[pirate witch]: 524.Contest Entries.five words 5

The wind smelled of decay and filth. As a breeze passed by the cat’s whiskers, it stirred them, sending a shiver down his spine and down to the tip of his tail. Behind that door, where the cat’s master once was, lay a corpse that had put up one hell of a fight one hour before this instant, trying to keep himself alive. A seagull, who lived his life among refuge, changed course mid-flight to get away from what smelled like death himself. A lost street urchin stumbled by on crutches, begging for “coins for the cripple,” and when he saw the blood that trickled out from under the badly hinged door his legs were suddenly cured for the moment as he raced away. There was no one to see that he had two perfectly good legs. With the light of day came the constable, who’s shiny black boots kicked the cat away from the door. Inside was a sight that made even this veteran of gruesome sights shrink away from the darkness.


This won third place in the July Five Words contest.