Unholy Trinity: Polar Vortex by Scarlet Berry
Bumper Cars
Another polar vortex had descended into the country. Rita didn’t want to leave the house, but a quick trip to the market was necessary.
She was doing well until she approached a truck that was stopped at an intersection. Rita pumped her brakes, but the car had hit an icy spot and the tires didn’t have any traction. Her car slid, but stopped inches behind the truck.
As she thanked her lucky stars, Rita glanced at her side view mirror. She started screaming with fright. A semi truck behind her had hit the icy patch and was careening toward her.
All Cracked Up
“It’s so cold! I’m freezing!” grumbled Emma to her friend Paula as they walked across the snowy campus.
“It’s the polar vortex,” replied Paula from behind a scarf that hid most of her face. “You should have bundled up.”
“Yes, but then I would have deprived the world of my beauty.” joked Emma.
“Ha! Aaaugh!” Paula suddenly found that her feet were above her as she landed on her back. Emma laughed hard while she helped Paula up. “Ow! I cracked the corner of my mouth!”
She stopped when she saw Paula’s horrified eyes. “Emma, your whole face is cracked!”
Wishful Thinking
It was the third day of the polar vortex. Melanie buttoned her coat and wished that she was back in Florida.
“I’m going to check the mailbox, Mum,” she called as she walked out the door.
I’ve sacrificed eight years of my life caring for that old woman and she still hasn’t died. Maybe I should park her in a snowbank and let the cold finish her off.
Melanie slipped on the icy steps, fell and broke both of her wrists. Unable to get up, she yelled for help.
Melanie’s mother didn’t hear her. She had died in her chair.
Scarlet Berry
Scarlet Berry is a Yooper. She’s been married forty years to the same man and they raised four children together. She is a mystery wrapped up in a conundrum, and loves to laugh; both evilly and happily.
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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.