright – Jan Wayne Fields

He rarely left that desk.

For years, he ensorcelled the public with haunting stories spawned from his imagination yet refused to bask in the brilliance of his fame.

Some dismissed it as cheap tactic, speculating that there was no single mysterious author but a group of ghost writers.

Fans camped outside his fortress. The media met only with agents of glib tongues and swollen pockets.

They said he answered to disembodied whispers.

His last words were jumbled letters carved into the ancient desk, engraved into emaciated flesh…

Indecipherable, except for the words: “Free us” penned shakily in sick, diluted blood.

Turn Around

Copyright-John Nixon

Every day, the sky is a cauldron churning with hell’s wrath.

Every night, the stars watch my back like a constellation of vengeful eyes.

A voice hisses through the trees. “Turn around.”

I don’t.

The ligneous limbs reach for me.

“Turn around.” The voice mimics my wife’s.

I gaze ahead, not knowing who or what’s behind me…

“Turn around, daddy.”

I stop.

I’ve forgotten what she looked like… why we were so ashamed of her… why we felt the need to bury her ugliness in these woods.

I’ve been walking for a long time.

Maybe it’s time to turn around…

Thank you Amy!

The lovely Amy Reese was among the first people who volunteered to join my blog blast. A few hours ago, she posted about the cover reveal of my upcoming book, “100 Nightmares”. Thank you Amy!

Read the post here

Like me, Amy participates regularly in Friday Fictioneers.
If I were to describe her writing style in one word, I’d call it Inspired.
Sometimes her words make you laugh… Sometimes they warm your heart… And sometimes they chill you to the very soul.

She also blogs about anything that strikes her as significant for the day– life’s pleasant surprises and mini mishaps.

More than that, she’s a beautiful mom who inspired and encouraged her son to write fiction. He has his own fantasy and sci-fi blog! And you can tell where his talent and love for creative writing came from. The world needs more moms like Amy.

Do visit her at http://amyreesewrites.com/ and marvel at her fun, quirky and sometimes scary imaginings.

100 NIGHTMARES – COVER REVEAL!

COMING THIS APRIL! – official release date TBA

100 NIGHTMARES by K.Z. Morano is a collection of horror stories written in exactly 100 words and accompanied by a few illustrations.

It takes a brief encounter with death to cause enduring nightmares.
A single well-placed blow could maim you for life…
One well-placed word could haunt you forever.

Micro-fiction is a blade—sharp, swift…
Sometimes it goes for the jugular, killing you in seconds.
Its silver tongue touches your throat and warm blood hisses before you can scream.

Sometimes, the knife makes micro-cuts in the sensitive sheath of your sanity, creating wounds that will fester throughout eternity.

Take my 100 words daily like a slow-acting poison or read them all and die of overdose.
Your call.
It’s your suicide after all.

I’m really excited to have my own story collection! I started writing fiction in this blog and it’s because of your support and encouragement that I’ve found my passion.
I’d like to thank the awesome people who volunteered to join my Blog Blast. Some are blog friends whose sites I haven’t visited for like ages so I’m really touched and I’m super grateful to have you guys. Thank you. The blog blasts will officially begin next week! It’s never too late to join 🙂 and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page for 100 Nightmares – https://www.facebook.com/100Nightmares

xo K.Z.

The kick ass cover was done by the brilliant Dan Verkys – http://www.gardenofbadthings.com/
The model in the photo is Silvia Alessandrini

Spring Finally Came

Thank you so much to everyone who liked my FB page for 100 Nightmares
Now I need to ask you guys for a favor.
I’d like to run a Blog Blast for the cover reveal of my new story collection.
Help me spread the disease word.
I’d give you my soul in exchange but it’s so filthy, you probably don’t want anything to do with it.
Please email me at crazyaboutmiumiu2@yahoo.com to let me know if you’re in.
I’ll send you a preview of the book cover and the description.
Thanks so much in advance for your support 🙂 -K.Z.

copyright – Adam Ickes

Spring finally came…

I toiled in acres of buried bodies and the breeze babbled with our parents’ timorous voices.

Like everyone else, I murdered mine.

Mother’s eyes reflected the hunger that I felt…

So I shattered the mirror that was her face.

Her screams were like breaking glass– fragmented, crystalline.

The village was cursed with cold barrenness but because of our sacrifices, the earth became fertile once again.

It bore new a new kind of fruit.

The fleshy pink contours inside the crustaceous covering resembled our elders’ faces.

We ate… but the fruit left a bitter taste in our mouths…

Horror in a Hundred – The Collector

Hi everyone! Check out my latest 100 word story at Hellnotes 🙂

http://hellnotes.com/horror-in-a-hundred-the-collector-by-k-z-morano

Like or Share or Comment… If you’re a horror writer, send in a submission! 🙂 xo

Horror in a Hundred

Hey guys! 🙂 My third horror in a hundred story, “The Professor” is now posted @ Hellnotes. It’s not really scary but it kinda made me laugh when I wrote it, thinking about what goes on inside the mind of a psycho 🙂

Like or share or comment… thanks!

http://hellnotes.com/horror-in-a-hundred-the-professor-by-k-z-morano

PS. They’re ALWAYS looking for submissions. So if you have a horror story to share (100 words or less), you can submit it to their editor. 😉 xo

The Family Tree

copyright – Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

The Family Tree

The tree’s ancient limbs branch out like roads to several different worlds.

It is, in a way, a birthright… the way to the promised place.

“You found them yet?” I’d ask Mutt every day.

My brother would shake his head, gangrenous tongue hanging from his mangled jaw.

Then he’d crawl back up, trying a new route… disappearing within the tree’s barbaric upside-down beard.

“I found it.” Mutt’s perpetually decomposing head sprouts from the tangles. “Ma and Pa were there.”

My turn.

I grab the rope—same one that Ma, Pa and Mutt used– and slip my head into the noose.

HAVE A GREAT 2014 everyone 🙂 I’ve gotten so used to the holidays and I’m having a hard time letting go. lol 🙂

PPS. with the picture, i know how easy it is to mistake Mutt for a dog so i made a couple of edits since posting this story xo 🙂

Bitter Magic

Copyright – Adam Ickes

On his deathbed, father handed me his bow and arrow. “Go hunt yourself a wife.”

I shook my head.

He should’ve married a good village woman.

Instead, he pursued her.

A day after she gave birth to me, she stepped out of her shoes and ran into the forest.

Just like that.

Father said she belonged there, where she can be savage and free in all her hirsute and fiercely fanged glory.

I promised myself I’ll never be like him… ruined by his flirtations with other worlds.

I’ll never dream of magic, love… or she-bears that turn into bad mothers…