Deadly Artefacts

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Copyright Oggbashan October 2006

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons.

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The following are 15 fifty-word stories with a Halloween theme. The title isn't counted. Each is a nightmare on death inspired by an object.

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01. Stone Knife

Layla threw a flint knife.

"Ouch!"

"It didn't even scratch!" she screeched. "I asked for a new one weeks ago."

I went out to make a new knife.

On the furs Layla swiftly drew the blade across my throat.

As I died she said, "I want a new man too."

***

02. Arrowhead

Chip. Chip.

Making a new flint arrowhead was tiresome. I had to finish it quickly before my arrow was found in her husband's back. I couldn't explain a bow with no arrow.

Hours later my bowstring was wrapped round my neck and pulled tight.

Good workmanship is too easily recognised.

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03. Bronze Axe

"You value that axe more than me," She accused as I sat beside the fire sharpening the edge.

It was true. The axe head had cost me a month's hunting. She had come free with her father's curses for being an incompetent cook.

The axe cut through her neck cleanly.

***

04. Roman Coin

She threw the old coin into the sacred stream. No one would spend it now.

He had given it to her that morning. Was it payment for what he thought she was?

That night, exhausted, he went to sleep. A blanket, held down by her body, made his sleep eternal.

***

05. Loom Weight

She had been sitting at the loom when the Vikings raided.

A hairy sweaty man had pushed her to the ground, raised her skirts and raped her violently.

He held her down until he could rape again.

Collapsed across her he did not see the loom weight crush his head.

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06. Pestle

He ground the pestle into the mortar, crushing the dried leaves into a powder.

He was villein and to be sold with his wife and children like cattle because he couldn't cure the Lord's wife's frigidity.

She would poison her Lord and marry her lover. Villein and family could stay.

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07. Longbow

It must seem to be a hunting accident.

Walter Tyrell raised his bow and aimed, watching the Royal party from the corner of his eye. If he could just get the King in line with the tree...

He let the arrow fly. The King is dead. Long live the King.

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08. Marlin Spike

Mutiny? Many of the crew would be hung or lashed. Yet they could not bear the Captain's cruel treatment any longer. Even the officers hated him.

Up at the topgallant yard he drew the marlin spike from his belt. As the mast swayed he let it slip. A fortunate accident.

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09. Duelling Pistol

He lifted it from its case. A precision tool of death lay in his hands. All he had to do was raise it, aim and fire.

The trigger action was feather-light. The ball would be accurate at thirty yards.

Such gunmaker's art was unnecessary to blow one's own brains out.

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10. Musket

A military musket is such a crude device. It is only accurate to fifty yards. Could I use it to kill my fellow man?

I lifted the heavy barrel and lined it on my target.

Three hundred British shots fired as one. The Emperor had come to meet his Waterloo.

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11. Rifle

He prized the rifle he held more than anything he had ever owned. It was payment for making war on the British.

He could kill at two hundred yards, far further than tomahawk or bow.

He died still clutching his rifle, shot by another Native American - with a British rifle.

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12. Cannon Shell

"Dulce et Decorum..."

There was nothing sweet about the way I died, shredded into tiny fragments by an exploding shell. What decorum is there for my body, now food for the teeming rats?

I will be one of those with no known grave save the Western Front.

Pray for us.

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13. Commando Knife

My gloved hand covered his mouth. My sharp knife slit his throat.

Who was he? Someone's husband? Father? He was old enough.

It didn't matter. He had to die and die quietly. War is like that.

Why do I remember him fifty years later?

He was a man like me.

***

14. RPG

The rocket propelled grenade smashed through our LandRover killing all except me.

I was left to the mercy of the guerillas who made sure that I took a long time to die hard.

They wanted me to curse my Christ and praise Allah.

I fluently cursed our penny-saving Treasury instead.

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15. Switch

Some day a person will sit by a switch. Moving that switch will kill millions just like themselves.

Will they understand what they are doing?

They will not kill the enemy.

They have become the enemy of themselves and the whole of humanity.

Don't move that switch.

Kill yourself first.

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