Unholy Trinity: 3 Drabbles by Diane Arrelle
Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.
A Much-Needed Companion
Alicia walked into the dying forest following the bleat of the fawn. She knew it was starving. Everything was starving,
And dying of thirst. With Earth heating up, clean water became impossible to find. Alicia still had a couple of gallons hidden away. She knew it was futility, but the drive to survive was overpowering.
Alicia found the baby deer and carried it home. She soothed it, kissing its sleek fur. It was a much-needed companion for the end of the world.
And if it didn’t end quickly enough… well, then, she’d cook it and survive a few more days.
Watching The Rain Fall
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few days,” Roger reassured her.
Sherry smiled and watched her husband drive away. She stayed at the farm and took care of the crops and animals.
The rain came and the river overflowed its banks. Roger called and said he was on his way home.
The rain continued and the water covered the roads. Roger called and said he had a boat and was almost there.
The flood drowned the animals, and Sherry was forced up to the roof in time to see Roger’s body floating by as the water continued to rise.
Too Little Too Much
Alex and Alexi sat in the never-ending heat watching their vegetable garden wilt. “How many bottles of drinking water are left?” Alex asked.
“Five.” Alexi answered. “If we drink a mouthful a day we may be able to keep the food growing another two weeks.”
Then like a miracle the rain came. Dirty gray sheets of water falling day after day.
The garden drowned and they heard the crack of the dam bursting a few miles away.
Alex and Alexi sat, greedily gulping the last bottles of clean liquid and waited for the wall of water to sweep them away.
Diane Arrelle
Diane Arrelle, the pen name of South Jersey writer Dina Leacock, has sold more than 350 short stories and has three published books including Just A Drop In The Cup, a collection of short-short stories and her collection of horror stories, Seasons On The Dark Side. Retired from being director of a municipal senior citizen center, she is now co-owner of a small publishing company, Jersey Pines Ink LLC. She resides with her sane husband and her insane cat on the edge of the New Jersey Pine Barrens (home of the Jersey Devil).of a small publishing company, Jersey Pines Ink LLC and resides with her sane husband and her insane cat on the edge of the Southern New Jersey Pine Barrens (home of the Jersey Devil).
www.arrellewrites.com FaceBook: Diane Arrelle www.jerseypinesink.com
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Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the folk horror novels, The Five Turns of the Wheel, Reborn, and The Woodcutter, and the post-apocalyptic/horror/sci-fi The Barricade, and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her dark poetry has been published in her collections Lilith Rising (co-authored with Shane Douglas Keene), Foundlings (co-authored with Cindy O’Quinn) and Metallurgy, as well as the HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes VI, VII, VIII, and IX and Black Spot Books Under Her Skin. She can be found supporting indie authors at HorrorTree.com via the weekly Indie Bookshelf Releases. She can be found at https://stephanieellis.org and on Blue Sky as stephellis.bsky.social.
Rad!