The Silverwood Slasher

THE SILVERWOOD SLASHER
by Adam Forge
{Prompt: Must contain the words: picnic, poison ivy, campfire
300-word limit.}

Dave, Matt, their girlfriends and I reached our campsite in Silverwood late in the afternoon. Being the only single person there, I regretted coming along. But that’s the lot of a loser and I was pretty used to it.

We were ravenous, and wasted little time devouring the picnic dinner Emily and Raine had packed. The chicken was damn good. I ate more than I should have.

It wasn’t long before the digested meal needed to come out again from the opposite end it was put in. I sneaked off into the bushes to do the deed.

A nice campfire was going when I returned, and the blaze felt good. The night was getting chilly.

The five of us sat in a circle, watching the fire. Soon Dave and Matt were trying to scare the girls into cuddling with them by telling stories of ghosts and grisly murders.

It was Matt who brought up the Silverwood Slasher, a well-known local story. The Slasher had knifed a few campers a couple years back, near the very spot we were camping. He’d never been caught.

I was feeling an itch starting in my lower regions. Obviously I’d chosen a poison ivy-infested area when I went to do my business earlier.

Matt’s story was boring me. I knew it well, only he was getting most of the details wrong. The sight of the girls cuddling up to Matt and Dave was making me jealous.

Matt had reached the part where the Slasher slits his victims' throats. I covertly wriggled a hand into my pocket to scratch my itch.. When my hand emerged, the dancing firelight glinted off of the shiny switchblade I now held. I stood, took a step and stopped Matt’s story with a single, bloody slice. The Silverwood Slasher was back.



WORD COUNT: 300