Excellent

In the wee hours, everything changes

Lights Out

by Rachelle Allen

Phobias Contest Winner 

In the dark, as my husband sleeps, Nothing remains ordinary in our room. My childhood armoire becomes a shadowy, lurking kraken, his molten eyes cloaked as he readies himself for the kill. The laboring clothes tree mutates to a gnarled prison escapee, waiting to suffocate me with this long, knobby fingers Our oversized armchair transforms into a silent, crouching panther who has sensed my fear, and pauses, with a hunter's silent patience, for the perfect moment to leap up and overtake us. In the dark, wind through the open windows becomes the beating of rabid bats' wings and whispers of deranged accomplices as they haggle about their preferred execution of our grim and bloody demise. In the dark, there is only the inky doom and my far-too-wild imagination.

Writing Prompt Write a 10-15 line free verse poem about a phobia you may have. We all have something that very much frightens us. No rhyming patterns.

Phobias Contest Winner