Haunted MTL Original – Hide and Seek – Chloe Ballew
“Hide and Seek” by Chloe Ballew
I stood on the edge, tremors racking my body. My best friend bet me he could beat me in a game of hide and seek and I had foolishly agreed. We stood together on the barrier of the midnight forest as the clock counted us down.
3… 2… 1…
We were off! Through the woods we went with only the stars to guide us on our midnight hunt. I ran at first, slowing my pace when there was a possibility of finding someone. Needing to be able to hear even the quietest of whisperers and faintests of whimpers, I kept light on my feet only moving when necessary.
Suddenly, a faint rustle came from the bushes to my right, the moonlight shone upon the greenery while my presence remained unannounced. Very quietly I crept through the brush trying to keep an upper hand. When I peeked over the bush a girl in her early twenties was laying, eyes closed in the mossy rocks. She was mumbling softly to herself.
Using my trusted pocket knife she was taken care of swiftly, blood staining my mask in the process. I kept her once sliver necklace to signify my first find of the night.
Through the forest my journey continued. By the end I had a silver necklace retrieved from my first mark, a pocket watch taken off an elderly man who was hiding near the creek, a small boot lifted from a young boy found up an oak tree, a crimson stained hair tie stolen from a ginger woman nestled under the roots of towering oak, and a rusty pocket knife pulled from the pockets of a man who attempted to fight back.
After the hour had run down I headed to our hidden rondevu spot near the creek and he had beat me there. Walking up to him I realized he was lost gazing into the dancing flames.
“What do you have,” he asked, not averting his gaze from the blazing fire.
“I got five of them, what about you,” I responded, holding up my dripping loot.
He turned around to face me with tears threatening to escape his deep blue eyes. In his hands he held two golden necklaces, a baby blue scarf, and a dirty doll, all of them as ruined as my finds.
“You lost,” I whispered to myself before pushing him into the fire he had been so fascinated with only moments before. As I stood watching the flames engulf him I found myself unencumbered. I had one and he had lost.
Chloe Ballew is an emerging author in the horror and thriller genres. She hopes to someday have her own anthology of short stories. When she isn’t writing she spends her time playing music, reading, and painting.
-Mountains-
A serene mountain landscape yawns; monumental evergreen trees fingering a brilliant azure sky stroked with wispy clouds. The air is crisper and fresher here, wafting its piney fragrance along the meandering deer path that bends and swerves down the gradual slope…
-Reset-
-City-
A bustling urban environment beckons, its diverse, brightly-clothed denizens laughing with one another, casually parting as you stroll through their midst. Sunlight dances through the crowd, reflecting off of towering buildings, cars, and bicycles. Sounds swell together as though breathing life into all interconnected within this rich tapestry of time and space. The street is a cacophony of alluring smells, and the savory scent of kosher all-beef hot dogs…
-Vegetarian-
Fragrant cumin zing of vegetable samosas…
-European-
Perfume of freshly baked baguettes embraces you in a warm hug as you sit at a small metal café table, savoring an espresso…
-Caffeine Free-
Lavender cremosa…
-Non-Carbonated-
Limonade…
-Reset-
-Beach-
The warm sand squishes between your bare toes as the soft ocean waves lap at your feet, beckoning you to wade further into the cool water…
-No Swimming-
The woven rope hammock stretched between two perfectly-spaced palm trees sways slowly as you lounge in its cradle, sipping a Mai Tai…
-Non-Alcoholic-
Iced lemonade in a highball glass through a red plastic straw…
-Eco-Conscientious-
Paper straw, the citrusy elixir providing respite from the steamy…
-Less Hot-
Warm breezy summer…
-Spring-
Spring air, children…
-Nature-
Birds…
-Silence-
You close your eyes, hammock gently rocking you to slumber.
We here at My Universe wish to thank you again for choosing our services. We know that there are many post-cataclysmic alternative realities available, and we appreciate your business. Please enjoy your respite from the societal collapse, and remember us next time you need to unwind.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website. And if you really feel like getting away and helping clean up the beach a bit, check out this relaxing video from Dylan Clark titled Seagrass. Or maybe that wasn’t so relaxing after all… 😉
Somehow I came across an older Midnight Panther comic book, Feudal Fantasy #2 from the late 1990s to be precise, and I thought I’d reappropriate it into a new story as a collage. Anyway, this is what evolved. Honestly there wasn’t a lot of content to work with, but that isn’t surprising seeing as how that wasn’t really the point of the original… And sorry, I saved the erotic bits for another project, though even that was pretty tame in this one – just a bunch of boobies.
Images: Black and white line drawings of wide-eyed anime women and men in various states of undress, looking cute, being coyly pensive, and hack ‘n slashing.
Text reads: I like… men who are dying. We ought to just kill everyone involved. The scent of blood!! I never see his face, he always wears a mask. What a waste of time. I don’t like this. The horny bastard. What a pig!! -Slash- Sounds like it could be fun.
Images: More black and white line drawings of wide-eyed anime women and men kissing and hack ‘n slashing.
Text reads: Mercenaries of glorious Edo, if you can make the flowers that bloom along the rivers during spring drop their petals, then do so. I’m the Ferryman of the River Styx. Whssh.
OK, OK – here are some boobies since you stuck with this so long. And here’s a link to some more of my comic book collages, in case you are interested.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
Black Friday.
You can’t beat the deals. So many of us. Waiting. Readying. Checking the time. Counting down the seconds. You better believe I earned my place at the start of the line. I’ve been camping out here since late Wednesday. Yeah, yeah, the holiday was yesterday. Whatever, I had my family’s full endorsement.
Because that new high-definition television beckons. The best in zoning out technology. All channel access. Cutting edge entertainment. Bleeding edge. That blade is sharp, baby. Like a razor.
But this kind of escapism is costly. A reality check says it’s not in my family’s budget. We don’t make that kind of money, and so here I am. Among all the others vying for the same prize.
Only one will get there first. Only one available. Must have TV. Must have T.V. Must. Have. T. V.
An employee approaches the door. Nobody noteworthy. A soon-to-be-casualty. No more. No less.
We rise and lurch into place. Ready…
On your mark.
Get set.
Go!
Original images generated with Nightcafe AI art generator.
And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website. Or if you just want more zombies, might I recommend either Elvis or the Fashionistas?
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