Story submitted to NYC Midnight Microfiction Contest 2020
Theme: Thriller
Action: Walking upstairs
Word: Promise
Twelve steps and a constricted corridor separated me from Beth. The sixth stair moaned underneath my weight protesting my presence. My heart thrashed inside my body growing weary of who or what I would find at the top. A promise made long ago – carved from insult and duplicity.
The outline of a woman lying motionless in bed situated before me. “I will never forgive you,” spoke the ghastly voice – a voice that had haunted me for the past twenty-six years. And then she was gone. Even in death – she found a way to triumph.