My 2nd Shortest Story Ever

Unlike most times when I post something I wrote almost ten years ago, I'm not doing it today because I have no ideas and/or I'm feeling rather Danish. I actually have 2 different ideas for posts, but both need a little more work before I'm willing to put them up. The fact that I actually put work into any of my posts is probably shocking to most of you, but it's true.

Really. It is.

No, seriously. Stop looking at me like that!

Anywho, since I already posted my shortest story ever published, I figured I'd post my 2nd shortest story ever published. I originally wrote this for a flash-fiction contest with a Western theme. As I mentioned previously, flash-fiction usually refers to a story of 500 words or less. This story is exactly 500 words, minus the title. Surprisingly enough, I won the contest. But being that this was a small press horror publication we're talking about, it not-very-surprisingly folded before my story ever saw the light of day. Luckily a year or so later I got it published in Shadowkeep Zine, which was an on-line horror magazine.

So that's the not-very-interesting story behind this story. Hopefully next week I'll get around to actually posting something original. And if we're all lucky, it might even be funny! I wouldn't hold your breath on that last part, though.

The Horror of the Blake Mine

“Jeb, bring that lantern over here!” Billy yelled.

            Jeb scurried up, hunched over because of the low ceiling in the shaft.

            “You see something?” Jeb asked. They had been in the mine for hours and hadn’t seen anything worthwhile.

            “No, I can’t see anything because you got the light so damn far away! Now try to keep up.”

            Grumbling quietly, Jeb continued to follow Billy further into the mine. They had come out to California a few months earlier. There was a gold rush going on, and they wanted in on it. But their horses fell ill en-route and had to be put down. By the time the two of them made it to California they had been beaten out by several thousand other prospectors.

            They wandered around for a while, trying to stake a claim, knowing that all the good ones were taken. Then word came of the Blake Mine. Supposedly the mine was full of gold, but no one that had ever tried to remove it had gotten out alive. Desperate and broke, Jeb and Billy decided they were going to ignore the superstition. If the rumors were even half-true, they’d both be rich for life.

            The mine started narrowing drastically, until it was no more than two feet high.

            “Looks like we’re gonna have to crawl,” Billy whispered. Jeb nodded wordlessly. He was starting to get a bad feeling about this, but couldn’t place why.

            Taking the lantern from Jeb, Billy got on his hands and knees and began to crawl. Whispering a brief prayer, Jeb followed.

            After a short period of time, the mine opened up into a large room. Billy stood and let the light from the lantern play off the walls. The sight caused both men to stare in silent awe for several minutes.

            The walls were filled with gold. Veins of the precious mineral criss-crossed all sides of the cavern. Millions of dollars worth of gold had to be in this room.

            “Holy shit,” Billy whispered as he moved over to one of the walls. “It’s beautiful,” he said as he ran his fingers delicately over the gold. “Simply beautiful.”

            Suddenly Billy began to scream, dropping the lantern to the ground. Jeb looked in horror as he saw the gold start to flow over Billy’s hand and arm. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils as Billy continued to wail.

            Within seconds the gold had spread to Billy’s face and chest. His screams suddenly stopped as his mouth filled with the burning substance. Jeb stared wordlessly as his friend dissolved before his eyes.

            Jeb’s paralysis finally broke. He turned and ran for the entrance to the room. In the fading light he could see the gold shoot out like webs from the walls. One strand grabbed his arm, burning his flesh as it did so.

            A few minutes later nothing remained save the lantern. It slowly burned out in the empty cavern, the only witness to the horror of the Blake Mine.