Time for Friday Fictioneers once again, hosted by the brilliantly creative Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. A 100 word flash using some unique photo prompts. Follow the link and read some of the offerings for this great weekly challenge.
Copyright – Al Forbes
Clive Windham, the 5th Earl of Blancham, tipped his glass in salute. With the legitimate heir drowned enroute to the Indies, all land and titles had passed to him. As the bastard son of the recently deceased 4th Earl, his good fortune had come as smooth as the brandy now teasing his throat. Wearing a sardonic smile he looked up at the newly fashioned lintel above the doorway. The severed head of the missing heir still carried that same look of shock that he had when he’d been murdered at the quayside. The rest of his body had fattened the pigs.
sinister. and oh man, that is seriously scary, the thought of pigs eating human… ugh, i’m gonna have nightmares about it.
that being said, well done 🙂
Thanks, one way of getting rid of a body, lol 🙂
Amazingly well done and creepifying having only been given 100 words in which to do the deed. Bravo!
Many Thanks 🙂
Fantastically gruesome and clever. Made me smile and wince at the same time.
Two for the price of one, I pleased, lol 🙂
yikes! Believable yarn…
Thank you 🙂
Now, is that just a cast of the head, or the actual head dipped in plaster? Either way, viciously great story.
I’d go for his actual head, one way to keep your youthful good looks, lol 🙂
Oh wow! This is so good. Yes, that’s definitely the look on his face, alright.
Thanks, he does look a bit startled doesn’t he, lol 🙂
Puts a new twist on the phrase ‘if you want to get ahead in business’. Love the emotional detachment, well done.
Thanks 🙂
Modern day head on a pike. Now cast in stone as a warning for all that enter. Very eerie and cleverly written.
Thanks, i just thought his head looked quite real, lol 🙂
Really great story in 100 words!
Thank you 🙂
Helen, you sure have a way with these chilling tales. Fantastic use of 100 words!
Thanks, I think I deffo have a bit of darkness seeping through my veins, lol 🙂
But you do it so well, darlin’! 😉
Hmm, AnElephant is a bit scared to visit you now.
Great story, brilliantly done.
lol, thanks 🙂
He does have that look about him! Nice take on the prompt, Helen.
Thanks, and yes I though he had an “Oh, damn” sort of look on his face, lol 🙂
I wonder if the pigs enjoy us as much as we do them.
I hope not, lol 🙂
Oh, so that’s why he looks so surprised!
Great story, and I even loved the title 🙂
Well done, great take on the prompt. There’s something a tad satisfying about pigs enjoying a meal on one of our kind…
It would only be fair, especially after all them luscious bacon butties, lol 🙂
Wonderfully gruesome.
Thanks 🙂
What a clever piece of writing and loved the wickedness and conspiracy of it all:-)
Thank you 🙂
🙂
Hmm maybe he will be haunted by the heedless hair
Well writen
.. or heir
lol, possibly 😉
Wow, great story!
I’ve heard of killers collecting “trophies” but this guy… 🙂
Hi Helen,
I’m heard the expression, only cream and bastards rise. Your story illustrates that perfectly. Ron
This is truly gruesome, Helen. I loved it.
A great twist at the end – I dont think he should be too comfy in his seat though…. 🙂
Dear Helen,
This is a vision that stay with me for a while, at least until his head decomposes. Well crafted and grisly.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you 🙂
Dear Helen,
Whoa, you don’t mess around do you. This was well put together with never a respite or a hope for good to triumph over evil. On such jeweled bearings, dynasties spin. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
always better to go in for the kill, lol 🙂
Excellent, loved it. A nod to Edgar Allen Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle – gruesomely readable and evil through and through.
Dee
Thanks for the great comment, 🙂
Greed is a powerful motivator of the wicked and this one is as wicked as they come. Nice take on the prompt!
Cheers 🙂
I. Love. This. Seriously, well done! And such great name for a villain! Love that the severed head had been fitted on the lintel. Greed and desire for power can drive a man to do dreadful things…
Well done! My favorite contribution to this week’s Friday Fictioneers yet!
Thanks very much. I seem to be drawn to the dark, not sure what that says about me though, lol 🙂
Only that you have a grasp on the terrifying and are not afraid to expose it. 🙂
I like the elevated tone you set here. It really sets the mood well.
This story is excellent. A thoroughly good read, and I enjoyed his disposition of the body and the head. Grim and still fun.
Dark is always much more fun, lol 😉
Wow, I think
Lol, thanks 🙂
I guess after this the murderers stayed away from eating pork ….
lol, I rather suspect the new earl would have salivated over a juicy slice of pork at Christmas and perhaps rather enjoyed it’s added ingredient 😉
A worthy tale of an Englishman’s ill-gotten succession to his post indeed. I’ll bet that’s happened more than once…
Now there is a man who is evil and proud of it. I’m guessing that’ll be a warning to others not to mess with him (although I wouldn’t come to his dinner party). 🙂
What a gruesome tale you’ve told!