Fearless

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: Knife, Spider and Blink

Fearless

Can I kill him to save myself? Carla wondered for the hundredth time.

She stood, frozen into invisibility against a wall that separated her from him. Her breath was shallow as she called on calmness and anger to form an emotional potion that would both: keep her hidden and provoke her to action.

He was awake now. She could hear him rustling the blankets as he got out of bed. Carla tried to judge his reaction when he walked into the room and saw that she was no longer tied to the chair. There was no way to hide it. He’d see and react in the blink of an eye.

Carla knew she had to be faster.

For two weeks, she’d been his captive. After one week, she gave up hope of being rescued. After the second week, she gave up something much more important.

Carla gave up being afraid.

He was in the bathroom now. It wouldn’t be long before he shuffled down the hall and saw she was gone.

A spider lowered itself from the stained ceiling. Carla’s fear of spiders almost caused her to jump away. Almost – then she let go of that fear as well. It occurred to her that she was no longer the woman she’d been only a few days earlier.

Will I ever be the same again? she wondered. Probably not.

Not for the first time, she wished that she had a gun or a knife instead of the sharp piece of wood she’d broken off the back of the chair. It would have to do.

I wonder if I’ll miss my old self, she thought.

At the sound of the bedroom door opening, Carla tightened her grip on her primitive weapon.

He was coming for her – again.

This time, she was ready.

Word count 300



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