Flash Fiction #9 - Renewable Energy
- Jacob RD Johnson
- Oct 11, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 12, 2025
Picture Prompt
300-word Flash Fiction
Post # 9
Week Ending: 08/08/2025
Genre: Horror
Title: Renewable Energy.
Life’s never been better. I’ve had a flood of great changes in my life. I met a woman who made it all happen. She granted me wishes that I was skeptical to believe. But, we made a deal. If the wishes came true, I would meet her at her “lair” for payment.
Every wish had come to pass, so here I sit at her table in an old chair that is deceptively comfortable. I'm ready to pay my debt. I take in the scenery. There are shelves that line every wall, full with all kinds of books and devices that I couldn't begin to guess what they’re for.
Between us is a round table, upon which lay a lacy doily and on top of that is a crystal ball. I try not to laugh out loud. The room smells of dust and I think I'm hearing faint whispers from my left. When I look that direction, I see dozens of lit lanterns, lining the floor of an adjacent room.
“What are these lanterns for? What powers them?”
She says, “These are my life source. They're powered by happiness. I am over four hundred years old.”
“Sounds like a renewable energy.” I'm laughing, but I'm feeling creeped out at the look she's burning through me. “What do I owe you?”
She stands wordlessly, walks around the table, and punches me right in the chest. Her hand pulls away, there is light emanating from within her fist. I watch her walk into the lantern room and drop the light into one that had been dark.
At the advent of illumination, I feel all happiness drain from me. My thoughts turn dark. I realize, too late, that her comments were no joke. She granted me wishes to harvest my happiness like a crop.
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