Writing Prompt Winner: Katy Walker

(MAY 23RD PROMPT)

To check out the photo and prompt, go here. Read Katy’s story below.

Prompt: Nobody survived except the boy alone. No one knew how or why. He took a step toward them and tilted his head…

I felt like a dog catcher trying to lure a stray whose owner had beaten it, then abandoned it. Someone had left this boy for dead. We were trying to be quiet and careful because we didn’t know what happened to everyone else yet. He didn’t see me peering at him from behind the corner, but my associates had definitely caught his attention. Idiots…. I had no patience for the clumsy group the Doctor had hired to round up survivors. The boy tilted his head again, crouching on all fours like an animal. Maybe we are dog catchers, I thought as I watched my team walk towards the boy, speaking down to him in a soothing manner. When one man, Marty, I think, got within two feet of the child, the boy pulled his lips back in a snarl. If he had feline ears, they would have been flat against his disgusting, grimy hair. I swallowed nervously. The boy’s teeth were stained red. Marty ignored the warning signs like the stupid oaf he is…was…and reached out to grab the boy’s arm. The snarl opened into a feral smile as the boy leapt for Marty’s throat and latched on with hungry jaws. Marty clawed at the boy, his eyes widening in surprise. And faster than I thought possible, Marty was down…unmoving. I accidentally tripped over my own feet and watched as the boy’s head swiveled in my direction. I ducked behind a toppled desk. Did he see me? A crack between the wall and the desk revealed the boy standing slowly—deliberately as the rest of my team ran away. His voice echoed in the empty halls as the feral grin spread wider on his bloody maw. “I love hide and seek.”