Unholy Trinity: Carnivore by Justin Boote
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.
Carnivore
1.
Farmer Watson opened the door to the cowshed and stepped in. The cows shuffled in anticipation of exercise and food. He slapped one on the back to get it to move, but instead it resisted.
“Go on, go!”
Instead, they surrounded him.
Something pushed him to the ground. He grunted, nervous.
“Hell you doing?”
Then, something tugged at his earlobe. He screamed. A cow stood on his chest, bit his nose. Others tore at his arms, legs, his face.
They only stopped when all that remained was tough bone or muscle tissue. And that was happily devoured by the rodents.
2.
Paul loved the countryside, watching the wildlife. He could relax, not worry about being bullied or taunted for being fat.
A squirrel ran past him, then stopped, staring into Paul’s eyes. He grinned.
Another appeared, then another until he was surrounded by almost a dozen.
One bit his ankle. Another ran up his leg, nipped his throat.
They charged.
He fell and was smothered by ferocious animals. They scrambled over him biting, chewing, tearing. His screams only stopped when one forced its way into his mouth, scurrying down his throat until he choked him to death. They ate him whole.
3.
Keith dumped the body in the river and sighed. Another one to add to the collection and the local wildlife would do the hard work for him, stripping the remains of flesh and any evidence.
He smiled. A squirrel scurried to the water’s edge and began to drink. He was doing the countryside a favour, adding protein to their water supply. Maybe they’d get a taste for it.
He turned and was startled to see a cow standing over him. It had a red smear across its face. It stepped closer and nudged him. Keith’s last thought was of taste.
Justin Boote
Justin Boote is an Englishman living in Barcelona for over twenty years working as a waiter in a busy, centrical restaurant. He has been writing short horror stories for four years and in this time, has published around thirty short stories in diverse magazines and anthologies. He has also co-edited and published an anthology with a group of writer friends called A Discovery of Writers, now available on Amazon.
His short novella, Badass, published by Terror Tract, is also available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback
He can be found at Facebook under his own name or at his Amazon Author Page.
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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.