[The Flayed One]

I've been around for close to two months now, and become comfortable with the crowd, so I'll post one of my horror shorts here.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated. My goal is to turn this into a horror short, but for now it's not in script form.

I LOVE YOU

Red as the rose that slouched in the vase on her dresser was Anna’s face. She cried every time a flower she received wilted away. What used to be a crisp majestic spectacle in that old crimson vase was now nothing more than a browning eyesore. That was what upset her so. If in death it could have kept its ripe red hue, she could have cared less if it died forever. But brown was ugly. This would not do. She would have to mail herself another.

She looked at the mirror attached to her armoire. A bounty of tender worded cards, adorned by hearts, completely concealed its reflective surface. Valentines, wedding cards, or just simple every day sentimental jargon, they were all there. And they all conveyed one simple message: I Love You. “I love you, too.” She whispered back at them, with a pleasant little grin and a wrinkle of her nose. Then she sat down to brush her beautiful long red hair. As each stroke of the brush passed, she sat and smiled blankly at the cards. “You’re so beautiful,” she said to herself. “It’s a shame I can’t look at you more often. But you-know-who gets so jealous.”

When she was done, she dressed, (in colors one would think that one could guess) and put on her shoes. Then she sat in her chair and looked at her clock. 11:27. This was the hardest part, the waiting. She sat there and rocked back and forth, knowing that she would have to go outside soon. She hated outside. It was so ugly, not at all like her beautiful red bedroom. Oranges, purples and blues. She cringed at the thought of it all. How could people be so fond of such horrid colors? She couldn’t bear to guess.

This was not like when she had to go to that place that she dreaded. No, today was Tuesday. She would not have to stay out for hours at the bakery, feeding ugly people their ugly pastries. She wanted to stay away from there forever, but she had to have money. How else could she afford such pretty roses?

12:30 drew nigh as slow as it could, but finally it came. Anna ran to her front door and bound out to her mailbox. There was nothing inside. She peered down the walkway, only to discover, to her dismay, that the man who wore that awful blue suit was still two apartments away. She stared crossly, not averting her gaze until he approached. The mailman saw her and smiled through his thick black goatee, reaching some envelopes towards her. “Here’s your mail, Ms…..” he started, but Anna hastily ripped the bundle from his hand. “You’re late,” she hissed, and rushed back into her apartment.

Anna sat down with her mail and rustled through the envelopes. White envelope. Trash. Manila envelope. Trash. White, white……baby blue. All trash. Then she finally came to the one she was looking for; a lovely red envelope, sealed with a heart sticker and no return address. She carefully opened it, so as not to break the red foil heart, and removed the card from inside. On the front was a picture of a red teddy bear with its arms outstretched, as if to give someone a big paper card embrace. On the inside was the printed phrase “I luv you bear-y much!” Neatly scrawled below in red ink were the words “I Love You.” “I love you, too,” she whispered back. Then she took a pen and carefully inked the days date in the upper left corner. She browsed the selection of cards on the armoire mirror until she came to the one with the oldest date. She reached up and grabbed it, and carefully averted her gaze. Quickly, she made the exchange. With a sigh of relief, she browsed at the card she had removed. It had a picture of a couple holding hands on a beach, with the words “Dearest Love” scribed on the cover. She smiled, then opened her dresser drawer and gingerly placed it in good company.

……………….

“Anna, what the hell are you doing?” Mr. DeLowder barked at her. Anna jerked with a start. She looked at him with a blank stare, and then looked back down at the beautiful cake she had just made. Her days away from this ugly world seemed so short, and now she was once again out from her hideaway, her perfect apartment with her beautiful red velvet comforter on her bed. “Damn it, Anna, that customer will be here to pick up his Tiramisu any minute! Where the hell is it?” Anna looked sadly down at the red velvet cake she was holding. She couldn’t even remember starting to make it….. “Anna…..this is the second time it two months that you’ve completely screwed up an order for a customer. I’m going to have to suspend you for a week without pay.” Anna didn’t even look at her boss. She just stared sadly at the cake she held, thinking what a shame it was that there was no one to buy it. “Anna……just put it down and go home. I’ll cover the shift until I can get one of the other girls here to finish it.”
“I’m OK, Mr. Delowder…..um, can I still have my tips for the day?”
Mr. Delowder grimaced. “No. I’m keeping your tips to pay for this cake you baked that I won’t be able to sell.” Anna looked horrified. “But…..I need to buy flowers and a card…….”
“Sorry, Anna. Maybe this will help you learn your lesson.”
“But…..Mr. Delowder……please……I have to buy a card……at least let me have two dollars……..”
“No, Anna. Go home.” Anna started to well up with tears. “Please…..PLEASE, MR. DeLOWDER. I just……need to buy a card.” As she started towards him, she slipped slightly, sending the red velvet cake smashing to the floor. Anna collapsed on the ground next to the fallen pastry in a sobbing heap. What had she done? She had destroyed something so wonderful! Somewhere in the background, Mr. DeLowder was cursing, but Anna could not hear. All she could do was run her hands miserably through the remnants of the dessert and weep.

The small grocer on the way home was Anna’s favorite place. The clerk was a plump Russian lady who knew Anna by name. Or by the name they had silently agreed she would be known to the clerk by. “Hello, Lady Scarlet” the clerk said as she walked in the door every day. Today was no different. “Hello,” Anna usually chimed in a friendly tone. Although the clerks name was on display just above her left breast for everyone who cared to see, Anna had never noticed it. Today was different for the clerk, though. Anna slunk by her without a word to the greeting card section. “You do not seem so happy today, Lady.” The clerk said as she moved towards Anna. Anna did not look at her. She stood in front of the cards, staring longingly. She ran her hand across the front of the one she had picked out for the day. It had a smiling cherub on the front, but other than that was plain. No words were on the inside, but the card was a brilliant deep red through and through. “That’s a nice card, Lady. Are you going to send it to your friend?”
Anna did not look away from the card as she spoke. “I…..have no money today.” A bald man entered the store and approached the counter. When the fat clerk did not approach, he glared at her, annoyed. If she noticed, she did not respond. “Awww, little Scarlet. You buy so many cards; do you think your friend will miss it for just one day?” Anna still stared long at the card, then finally looked up. “I….I need to send a card today.”
“Woman, I need a pack of smokes,” the old man at the counter spouted rudely. “Be patient, you mean old thing. Can’t you see I am helping the girl? You can wait to kill yourself for a few minutes.” The old man snorted and crossed his arms. “Scarlet, I cannot give you the card, but you can have one of the pretty roses that you always buy. From me to you.” The clerk presented a flower for Anna’s inspection. Anna took it from her pudgy hand, and managed a weak thank you. Then she went back to staring at card which she could not send that day.

……………….


When she arrived home, she put the rose in her red vase, and stared at it. “It is a pretty rose,” she sighed. Then she sat in her chair at the card covered mirror and stared blankly until she was too tired to hold her eyes open. “Such a pretty rose……” she mumbled as she slipped into a crimson colored dreamland.

Anna awoke in her chair the next morning. The first thing she saw was her beautiful flower…..it had already started to wilt. A glance at the clock revealed that it was 12:44. Not that it mattered. There was no card coming today. She stared at the dying rose. Anna swore that she could see its pretty color receding into a horrid brown before her eyes. Then a lone petal fell off and slowly drifted down to the dresser top. Anna put her head down on the desk and cried. “I…..just wanted a lovely card,” she sobbed. And as she sat there, face down with only her own arms to cry on, she heard a small thump by her head. Slowly, she looked up. As her vision, blurred with tears, cleared itself, she realized that the card, dated the oldest, had fallen to the armoire top. And in its place was a bloodshot eye staring back at her.

Anna fell off her chair with a muffled scream. “Stay away……..” she gasped as she awkwardly crawled away from the dresser. What was she to do? No card would come for days. “I….just…..needed…..a card…..”
Anna scurried to the trash can. As she looked inside, she scowled at all of the ugly refuse the mailman had given her over the week. But she had no choice. She picked up a powder blue envelope in her shaking hand. Averting her eyes, she made her way back to the mirror. Then, gathering up her courage, she looked. There was the eye, staring back at her hatefully. “Please……don’t……” she sobbed, and held the envelope over the open space. She continued to do so the entire night.

……………….