Frights and Frosting

I want to apologize there will only be stories on this post. Another post will be made this Friday which will contain two movie reviews and two book reviews. Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy these stories.

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I’m Not Leaving This Mall

Flash Fiction

People walked throughout the mall in one enormous crowd like a herd. A jumble of different conversations filled the entire space. I worked through the crowd until I saw my favorite store in the mall, Thalia’s Clothing and Accessories. The letters sat above the entrance, lit up on a yellow and black sign. My grandmother, Thalia, owned and ran the store since she was in her twenties. It’s where I would buy new hats and shirts. One year, she came home with a gray pullover hoodie to give me for Christmas. She embroidered my initials, S. L., into the front with bold black letters. I’ve worn it every day since her passing.

Everyone’s shoes clicked against the mall’s linoleum tile floor. It sounded like navigating through a room of tap dancers. Hundreds of lights hung from the ceiling above. The glow reflected off the floor like it was water. I couldn’t believe how clean they kept the place with the daily crowds. The voices continued to bellow as people passed me like schools of fish. I reached the store, but stopped before I opened the door. In my peripheral vision, I noticed a woman in a white dress standing in the middle of the mall.

She stared in my direction, but I couldn’t see her well through the crowds. I turned when she dropped to the floor. Everyone passed her without a second glance. The chatter of conversation roared louder, and they continued to walk over her. I pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees and burst through the crowd.

“Stop! Stop!” I screamed.

No one looked at me. I moved through them without a single response. They were drones continuing with their lives. I reached the spot where the woman fell, but she wasn’t anywhere on the ground. My head spun, but she wasn’t anywhere I looked.

The surrounding conversations continued to muffle my frantic mumbles. I stood up and zipped through the crowd, searching all around. My eyes widened when I finally saw her. She stood a few stores down in the opposite direction from where she fell. I rushed through people, but she walked around the corner of the store before I could reach her. My leg slipped as I slid around the corner. Two glass doors sat at the end of the row of stores. The woman stood at one door. Everyone walked in and out of the mall through the opposite door.

Sirens roared from outside. I caught my footing and continued through the people. The woman’s gaze lowered to the floor. When I was closer to the edge of the crowd, I noticed a man on the ground. My eyes widened when I reached them. I didn’t take a second to look at the woman. Everything in my body felt cold. Blood pooled under the man. A bullet hole in his chest, and one going through his forehead. I dropped to my knees. He wore a pair of acid-washed jeans and a gray pullover hoodie. His blood mixed into the fabric, painting it with splotches of crimson. Embroidered on the jacket are the letters S and L.

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