Hush...

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Note: This is something I had to do for my English Lit. It had to be a short story of 750 words, so it got quite hard towards the end. For obvious reasons - has to be my own work - I can't change it, but it would be wonderful to see how I could have improved it. Any feedback would be great and very much appreciated! :wink: Enjoy!

~~~

“Shhh…”

His hand was clamped over her mouth, haggard face hovering inches from hers. His slippery voice, as scratchy as a thousand insect wings, crawled into her ear.

“Shhh…”

She whimpered, eyes stretched wide like a terrified animal’s; a rabbit, caught in headlights. Gulping, she stared blankly ahead, numb with fear. Shivers rippled through her like tremors before an earthquake.

“Be silent, little succubus,” he murmured, sniffing at her blonde hair.

Swallowing a sob, she shook her head in disbelief, tears slipping from her eyes. She turned her gaze heavenwards, praying for some godly power to intervene and save her from him. But there was only the roof of the closet, shrouded, like the rest of her prison, in darkness.

“The little damsel in distress,” he hissed, lips curling back into a hateful sneer. “Tell me then, where is your hero now? Eh?” He shook her hard, rattling her fear-drenched bones. She shut her eyes tightly, causing more tears to spill down her pallid cheeks.

Suddenly she was running up a hill. Crows were after her. Only … the crows were dead. Clumps of black feathers rained down on her, dropping from maggot-invested flesh. Sharp beaks pecked at her hands as she desperately tried to shield herself. The stench… The stench of the rotting crows made her gag as she ran frantically towards her house on the hill. Almost there, almost there…

“Where is he, princess?”

Then she was inside. The crows thudded into the door as she slammed it shut in their decaying faces. Gasping, she backed slowly away, her eyes never leaving the door as it shook under their screaming attack. She stumbled into the kitchen, still watching the door.

Something grabbed her arm.

With a small scream, she whirled and faced…


He snarled, reaching up with his other hand to grab her jaw and twist her head around so she was staring fearfully at him.

“I’m going to eat you up, deliciousness. You’re mine, not the others’.” He crackled suddenly, yellow eyes dancing with malice. Then he grew serious. “But we can’t let the hero save you first. No, we can’t. So shhh. Shhh. Be silent.”

A monster. With huge, yellow eyes, and scaly, reptilian skin. It towered over her, putrid face hovering so close to hers. Its rancid breath made her eyes water. An oversized claw held onto her arm, and it stared at her, blinking as though it was unsure if she was edible or not.

Without thinking, she lashed out at it, hitting and screaming at it, forcing it back. It shrieked as it hit the lit cooker hob, nearly knocking the bubbling stew over. She lunged forwards, grabbed the stew-pot, and slung it over the monster. The boiling hot liquid sizzled as it hit its target.


An enraged scream erupted. A high, keening sound which sent an eruption of shivers darting down her spine.

His grip slackened, rough hands lowering, as his attention was diverted.

It was then that she acted.

She ran from the wailing monster with no destination in mind, all she knew was that she had to get away from it before it recovered.

“Up here!”

She stopped, and glanced up at her brother, Tom, standing at the top of the stairs. His fluffy, brown hair looked as soft as a fledgling’s down, and stuck out in all directions around his worried face.

He gestured urgently to her. “Be quick!”

The monster cried out again, and another answered its call.

She began to climb the stairs.


With a loud grunt she kicked him and tried to struggle out of his grasp. With a snarl like the roar of a chainsaw, he tried to cover her mouth again, but she gathered her courage and sank her teeth into his flaking hand. He yelped and lost his hold on her.

She pushed out of the closet and landed at the feet of…

“Into the closet, loveliness. We mustn’t let them find us.”

Tom pushed her into her father’s room. Her father’s empty room. Their father had disappeared days ago. And weird things kept happening. Things like…

She got into the closet and Tom followed her, wrapping his arms around her, in need of a comforting hug. He trembled violently. Then he placed a hand over her mouth. She tried to cry out in alarm as his face seemed to melt, become ancient, yellow-eyed.


A man, who grabbed her hand and yanked her upright.

“Your father sent me to save you, princess.”
Last edited by EmmaJane on Sun Nov 01, 2009 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Your = Possession. Your shoes are so sweet!
You're = Omission. You're quite strange...

If you are confused about which to put, simply say in your mind "you are" and see if that fits the sentence. If not, you are looking for your.

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Hey Emma ^^ Shina here to do a review for you ;)

I. Nitpicks

His hand was clamped over her mouth, haggard face *hovering inches from hers.

*Hovering doesn't feel like the right word here :/ It just popped out at me, and it makes it seem like he's just floating there beside her. Not really slowly being drawn toward her, which is what you might've been looking for. The sentence works without the word, or you can a replacement if you'd like.

His slippery voice, as scratchy as a thousand insect wings, crawled into her ear.


There's a word for contradictory expressions that I learned in world lit, but I forgot what it's called xD Anyways, slippery and scratchy are kind of opposites, Emma. Slippery is smooth and scratchy is rough, if that makes more sense. Choose which description your aiming for.

She whimpered, eyes stretched wide like a terrified animal’s; a rabbit, caught in headlights.


Redundancy here. Choose one or the other:

1. She whimpered, eyes stretched wide like a terrified animal's.
2. She whimpered, eyes stretched wide like a rabbit caught in headlights.

Gulping, she stared blankly ahead, numb with fear.


Shivers rippled through her like tremors before an earthquake.

Shivers like tremors rippled through her.

Will that do? Try not to use too many similes and metaphors while writing. Use it every once in a while to add dimension ^^


Swallowing a sob, she shook her head in disbelief, tears slipping from her eyes. She turned her gaze heavenwards, praying for some godly power to intervene and save her from him. But there was only the roof of the closet, shrouded, like the rest of her prison, in darkness.

I like this paragraph :D The only thing that takes away from this paragraph is the word "disbelief." It doesn't seem like the right image, which is probably unwilling? Desparate? It's up to you, miss author ;)



[i]Suddenly she was running up a hill. Crows were after her. Only … the crows were dead. Clumps of black feathers rained down on her, dropping from maggot-invested flesh.

Redundancy alert! "Down" is not needed.


He snarled, reaching up with his other hand to grab her jaw and twist her head around so she was staring fearfully at him.

It's a bit long and awkward. Rewording?

“I’m going to eat you up, deliciousness. You’re mine, not the others’.” He crackled suddenly, dark eyes dancing with malice.

This dialogue seems a bit forced. Would a demon really say "you're mine, not the others'."? I think you're trying to explain she's being stolen from someone else, but you already mentioned that in an earlier paragraph, so it's not necessary.
Then he grew serious. “But we can’t let the hero save you first. No, we can’t. So shhh. Shhh. Be silent.”

D: I have to stop short because I'm being called for breakfast!
I'll be back! I promise xD

-Shina
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself into one.

The writer, when he is also an artist, is someone who admits what others don't dare reveal.




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Hi Emmajane! Irish here!

I'm glad to say that this was great! I loved it :D As usual your writing is stunning. Bravo my friend :smt003

I didn't find any spelling or grammar, and I thought you did everything perfectly! You're lucky you get to write this type of stuff for school, all the ones at my school are boring!

Keep up the fantastic work!

-Irish :elephant:
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. - Robert McCloskey

Teacher: What do we, in the U.S enjoy from places like Mexico?
Student: Wait, legally?

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Hey! Okay, so I was thinking that a little bit of it was unclear. You were trying for the whole, two things happening at once, one in her imagination\back of her mind, and one in real life. But everything was getting mixed up. I wasn't sure if she was lashing at the monster, or at the man, or what was happening to be more precise. Despite that, I really did enjoy this. It was wonderful, in my mind. If you do continue, please PM me the rest. Thanks! Ofir
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