A collection of short stories

The Terrible Fate of Humpty Dumpty

This was my Baseline Assessment (:

"...All the king's horses, and all the king's men, wouldn't put Humpty together again!" Klive announced in a song-like tune.

"Pfft- that's not how it goes!" Bill snorted most improperly.

Bill and Klive sat, perhaps ironically, atop a wall, as they usually did on the weekends. Whether they were taciturn or talkative- they spent hours there.

Looking down, Bill wasn't paying attention much as he took in the views before him. Luscious green hills, far-off snow-tipped mountains, evergreens growing off them. Clear crystalline lakes standing in as mirrors for the self-observing expanse of cloudless sky.

"What?" Klive's sudden, harsh voice brought him back to the moment.

"What do you mean?" He was equally as confused- forgetting the conversation they'd been previously having.

"What do you mean 'that's not how it goes?'" Klive elaborated, as though it were obvious. For anyone listening, it probably was- except for Bill. What it boiled down to- he had the memory of an egg.

"Oh- I mean, it's 'All the king's horses, and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again', 'couldn't' not 'wouldn't'- that sounds like they're evil!" He laughed.

"You sure?" His friend stood his ground.

"Positive."

Klive emitted a hum of disagreement as he pushed him playfully.

"I don't think so." He persisted as Bill began to lose his balance. He watched as Bill failed to restabilize himself, arms flailing, a strangled noise tearing free from his throat as he began to plummet at a terrifying rate.

Before he knew it, Bill landed in an unceremonious heap. His mind scrambled, he watched the world slip away as he succumbed to the darkness.

Now awake, the first thing he registered was the unimaginable pain. The second- he had no idea where he was.

He didn't know what bones were cracked, or where he was. What he did know, however, was this: kill Klive.

(words: 311)

Critical:

The main theme is horror, twisting a simple nursery rhyme which is really already pretty dark and making it scarier. What better monster than a friend? So I used a common fear of someone close to you betraying or leaving you, with Klive. Of course there is the fall, which would possibly be worse for people with a fear of heights. Revenge is another common aspect in horror, setting out to get back at someone who wronged you, a simple plot starter. The more comedy aspects involve a few egg puns, Klive with a 'K' instead of a 'C'- supposedly the funniest letter of the alphabet, and the ridiculousness of the names in general. 

Also some smaller things like the word "snorted" or the phrase "most improperly"- which makes it sound like it's mockingly posh. It started out more comedic and light-hearted, before taking an unexpected dark turn for seemingly no reason. But that's the thing, sometimes, there just is no reason, and that, to humans- who are always searching for the 'why's of everything- no reason for doing something is terrifying. I tried to incorporate as much horror and comedy as possible whilst simultaneously sticking as close as possible to the word count and still having a plotline.

(words: 209)