‘I crave the darkness to appreciate the light’, Sheila ran the razor gently across her skin. The scars would remind her of the nights when her father couldn’t let her sleep, a badge of honor for the darkness he had dragged her through.
A persistent fly bounced against the grimy window of her room, a drumbeat waking her to action.
Her eyes, shadowed with the nights and kohl, read the story of her past once more, but she would leave for light and he would stay. Give it a day or two and the room would be filled with blow-flies.
This image is one that works so well for me as a metaphor, actually I used a very similar one when I wrote my poetic manifesto. The first line is actually inspired from my own poem.
Friday Fictioneers is a creative group of writers that write 100 words to the same picture every week, under the supervision of the gifted Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.
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July 8, 2015
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Oh wow, that was haunting.
Harrowing, Björn – a great write
Sometimes, that going into an even deeper darkness is the only way to see the light. This makes me think of Van Helsing in Dracula saying, that sometimes, we must go through the bitter waters to get to the sweet. Excellent write – so much in 100 words.
This is chilling, Bjorn!
Touching..
Great job, gave me shivers!
I like descriptions of dark, grimy, slimy scenes. So I liked this. I almost went in a similar direction, but I didn’t 🙂
Dark stuff and very effective.
Creepy, that was. Gave me the chills! Fictioneers seems to inspire the darkness in you, Bjorn 🙂
Leo @ I Rhyme Without Reason
Wow…. creepily good!
This powerful narrative leaves the reader wanting more of the story to unfold.
Wowzers. A lot said here. The present, bookmarked between past and future. Nicely done.
Oh my…that was painful.
Beautifully written but painfully read.
Chilling, dark, so very, very sad.
Sad end. Hope no one has to go through this.
You have done justice to the grim situation that’s a sad reality for many…
You’re in excellent form right now Bjorn.
Dear Björn,
This is hauntingly visual and disturbingly lovely. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dark and powerful, Bjorn.
Great writing.
So dark, so good 🙂
Oh my, Bjorn, you’ve not pulled any punches here. Powerful stuff!
Very dark and very well written. Nice job!
GOOSEPIMLES! Love it!
This is excellent. This does not look away, you know?
What an austere world in which we live… you captured one person’s life tragically, yet poignantly exquisite. Well done!
Great as usual. 🙂
A sad ending to a dark life, though i wish she’d killed him instead.
Cutting is rough business. I have worked with kids that cut. The pain is their release of the feelings pent up inside – that they dont know how to release. Mix in parental abuse – its messy business man. I don’t know if they crave the darkness, especially if that is when the abuse happens.
oh dang it – i too wish she would’ve killed him instead
I think there’s a possibility for that. Both ends are possible.
A dark story, but well told!
The first line is the killer (no pun intended). The rest is poetic justice!
Wow, harrowing–yes. Well done, indeed.
So sad…I keep hearing of more and more girls cutting themselves to just feel… this just breaks my heart.
This is spectacular. Loved this “A persistent fly bounced against the grimy window of her room, a drumbeat waking her to action.” – creepy, dirty feeling to the whole piece.
Great stuff.
So sad.
Rosey Pinkerton’s blog
Sad and haunting
Dark and light (that she is determined to go towards light) at the same time.
“Her eyes, shadowed with the nights..” is a beautiful metaphorical image. Loved it.
A terrifying, haunting story, Björn! A tragic tale with a victim and a survivor.
Wait — I thought she was going to kill him. Now, re-reading it, I realized she was going to do herself in. Am I wrong?
Either way, it’s too terrible a tragedy, because, if she lives, she will be haunted, and if she dies, it’ll be just awful, for she won’t have a chance at happiness.
Indeed, both ends are possible..
I think she killed him. The scars were to remind her, which makes me think she is moving on, into the light of a new life, while he stays behind in the dark of death. I certainly hope so, anyway!
oh my, so powerful.
Powerful and somewhat in the same vein as Elmowrites this week. Interesting where the prompt takes people.
What a horrific image of the room filled with blow-flies! I’m sure he deserves it. How clever you used a line from your poem for your story. Excellent as always, Bjorn. P.S. Sorry, I couldn’t comment earlier. 🙂
This gives me goosebumps. It’s horribly beautiful, the way you wrote it. I, too, read that she killed him and now can move on (wherever to).
This is such a dark and powerful piece of writing. Very well done.
The pain, the buzzing of flies, the sordidness of her life – wonderfully depicted. Powerful writing.
That last, poetic line really packs a wallop.
You created a great visual picture Bjorn and it wasn’t a pretty one. I loved the first line, “shadowed with the nights and kohl, and the room soon to be filled with blow-flies were particulary evocative. Great piece.
That was very good. I especially liked the drumbeat of the fly on the window. 🙂
dark and grim, but keeps happening
Very dark piece, Bjorn. I would hate to be the first person to enter that room in future. Good description and well done. — Suzanne
Very sad story. As an abuse survivor, suicide always remains an option until therapy is completed. Good job depicting the scene. 🙂
Björn, it took me two readings to let it sink in. Quite chilling!