MicroHorror

Playing at the dump. The old car is a castle, the trash piles are mountains, the broken televisions are witches and warlocks. Sheet metal is a shield. Glass shards are swords.

Climbing to the top of a trash mountain and sliding down the other side, trying to avoid the wet spots. The sky is one grey cloud. The wind is cold and constant. Dogs are barking in the distance. Buzzards are circling overhead.

Up and down another mountain, stabbing a warlock with a small sword until it breaks. Looking for another sword, rummaging through pizza boxes and potato skins and old sweaters with cigarette burns. There’s something white underneath. It’s smooth and soft and cold. Removing more garbage reveals a bellybutton.

It’s a girl, naked and bruised, eyes wide open and stiff as a board. The wrists are tied together with extension cord. Clearing all the garbage away reveals the lower half. The ankles are tied too.

A captured princess.

Propping the girl up on a stack of tires. The buzzards overhead tighten their circle. There’s a glass shard next to a broken window seal. A new sword.

Standing at the dump entrance. The princess is at the other end. Mountains and witches and warlocks stand in the way. Let the quest begin.