I’ve been stalking my next guest, for she has a cauldron of enchanting talent, from literary gems like, The Librarian’s Assistant (which won 1st place in the Writer’s Art Contest at DeviantArt), to bizarre horror such as The Tiger Machine, and this flash piece is just another penning jewel. It is an honor to feature my next guest of the 13 Days of Horror, R.S. Bohn, and her eerie flash, Oddity.
Oddity
By R.S. Bohn
I pay two dollars to the one-eyed man and we step, giggling, into the floorless hut. A black curtain falls shut behind us. It’s dark — just what we wanted. She bumps into me, I bump into her, we stop. Our eyes adjust.
Two-headed kitten. Albino croc. Eight-legged goat kid. Jar after jar. Yellow formaldehyde, lit from behind, or below. Fading print on the labels. We read each one in unsteady whispers. Hairless puppy smothered at birth by its mother. Its face is pulpy, a boxer’s bad night. “Gross,” she says, clinging to my arm. We take small steps around the bend, bodies pressed close. I stretch my neck to see what’s there before we turn. A thick, heavy fish, brought up from deep in the Amazon. Its face looks like the puppy’s. Two tiny arms curl close to its scaly sides; they have fingers. I wish a flap would open, let in some air. And then we see it: a jar by itself, no others on the shelf. Deformed fetus with claws and beaked mouth. A tail wound up like a pig’s. The label, in fresh blue ink: our names. Her hand damp in mine squeezes hard, nails digging in. We rush through the exit, gasping at the bright sun, hot summer air.
That year, Ruby refuses to let the old woman tell her fortune.
2010 © R.S.Bohn
Bio: RS Bohn is down with Adrock and MikeD and you ain’t, and she’s got more juice than Picasso got paint. She’s also tricky. Find her and her Adidas here: http://rsbohn.blogspot.com
Erin Cole 
Love the morbid side-show, unnaturalness to it… I wants to know more!!
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Thank you so much, everyone! I'm very pleased you all enjoyed it. Creepy jars of death, FTW!
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Your language, mood, and snippets of imagery really gave this piece life, amid all the creepy jars of death. Fantastic writing, Bohn!
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Ooo, creepy, freaky stuff!As so often with your work I love the intensity, the imagery and the economical way in which you write; never a wasted word!I bow to you, darling =)
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Those oddity exhibits freak me out, so I knew this story would get me. You executed it well, especially the ending. Excellent story!
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I can only echo the above. This story is so tight and compelling, it's unbelievable.The pacing is matched only by the flawless choice of what to show us, and the final reveal is wonderful. Superb.
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Freaking Freaky! Just at the right time of the year. I never had the guts to go to those shows.
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Nothing like a side show to turn up the charm and scraem. Yuor writing is truly entertaining and I fuond myself wnting to whisk these two young people away to another time and place to aviod their fate. Lovely horror, Ms. Bohn!
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The horrible glimpse of what's to come…Awesome story and superb build-up.
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Whack. Big fat blasts of gross-horror – right in yer face. Loved it.
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This is perfectly creepoid and turns from fun to whoa in nothing flat – great payoff..
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Excellent. I love the carnival type stories with the tent of weird oddities and this story was the perfect medicine. Great imagery in such a short piece. Very well done.
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This is an incredibly good flash. Word for word it keeps you struggling with the imagery to that equally unsettling conclusion: two names scrawled in blue ink. These kind of endings with that kind of prophetic certainty are excellent for chilling the blood. Nice one!
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Brrrr. You have an intense, vivid prose-brush with which you paint your fiction, R.S. So of course, I'm reading this just before I collapse in bed. All my nightmares will be your fault!A great job, Roland
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