The Watermark

THE WATERMARK

The Librarian thought of a cat’s eye; they were riddled in yellow.  The cat's stare was pensive and ethereal.  Red splattered into the pages of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, smearing the black ink.  The letters swirled like tea leaves as it formed into a black cat.  Frantically, the librarian knocked over a jar of loose change as she wiped her nose; there was no blood.  She reluctantly looked up and saw that there was a leak; taps of iron water, it must have been.

Author's Note

Dear WC,

This short story was a prompt from a college writing class. The criteria for the assignment was to write a short story in a paragraph containing the following:

1. Librarian
2. Cat
3. Jar of Loose Change

"The Watermark" is a rough draft, and I welcome all criticism.

Thank you for reading!

~Ria

Reviews

[Lorry]

Even reading the title of that Stephen King book brought back reading, and then later watching the movie to me. It was for some reason one of the creepiest movies I have ever watched. Something about zombie cats and dogs freaked me out at the time and still gives me the yeuchs :)
I like this piece though, very vivid, the iron water maybe suggests the watermark looked rusty, like a long, slow leak over years, or maybe that is just me remembering again, the smell of crumbling old libraries. :)

[Vria P Crow]

Thank you for reading! Before I forget, it is a shame that when people leave this site, their reviews are omitted. I knew one of them that left which was unfortunate because they were being stalked. I still like to look at old reviews from time to time because I don't always remember all of them.

Oh, I love "Pet Semetary" even though harm to animals upsets me. Stephen King stated in the introduction to the book that this was story was the most terrifying for him.

Nice observations on this fun prompt response. I was thinking something more sinister like a body in the ceiling. However, I liked the open ending. Silent libraries can be spooky.

[Lorry]

I'm not leaving Ria, just tidying up some pieces. I keep messing with them when I should just leave them well enough alone. They will be back up tomorrow, promise.
Ohhhh, yeah, that makes much more sense now.I wonder if I will let out a yelp next time I am in my creaky old library and I se a water mark on the ceiling :) I'll wear brown trousers just in case :)

[Vria P Crow]

haha That is good you aren't leaving. I just know the other two reviews on "The Watermark" were removed when people left.

HAHA I guess I have a Stephen King complex where I am pleased when something freaks them out because of what I wrote. This piece was a fun write for prose practice since I am awful with grammar.

[Lorry]

Ha, a little freaking out now and again keeps you on your toes :)

[Vria P Crow]

Haha You can imagine it takes a lot to scare me which does not count "jump scares" when it comes to films and books. In reality, I am a scaredy cat.

[Lorry]

In reality, I can't even watch casualty, which is like an ER type programme over here. As soon as I hear the them tune, I feel like boakin', which means being sick. Even a plate of jello makes me squirm. I refuse to eat anything that is still moving when it's on my plate :)

[Vria P Crow]

See, I am interested in the medical field because I see positivism.

[Lorry]

All I see is the yucky :)

[Vria P Crow]

haha That is understandable. I see it as saving lives. I don't get too grossed out.