[Penumbra]

You crawl through the ooze trying to bypass the anomaly, whatever it is. Suddenly, it senses your presence and places itself directly in your path. It is .....

Use a 100 words or less and be at your horror best. Do you have what it takes?

[Erebus]

The mysterious anomoly rose above me; its unmistakable presence challenging my sanity. It filled the space before my eyes, advancing slowly as it fed off my fears without scar or hesitation.

Frozen to the blood-covered sidewalk as the stains of my life's failings drained silently into the gutter, I confronted its evil; defying its everpresent honesty as it stood there staring at me with its hateful eyes.

I smiled at my reflection then thrust my fist into the glass. The mirror shattered onto the pavement at my feet. Victorious, I stepped over my fragmented soul and began the long journey home.

[Erebus]

Well, Penumbra, looks like I'm the only one who was interested in this particular exercise. Maybe I should move it to the Writing section?

[Erebus]

Well...never one to admit defeat easily, I'm moving this thread to the Writing section, just in case there's some more respondents ready and willing to take up Penumbra's interesting challenge! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

Oh, and believe me, 100 words is indeed a challenge!

[This message has been edited by erebus (edited October 20, 2001).]

[Sammie]

Okay, this was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but here goes:

It was a muddy amorphous blob no bigger than a hockey puck: as if a part of the swamp had jumped onto the path. Then I gagged and retched, overwhelmed as the stench of decay hit me. Nausea spun a thousand decomposing corpses around me. I forced my eyes open to find a pair of long glistening pseudopodia hovering before them.

Panic-stricken, I snatched the creature up from the ground, and hurled it away. There was a splash as it hit the water several metres distant.

I screamed, as the hot needles began to burn into my palm.

[This message has been edited by Sam82 (edited October 22, 2001).]

[KATS]

You crawl through the ooze trying to bypass the anomaly, whatever it is. Suddenly, it senses your presence and places itself directly in your path. It is .....

advancing painfully slowly toward me. For a moment I’m frozen, then the spell seems to break. I move to turn away, to try to escape, but I’m stuck in the ooze. The more I struggle the tighter the suction holds me. I look up briefly as the purple mass gradually encompasses my entire horizon. I close my eyes against the horror only to have my ears betray me. Even my screams can’t seem to drown out it’s maddening song . . . “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family . . .”

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’m not much of a horror writer, although for some people Barney is evil incarnate. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Anyway, this was fun. Let’s have another one.

[Bardos]

...and screamed and screamed and screamed, as I felt the world turning around me.

Some kind of poison, I thought.

Then, colors blured my vision, and I fell unconscious.

[Bardos]

Ahhhh, KATS, don't spoil it now!!! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Giarc]

Even before you can react, a strange keening noise builds within the misshapen ...thing. Mouths, stagnant and making sucking sounds, open and close in a thick mucous matrix sloughing off it's body. You start to moan softly as the creature approaches. Closer. Closer. You attempt to move but slime has adhered you to the stinking ooze. Foully, it touches you. Oozes over your face. You scream, silent bubbles that never burst, into the enveloping mucous. A mouth draws close and...you wake up with the memory of the world's best kiss intertwined with a slimy image of despair.

[An8el]

I'm crawling through the ooze trying to bypass the anomaly, whatever it is. Suddenly, it senses my presence and places itself directly in my path. It is .....whirling, frothing up the ooze's hot slimey surface. I try moving sideways, but I can't help slipping too. I'm struggling, hearing its tornado sound. I look at it, just as the roar suddenly stops.
A body grows from the slime, a duplicate of myself. Steam rises from it in the cool air. We stare at each other for a heartbeat.
"It is time to come back, Now."
The slime still on my shoes begins to crawl all over my body. I'm screaming. I see that I'm turning into some kind of an ....insect.
...A spinning circle of stars recedes into the distance.