by Laura Shell
So there is one rooster in the neighborhood that sounds normal, emits the typical cock-a-doodle-doo cry in the wee hours of the morning. Then there is the other rooster, the one that submits a scream like someone is holding a hand around its throat. It’s like an “Ehhhhhhh,” sound. And it’s much louder than the other rooster’s call.
So every morning, I hear the rooster that screams and wish I knew where it lived so I could find out exactly why it screams.
The rooster belts out its usual “Ehhhhhhh,” sound, then scratches at the scar on its throat.
Laura Shell has been published in NUNUM, Maudlin House, The Citron Review, among others. Her first anthology of paranormal stories, The Canine Collection, was released in 2024. She’s a prolific writer and submitter of flash fiction and the editor of the Flash Phantoms horror fiction site–www.flashphantoms.net. You can find more about her work at https://laurashellhorror.wordpress.com.