
Even Dead Roses Have Thorns
Rose was dead. To say she was dead furious about the matter was an understatement. Attending her own funeral felt weird, though no one could see her of course, being a spirit.
It broke her heart to see the distress written on the faces of her family. Rose’s fiancé, Jack, stood alone, staring miserably towards the church where they’d planned to be married, until her former friend, Charlotte, approached. Rose’s anger boiled to see Charlotte fawning over Jack. Had she done this because she wanted Jack for herself?
In retrospect, she should have seen the warning signs, but one doesn’t expect your best friend to murder you.
The bones in the soup Charlotte made – Charlotte forgetting Rose’s allergy to peanuts – the handbrake that failed – and many other suspicious incidents. Eventually, Charlotte had gotten desperate and pushed Rose onto the train tracks. Rose knew it was Charlotte, seeing her face inside the black hoodie moments before death struck.
Rose kicked at a bed of dog roses, startling the bees who took flight, buzzing angrily. She stopped, thinking. Charlotte had an extreme allergy to bee stings and she rarely remembered her EpiPen. Could she do it? Should she? The idea of Charlotte taking over the life she should have had with Jack burned. She’d been far too nice in life; it was time to show her thorns.
Without further thought, Rose spun through the cemetery, hitting the dog roses, kicking through beds of pansies and peonies, driving the bees into a frenzy. As she reached her freshly-dug grave, she noticed her attendees backing away from the approaching swarm of angry bees but Charlotte froze in place, flapping her hands about. She shrieked, swatting at one as it stung her arm, then another on her neck, both of which came up in great welts. Charlotte gasped as her throat constricted, reacting to the bee toxins. Gulping for air, she staggered, toppling forward into the grave. Rose watched dispassionately as Charlotte writhed, then stilled. By the time they pulled her out, she was dead.
Rose felt no remorse as she turned and walked away.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleRose’s revenge tasted sweet like honey to her, I bet! I guess Charlotte deserved their poison. Loved it!
? Thank you, Greene. Let’s hope Charlotte’s spirit doesn’t go on her own little vengeance hunt!
Hello, Carrie. I love your story and the title. Karma is real. That is what Charlotte deserves. Well done Carrie.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you so much, Lotchie. I’m so glad you liked the title as well as the story. It was a fun one to come up with ?
You are welcome, Carrie.
What a fantastic title, Carrie! And I loved how Rose took her revenge. Has me wondering how these two will get on now they’re both in the spirit world! Great writing.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you, Linda. I’ve been wondering too. After replying to Greene the other day, I got to wondering on what Charlotte might do—if she can’t have Jack then nobody can. If Jack’s in danger from her vengeful spirit, Callie Simms may just have to step in! ?
I was brought up to be nice and not say or do bad things, and I do try to live up to my parents’ example, BUT, oh, I do love a good revenge story ? I loved the build up as she contemplated stirring up the bees and having Charlotte fall into the grave was icing on the cake. A great story, Carrie; I’ll be chuckling all night ?… Read more »
Thank you, Sandra. I’m so glad it made you chuckle because it was so much fun to write 🙂
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleEerie and beautiful. Well done.
Thank you so much, Steven. I got carried away with this one and ended up having to cut nearly 200 works, which was more of a challenge than writing it in the first place. I released a short story on Amazon last year called Migglesworth Malevolence, with the main character a ghost hunter called Callie Simms. I’m considering using this as part of one of her future cases. I think I could… Read more »