OMW. I’m late. Okay. Well, here we go. Deep 3rd and we’ve got some very…interesting characters to choose from.
Photo owned and copyrighted by Katie Johnson. Photo credit: https://katierenejohnson.com/
Emma’s hands shook. The toys were staring at her. She felt their eyes on the back of her neck. Their eyes felt like spiders crawling up her skin. Momma didn’t understand. She was trying to help Emma overcome her fear of toys, but…
Emma shushed the sob that threatened to come out. Big girls didn’t cry. That’s what Momma said. But…the toys…they were right behind her. Tables and tables of them. All in rows. The loud talking of everyone exclaiming over them didn’t help. It made it worse! The walls closed in on her her, tightening around her chest like a doll trying to kill her.
She stumbled and caught herself on the glass.
Cold glass. The chill ran up her arm and through her shoulders. It pushed away the choke hold like magic. She pressed her forehead against the window. A big city. Lots of big buildings. She breathed in the chill from the window and tried to calm herself. Momma wasn’t helping to make this better. Not at all. She was making it worse. She was going to bring some of those toys home with them. They would be in the car, in their house.
They’d be in Emma’s room.
She needed to find a way out of there. And fast. Before the toys tried to kill her again.
And succeeded this time.
Frankie's Wining Room 
December 31, 2016 at 8:22 pm
The characters this week are so fun! And challenging! I like it. It’s the child afraid of toys. I wouldn’t want to be her!!
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January 4, 2017 at 11:36 pm
“Again…” Definitely eerie! I figured someone would be sure to use this prompt and I like what you did with it.
From the word usage, she seemed a little bit older, but not too old. Maybe 8 or so. I kind of like the idea of an older kid who sort of “knows better” being afraid as opposed to a “little one.”
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January 5, 2017 at 12:17 am
Frankly, the idea of a child being afraid of toys makes about as much sense to me as anyone being afraid of clowns. There is clearly an association here between toys and an attempt on her life. Either a dangerous toy caused her an injury and had to be recalled, someone rigged a toy to try to kill her, or an attempt was made on her life in the presence of toys, causing her to associate that attempt with the toys themselves. This is what the Voice told me that the story only hinted at.
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January 5, 2017 at 12:21 am
Oh yes, and I feel like the phrase “They’d be in Emma’s room.” was actually Emma thinking, referring to herself in third person, a clear sign of disassociation–perhaps due to previous trauma. Definitely deep and immersive. I FELT this one, especially when she pressed up against the glass. Well done, O Visual One.
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