PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
She sat quietly, stitching the final stitches in the glow of a dying candle. Months had passed since she’d begun the arduous task, but she was finally finished. Time and time again, unhappy with her work, she’d ripped portions out and re-stitched them. The quilt needed to be perfect.
Her fingertips caressed the beautiful creation. The hint of a smile curled the corners of her mouth. With her new blanket–one side a patchwork of varies pigments of human skin, the other an amalgamation of the scalps of her victims–wrapped around her shoulders, she stepped out onto the balcony.
—
When I first looked at this photo, I thought of a woman being stalked by a man, but the woman turns out actually be hunting the unsuspecting man. I’ve written that story before, probably several times, so I moved on. Next I thought of werewolves, but didn’t have any idea of where to go with that. So I moved on to my next thought: Frankenstein. But I wanted to go a different route than the traditional monster stitched together from corpse pieces, and thus the Frankenquilt was born.
Written for Friday Fictioneers.
Click here to read the stories from the other Fictioneers.
Adam Ickes 
June 15th, 2017 at 4:22 PM
That is disturbing
June 16th, 2017 at 11:38 AM
Think Shark Tank will invest in the Frankenquilt any time soon?
June 15th, 2017 at 8:03 PM
Frankenquilt — how wonderfully terrible!
June 16th, 2017 at 11:37 AM
I like that phrase, wonderfully terrible. Thanks for that.
June 16th, 2017 at 12:13 PM
It’s a fair trade for “Frankenquilt,” I’d say. 🙂
June 16th, 2017 at 2:22 AM
Quite a take on this one.
June 16th, 2017 at 11:36 AM
Indeed. My mind takes me to some very strange places.
June 16th, 2017 at 3:33 AM
Wow. Was not expecting that.
June 16th, 2017 at 11:35 AM
Very few would be expecting that. And the ones that do, never be alone with them.
June 16th, 2017 at 8:47 AM
You being you, the moment I read “stitching” I thought “that’ll be human skin” 🙂
June 16th, 2017 at 11:34 AM
Dang, I must be getting too predictable. I’ll have to try harder next week.
June 16th, 2017 at 9:29 AM
And here I was thinking, wow, this is so normal and quaint – how unusual for Adam! Then boom – human skin quilt. The “Frankenquilt.” Disturbingly good. For some reason, I love it.
June 16th, 2017 at 11:34 AM
Haha, I’m glad the Frankenquilt gets your stamp of approval.
June 16th, 2017 at 2:22 PM
Aaggh! I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stitch–or use–another quilt 🙂
June 16th, 2017 at 3:43 PM
Deliciously disturbing… I love it
June 16th, 2017 at 4:20 PM
Ew! This a very creative take on the prompt. Here I was reading a lovely story, perhaps she was making a quilt for a newly wed or a baby, then BAM you hit me with the human skin and scalps.
June 16th, 2017 at 11:42 PM
A quilt of human skin… now that’s creativity!
June 17th, 2017 at 9:58 AM
The first thing I thought of was the atrocities committed against the Jews and other “undesirables” by the Nazis during the Holocaust. We must never forget.
June 17th, 2017 at 11:11 AM
Great take, dark and a little disturbing
June 18th, 2017 at 8:39 AM
Dear Adam,
That certainly took a grisly twist. Seamstress indeed. Well done…but eeeeew.
Shalom,
Rochelle
June 19th, 2017 at 12:46 AM
Oooo…she’s a little creepy.
June 19th, 2017 at 6:07 AM
I saw that coming. But, the concept of the Frankenquilt seemed pretty good thinking about something unusual to try.
Good job, Adam.
June 20th, 2017 at 12:08 PM
She is definitely a seamstress of another ilk!!! Ugh.
June 21st, 2017 at 3:42 AM
You’re in form with this one, Adam. Frankenquilt may very well be an original word. 🙂 — Suzanne