Pressure
Flash Fiction Challenge #9 is inspired by these three words: husk, ironing board, roof tile.
Dark.
I roll over expecting to wrap an arm around Cheryl. There is something hard and rectangular in the bed instead. Like a roof tile.
I turn on the bedside light and I let my eyes open gradually. I lean up on my elbow.
There are three of them on the bed, red and grimy. I flick my eyes up to the ceiling. There is a hole in it.
In the hallway, I kick my toe on the ironing board. What’s it doing there?
“Cheryl!”
From outside, I can see a large object protruding from the roof. It’s like a huge seed pod, covered in overlapping layers of husk. It looks like it’s fallen into the roof from a height.
The silent pre-dawn brightens a little. The pod is moving, writhing, like there’s something in it.
Growing.
All I can hear is the roof straining with the pressure.
“Cheryl!?”
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The next story is inspired by: light bulb, diamond ring, tattoo