This is absolutely haunting. The way it moves from raw grief to supernatural horror is chilling, and the final twist left me breathless. The imagery is so vivid it feels like being pulled into the dark right alongside her. Masterfully eerie !!!
It means so much to me that you were able to feel this one with me... I am a very visual person, and I was literally visualizing her pounding away inside of her mind as I was writing it and it made me tear up for her 😭
This hits hardest in the way grief becomes something active, not just something you feel but something that can start reshaping perception itself. The shift from memory, to escape, to dependency on the illusion shows how easily the mind can choose comfort over truth when reality is unbearable.
What makes it unsettling is not the “monster,” but the fact that it only works because she agrees to it, again and again, until the boundary between coping and losing herself completely dissolves.
Yes! Exactly that! It had to wait for her to give in and that's really what makes it ultimately even more heartbreaking... she's riddled with guilt thinking she killed her family and then she's riddled with guilt at the end for giving up her life. I really appreciate you reading so deeply, my friend 🥹🫶🏽🫂
That’s exactly the space I was writing from... what happens when someone can’t stay with the pain and chooses the illusion instead. I really appreciate how you articulated the other side of that 🖤
This also made me think of addiction. How it comes to us when we are most deeply hurting and desperate. How we are all only one tragedy away from the possibility of becoming addicted.
I feel like I can take a breath... more than anything, I wanted to make sure you enjoyed it because I love your art so much! If I had this piece, I would hang it where everybody would be able to see it in my home... I love it so much 🖤🔥
That makes me feel so good, Laura, and that's something in short supply these days. I am so grateful for you, and I am even more grateful something I could create could help foster something amazing.
I really enjoyed that. Really pulls you in and has a real creepy vibe to it. You can almost feel darkness settling round you, like a scarf, as you read it.
I don't know if I "enjoy" horror stories as much as I'm intrigued by them. A real horror story for me is feeling the dread build and then the story comes to a horrible end. The other kind of horror story that really gets me is the one in which the victim overcomes the horror, but then me, as the observer, is shown that the victim only thinks they've escaped the horror, but me, as the outside observer realizes they haven't. I'm not big on horror stories, but once I'm sucked in I can't look away.
Honestly, I know exactly what you mean... I feel the same way about horror... I truly enjoy the psychological parts of it and easily get sucked in, but I don't like gory horror 🙅🏽♀️
This was beautiful and haunting 🖤
Thank you so much 🖤✨
I couldn’t stop reading🫣 I was just willing her to wake up. So well written 🙌🏻🥰
Thank you so much! 🖤✨
Wow this was haunting Laura.
Thank you, Leo! That means a lot coming from you 🫶🏽🖤
Your welcome Laura
This is absolutely haunting. The way it moves from raw grief to supernatural horror is chilling, and the final twist left me breathless. The imagery is so vivid it feels like being pulled into the dark right alongside her. Masterfully eerie !!!
It means so much to me that you were able to feel this one with me... I am a very visual person, and I was literally visualizing her pounding away inside of her mind as I was writing it and it made me tear up for her 😭
This hits hardest in the way grief becomes something active, not just something you feel but something that can start reshaping perception itself. The shift from memory, to escape, to dependency on the illusion shows how easily the mind can choose comfort over truth when reality is unbearable.
What makes it unsettling is not the “monster,” but the fact that it only works because she agrees to it, again and again, until the boundary between coping and losing herself completely dissolves.
Yes! Exactly that! It had to wait for her to give in and that's really what makes it ultimately even more heartbreaking... she's riddled with guilt thinking she killed her family and then she's riddled with guilt at the end for giving up her life. I really appreciate you reading so deeply, my friend 🥹🫶🏽🫂
This is creepy
I think this might be the creepiest one I have written so far 🫣😱🖤
This story moved me deeply. I experienced a pain that nearly became unbearable… the sense of loss.
I appreciate you feeling this one with me, Yolanda 🖤... she definitely experiences loss from the beginning through the end.
It made me feel bad for the woman, and then worse, and then absolutely terrible. Great piece of writing, very heavy
Thank you so much... I feel bad for her, too... things did not start or end well for her...
Whew!
Thank you! 🖤✨
Terribly beautiful.
Thank you so much, Marco! 🫶🏽🖤✨
Your piece is powerful.
Dark, hypnotic… almost too perfect in its seduction.
And that’s exactly where I step out.
Guilt is not a creature with golden eyes.
Guilt is a moment where you either stand still…
or lose yourself.
What I’ve learned is this:
the real danger isn’t the pain.
It’s the desire not to feel it.
Because that’s where the deal begins.
You trade a part of yourself
for an illusion that feels like life.
But life isn’t perfect.
It isn’t smooth.
And it doesn’t rewind.
Life is the tremble in your hands,
the knowing “it was too late” —
and still choosing to breathe.
No deal.
No golden eyes.
No second version.
Maybe that’s not poetic enough.
But here’s the thing:
It’s real.
And real…
is the only thing that ever saves you.
That’s exactly the space I was writing from... what happens when someone can’t stay with the pain and chooses the illusion instead. I really appreciate how you articulated the other side of that 🖤
This also made me think of addiction. How it comes to us when we are most deeply hurting and desperate. How we are all only one tragedy away from the possibility of becoming addicted.
Good LAWD this was fantastic hah
I feel like I can take a breath... more than anything, I wanted to make sure you enjoyed it because I love your art so much! If I had this piece, I would hang it where everybody would be able to see it in my home... I love it so much 🖤🔥
That makes me feel so good, Laura, and that's something in short supply these days. I am so grateful for you, and I am even more grateful something I could create could help foster something amazing.
I'm really grateful for you, too, Ira 🥹🫶🏽🫂
I really enjoyed that. Really pulls you in and has a real creepy vibe to it. You can almost feel darkness settling round you, like a scarf, as you read it.
What an amazing compliment! Thank you so much, Gary 🖤🫂✨
I think you have found a calling with these stories. Deeply, seriously creepy.
Thaaank you, sis! I've actually been considering writing a psychological horror novel... really allowing myself to just flesh out the story 🖤🔥
You can count on me to pick that up when the time comes! 👍🏿
That was areal horror story. Incredibly well done.
Thank you so much, Sharon... I'm so glad you enjoyed it 🫶🏽🖤✨
I don't know if I "enjoy" horror stories as much as I'm intrigued by them. A real horror story for me is feeling the dread build and then the story comes to a horrible end. The other kind of horror story that really gets me is the one in which the victim overcomes the horror, but then me, as the observer, is shown that the victim only thinks they've escaped the horror, but me, as the outside observer realizes they haven't. I'm not big on horror stories, but once I'm sucked in I can't look away.
Honestly, I know exactly what you mean... I feel the same way about horror... I truly enjoy the psychological parts of it and easily get sucked in, but I don't like gory horror 🙅🏽♀️