This post was written for VisDare 48: Beneath.
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The floor creaked as John’s sneakers crept toward the place where the boards ended abruptly in an inky black pit. Three feet shy of the drop he stopped and leaned forward. Peering into the darkness that had swallowed most of the hallway, he saw only vague outlines of what could have been anything. On a whim, he kicked a splintered board into the hole.
Seconds later the board arced back up and landed at his feet.
What the hell?
His gaze ventured back into the darkness.
A massive, misshapen arm with a gnarled hand nearly as large as his entire body shot out of the pit. Old plaster fell from the ceiling when the hand slammed against it.
The hand clamped down around his head and jerked him down into the dark. John’s screams were cut short by the snapping of bones intermingled with the wet smacking of lips.
Adam Ickes 
February 15th, 2014 at 12:56 PM
Great little piece to really ignite the imagination…
February 17th, 2014 at 7:33 AM
The good news is, you should be safe… for awhile anyway. Whatever is down there has a full belly.
February 15th, 2014 at 2:26 PM
Good writing. Very descripive, making a vivid word picture. I guess that’s a warning to us all not to be curious about deep holes in the ground.
February 17th, 2014 at 7:35 AM
Very true. One would be wise to keep their distance from dark holes in the ground. Curiosity did kill the cat, and the John, after all.
February 15th, 2014 at 11:23 PM
Yikes – Sounds like a nightmare!
February 17th, 2014 at 7:41 AM
This story is 100% factual. It’s based on an occurrence that happened in southern Maine on July 10, 1974 in what was once the Willowbrook Senior Center in Bridgton, Maine.
Okay, that’s not true at all, It’s entirely fictional, both the story and my account of it.
February 16th, 2014 at 8:45 AM
Great description.
http://www.awordofsubstance.wordpress.com
February 17th, 2014 at 7:41 AM
Thanks so much.
February 16th, 2014 at 8:16 PM
Dark fantasy that really draws the reader in. You’ve done a great job building this scene, Adam. Nice job!
February 17th, 2014 at 7:44 AM
Hardest part of this one was editing it down to 150 words. This photo, for me anyway, lends itself to far more than 150 words. I cut myself off around 300 before I started editing then had to figure out how to chop it in half… not easy.
February 17th, 2014 at 1:29 PM
I hate when I go double the length… that cutting, err, editing, is a bitch!
February 17th, 2014 at 3:04 PM
That last line is delicious, in all the wrong ways.
February 17th, 2014 at 5:23 PM
Gasp! I would have been running away the second I saw that board come flying back. Though on second thought I probably wouldn’t have thrown it in in the first place.
February 18th, 2014 at 11:08 AM
That was delightfully creepy! I love a disturbing monster mystery.