“Worse Ways To Go”

Photo prompt by Gio Bartlett on Unsplash

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

I walk through the field of tulips with some hesitation. I can’t believe that I’m here.

Now, I’m no coward or anything, but so many horror stories exist because of tulip fields. Like that one where the tulips come alive and attack anyone who dares venture forth and disrupt the beautiful flowers at rest. Or the one where the petals of the tulips hide tiny monsters that will grow and swarm the world and take over.

I’m not necessarily saying that I believe these stories. No, I definitely don’t believe these stories. But still, I can’t help but wonder why these stories exist in the first place…

At this point, you might be wondering why I’m walking through a field a tulips and not around or even just avoiding the field altogether. Well, the answer is a bit tricky.

You see, I’ve been given the task of delivering an important message to the king. Except, I was also given a very specific route to follow. Why? I’m not completely sure, but I’m not going to risk angering the king by avoiding a stupid field of flowers.

I can see the end of the field in the distance. Somehow, it feels as though the end isn’t approaching, like I’m stuck in an endless sea of yellow petals.

Panic starts rising in my chest. My breath catches in my lungs, refusing to come out. My heart won’t sit still, my hands won’t stop trembling.

The silence is starting to seriously creep me out. I don’t care anymore. I need to get out of here.

I begin sprinting. Yellow petals fly around me, fluttering in the wind as my movement shakes them loose.

The end is in sight. In sight, but not in reach.

No, I’m trapped. I’m trapped in an endless vortex of cursed tulips.

I stop running. I fall to my knees.

This is it. This is how I die, I’m sure of it. Stuck in the middle of a field of flowers.

I guess there are worse ways to go.

Final Comments: I was actually thinking of a funeral scene when I first started writing. Somehow, the funeral never happened and, well, this, happened instead…

Overall Rating: 😂