Writing Prompt

“Mind your step. Welcome to Hollister Memorial Museum. Welcome to mind your step.”

Shuffling their feet, the bus load of fourth graders waited on the grand staircase. Ms. Welch ushered a pair of slap-fighting brothers into the museum’s front entrance. Django scouted for an escape.

Each student’s ID bracelet was scanned by a museum guide with a bright smile and exhausted eyes. Django scanned his...

The device looks ominous sitting in the dark corner. I could smell the rotting wood and grease on the gears. This device is going to be used to torture me to pull a confession from me. My crime is questioning the church and their teachings to the children of our village.

The device consisted of a table made of wood. There are worn ropes that run from two sets of pullies, one at the head and one ...

His eyes were filled with panic and shame as he quickly got off our bed. His ‘friend’ was scrambling to find her clothes while wrapping my blanket around her to cover herself. He brushed off my suspicions many times, telling me I was paranoid because his love for her was like that of a brother. It would offend him when I accused him, and he always had many excuses and explanations. I saw a hint of...

My guilt,

Cos ya know

That’s how I am built,

And it shall glow.

My jealousy,

Cos I know,

I could never see,

It was all a show.

My loyal heart,

Because it is,

The right part,

So you can always be his.

My caring soul,

Why,

Because us was always the goal,

Cry.

…

🖤...

Love - the oldest type of torture.

It started in the Garden of Eden,

It dwelled within our history

feeding on our human nature.

Love - it breaks, it hurts, it smashes

Heart and soul, body and mind

Until you’re nothing but piles

of blood stained wings.

Love - how I survived this torture?

Or am I still alive in spite of all?

I always ask how can it be that people

Don’t sense the rottenness ins...

The rack

No slack

Get back

On track

Torture device

Not nice

Kill mice

Men twice

No confession

Learned lesson

Tell less then

Lies to win them...

He never thought that getting a ring stuck on his finger long ago would suddenly become such lifesaving information, but it had now.

It was by lucky chance that he had managed to get his other hand free, and with it he properly scavenged for somehing to get him out of this mess. A wire eventually wandered into his rug burnt hand, twitching with pain as he eyed the other, the hand still caught in t...

Creak-Creee-Creak

Rusted iron gears grinded roughly against each other, working against the pull of my arm. My weary limbs began to give out as they were stretched to their limit. My eyelids struggled to stay open as it became harder and harder to keep consciousness. When I finally resigned myself to my fate, I heard a light clinking sound coming from where my hands were pinned above me. In a last...

Chrysanthemum, oh lovely Chrysanthemum had been broken down, whittled down to nothing. Streaks of clean skin were only left by tears and she tried once more to wriggle out of the strappado to no avail. The rope was too tight and the dislocation of her now weak arms didn’t help. She gave up and hung her head in defeat and shame. She wasn’t supposed to end up here. Talking back to a husband should n...

He puts a towel over my head. It’s dry and coarse. It smells, but I can’t pinpoint what it smells like…and maybe that’s for the best.

I can’t see him, but Glasses starts screaming at me. I can feel his spittle across my neck. It’s warm in the cold, and in a strange way welcome.

Someone wheels me toward the faucet. My first guess is Glasses, but the arms are wheeling me from the left. Glasses i...