Genre: Suspense or Thriller, Action: Boarding a Ship, Word: Something

Place: Disqualified for submitting past deadline

Title: One Beep, Dead

“Have something illegal? Dispose immediately before boarding USS Meridian.”

The artificial voice was calm, motherly. A distraction. Mei tapped the seeds she had sewn into her jacket-liner seam, eyeing the contraband scanners along the gangway. One beep, good. Two beeps, dead. 

The man ahead turned. A tiny kitten blinked from his chest pocket.  

Two beeps. Dead. 

A woman gasped as his body buckled. She bit into her knuckles, stepping over his lifeless form. A muted mew. Next.

One beep. Good. 

Mei stepped forward, heart thrumming in her ears, blood metallic on her tongue. 

One beep. Good. 

Her vision tunneled. 

Black. 

MY NOTES: Terrible things are more my speed. That said, creating suspense in 100 words is incredibly challenging. I was proud of this one. The judges felt it was too vague at the end (did she die or not?) and that leaving it so vague was an unnecessary challenge to the reader.

Tangent: I fell into a rabbit hole of Horror writing this spring and it was incredible. Have you read Strange Pictures? I started there, by accident. Then found Strange Houses. Then Strange Buildings. Currently reading Butter. My content consumption is leading to warped dreams, but they’re cool, I think, but probably because I worked in retail as a kid and it takes a lot to shock me at this point.