Blood Flower by Tim Eagle (Part 3)

Welcome to FREE FICTION FRIDAY!

I give you the very old, circa 2016, version of Blood Flower, a macabre tale that I rushed through back in my young impatient years. Please enjoy, and please don't be too harsh, it's fiction from my beginnings, while raising a family, working full time, and grinding daily...the genesis of an ambitious writer. If you want the properly formatted version of this in print and don't want to wait until Friday to continue reading for free, please buy a copy in print here: Blood, Dreams & Tears or purchase the eBook here: Blood, Dreams & Tears

A loud black bird screeched from a nearby old growth tree and startled Jake. He remembered hunting with his father and his father endlessly complaining that the black birds were warning deer and small game of their demise. Jake shivered at the haunting voice of his father. He shivered the resonating voice away and was taken to a small dark patch of woods, dimly lit by a flower.

In the dim overcast, swallowed by the overpowering shadows, was an illuminated yellow sunflower. The unmistaken beauty put Jake in a trance; he stumbled trying to gain his balance over fallen twigs and tree brush until he reached the wanton place of the early bloom. 

The flower’s petals weren’t like other sunflowers. At the tips of each petal was a bright crimson circle, like an artist had dripped red paint on them. Jake picked it, broke the stem off the bottom and put it in his jacket. A strong lavender perfume drifted over the compost scents left from winter and Jake was taken back by a princess dressed in black.

She was smooth-skinned and supple; her bosom large and her hourglass shape designed for eye candy, Jake got an erection. He ambled forward. The young widow, her face laced with a black veil, spotted him and stood up. A look of surprise and bewilderment, wild, like an animals, filled her eyes. Jake wanted nothing but to hear her voice. He imagined it sounded as sweet as an angel’s.

The woman trembled as Jake walked closer. Her trembling turned into convulsions and she fell to the ground, her body shook uncontrollably. Her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth and Jake acted. He sat her up, her bright green eyes rolled into the back of her head.  He propped her onto the headstone, her convulsions grew worse. Her condition was bizarre, something Jake had never seen. He turned her over the headstone and her body lay motionless and stiff under his own. Stressed and sweating he slid off and down to the ground for a rest. 

The princess breathed heavily, her breath raspy and wet.  Jake thought that she was going to convulse again and so he fled. More than a little socially awkward Jake feared that remaining here would only make things worse for him. He couldn’t believe that he saved her from her first bought of convulsions.

The trees, the tombstones and the dark shadows of an overcast sky blurred as he ran home. His lungs burned, his eyes were weary and heavy, and he fell into his soft bed, instantly trying to purge the day. He hoped he did the right thing. A pounding on his door jolted him from sleep and he was arrested and charged with rape, a crime punishable by death.

Thanks for reading! Sign up for my monthly newsletter and/or buy me a coffee, (click the coffee mug on the top) and help support all these goodies I give away! Stay tuned for Thankful it's Monday (TIM) Updates, RV There Yet Tuesday, WOW Wednesday Movie Pick, Thirsty Thursday Indie Book Reviews and of course Free Fiction Friday! Come back often and support my writing journey!

Tim Eagle

Tim Eagle is an author of the novellas Stolen Seed, Life Ship, and the Vasectomus Collection. He lives full time, on the road, with his wife, Maria and their dog, Cocoa. He grew up in Michigan and is inspired by the dysfunction of America. His books are available on Amazon, godless and this site timeaglefiction.com 

Tim Eagle's Blood Flower