Friday 1 May 2009

GRUB UP - by Lily Childs


Lily's back...!

GRUB UP

Vanessa was skeletal. I could barely get any meat off her bones so I just gnawed away at the stringy flesh. I sighed. I’d starve at this rate.

I sat back and surveyed the remains of my late cousin. Apparently she didn’t know I have certain tastes. And that I’ve been particularly hungry lately.

I was still ravenous, but I knew it was risky to go out hunting because I get careless going in for the kill. Yet thoughts of feeding made saliva drip in my mouth, washing my gums, plumping my tongue.

I hesitated. No. I couldn’t do it; it was too dangerous. I’d have to go without. Dejected I slumped down onto the threadbare sofa, then jumped as the phone rang. Snatching it off its cradle I answered.

‘Who is it?’

‘Is she there?’

‘What?’ I didn’t recognise the voice.

‘It’s Ben, Vanessa’s boyfriend. I’m outside your building. Is she there?’ My heart smiled and I spoke to the pining lover.

‘Yes Ben. She’s here. She’s sitting in the corner. Come on up – we’ll wait for you.’

I replaced the receiver and lingered by the window, watching. The juices were already stirring in my belly.

BIO:
Lily Childs is a budding writer in the mystery and chiller genre, and is thrilled to have her first short stories published on Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers.
After a seven-year spell in France, Lily now lives on the Sussex Coast with her artist husband and beautiful 5-year old daughter.

6 comments:

  1. This one's whet my appetite for more.
    Loved it, Lily.

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  2. Considering your choice of image, Col, how did you know the narrator was female? (Though she was.)

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  3. Not obvious. Must've read between the lines...

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  4. Yeah, well you're right. I never did like 'Vanessa'...

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  5. I must have read between the lines as well, or the image influenced me in a subliminal way. But, must say, there's something even more terrifying when the narrator is a woman. Must be that preying mantis or black widow thing going on in the psyche.

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