Written for Sunday Whirl Wordle using
Brenda’s prompt words shown below,
and Fandango’s Story Starter, the
underlined paragraph of my story.
letters, urged, exist, pranks, view, incessantly,
west, fools, lunatic, bones, ghastly, vast
OOPS! This is a new story with last week’s words.
I’ll play catch up during the week!
Halloween night, 1926. The wind moaned incessantly through the vast Ashford estate as Inspector Minnie Ming followed Lord Ashford across the west lawn toward the family crypt. Jack-o’-lanterns grinned from every window.
“Three letters, Inspector,” Lord Ashford urged, waving them. “Each promised my dead brother’s ghost would come for me. Tonight his crypt was found open, and his bones are gone!”
“Ghosts do not exist, sir,” MinnieMing said. “Fools and pranks, however, are plentiful this time of year.”
A single white glove with what appeared to be several drops of blood on it lay on the ground almost covered by dead leaves.
Inspector Ming knelt, sniffed the stains, and smiled faintly. “Beet juice. Ghastly color, sweet smell.”
“Some lunatic is tormenting me!” Ashford cried.
“Not a lunatic, my lord. A planner.” She turned the glove’s cuff into plain view, displaying a monogram …. E.A. Standing in the shadows, Ashford’s nephew, Edmund, paled.
“The letters were typed on your uncle’s machine, Edmund; its ‘e’ drops low. You hoped to frighten him into his grave before he changed his will.”
“And my brother’s bones?”
“Still in the crypt, beneath the false floor you built. Even pranksters dislike carrying the dead.”
Somewhere above, an owl hooted approvingly.
NAR©2026
#Wordle
#FSS
This is “Slow Dance In A Crypt” by Lucifer
Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
