This year a story had to be written around one of three lines, which had to be used exactly within the piece. Here's mine, with the line highlighted.
Sacrifice to Cthulhu
She let the waves lap at her toes. In
the moonless night, the dark water left darker trails running from her feet
with each pull of the tide. It could have been blood. She knew it wasn’t - yet.
She edged in, letting the black fluid
encircle her ankles, tugging at them as though encouraging her to come deeper.
She did.
Some might have missed the movement
ahead, mistaken it for a swell of waves, but she knew better. Her breath caught
as her heart rate increased, excitement sparking adrenaline, enabling her to
take another step forward. The cold water brushed the inside of her thighs and
she shivered. The surge of water in front of her expanded.
She moved further in, eager to see him
rise, wanting to be claimed, waiting to be taken.
The water broke apart and a round head
appeared glimmering in the starlight as tentacles broke the surface around it.
Two eyes blinked into life and eyed her as the body continued to rise, the
scaly flesh appearing to ripple as water ran off it. She opened her mouth in a
gasp of awe as his wings opened up on his back, blocking out what little light
there was, engulfing her in darkness.
She felt her body move towards him as
though drawn by an unknown force. She didn’t resist.
His clawed hands reached for her,
slicing her flesh as they grasped it, the blood looking like water as it ran
down her arms. She felt his embrace and let him pull her in.
He lifted her above his head and
carried her like a trophy, moving back out into the ocean. She felt weightless
and dizzy, whether from the height or the blood loss she couldn’t be sure, all
she knew was that she was flying.
Once out in the midst
of black seas of infinity he
lowered her and put her out in front of him, laying her on the top of the
water, the points of his claws piercing holes into her back, but she didn’t
care; she felt numb.
She looked up into the
star filled sky and waited for him to take her, to consume her and feed on her,
but he seemed to be waiting. Then ripples broke the surface of the water all
round them, turning into violent splashes.
She jerked her head left
and right to try and make out what it was, but his shadow blocked her view.
Then he released her, pushing her forward towards the frantic movement like an
offering, and her eyes opened wide at what was revealed in the half light: hundreds
of sharp glittering white teeth descending upon her. Her throat was barely able
to let out a screech before it was shredded.
Her consciousness faded with deep sadness: her sacrifice to him meant nothing, over ridden by his offering to them.
Her consciousness faded with deep sadness: her sacrifice to him meant nothing, over ridden by his offering to them.
