Winner: First Place Prize
Theme Prompt: Perception

Dr. Rorschach presented another ink-stained page to the boy. He was pleased by the simplicity of the boy’s answers; a reliable method to test one’s level of madness, he thought.

The boy fell into the ink, felt the tickle of clouds on his cheeks. Smelled Father's newly planted crops—with a hint of something sinister. The ripeness of decaying flesh. Those he’d buried beneath cultivated soil once he finished his experiments. He savored their delicious screams.

“What do you see? There are no wrong answers, mein Junge.”
​
“Puppies, Herr Doktor,” his eyes narrowed as the doctor scribbled in his journal.
~
Lisa H. Owens
Inspired by a June 2023 Globe Soup monthly themed contest - Perception
Winner:  First Place Prize (Judges' Pick)

The wretched crew lined up midship, tattered hems of their shirts unencumbered by breeches. The wind skirted in—tickling the shirttails—allowing Captain Smythe to glimpse assorted legs. Though jaundiced and twisty, he coveted them like Crack Jenny’s teacup.

“Curses! Scrawny, like me Great Aunt Bessie’s, they are,” he spat a wad of tobacco on the offender’s boots.

“Blimey! Like a bloated corpse too long in the sun,” Smythe sank the blunt edge of his cutlass into Seaman Jones’ springy flesh.

Pausing mid-stride, he adjusted Barrelman Mick’s rotted leg, a knuckle too short, causing Captain Smythe an uncomfortable lopsided gait.


Lisa H. Owens
Inspired by a June 2023 Black Hare Press Dark Moments Themed Contest: Pirates