Creative Writing

The Skeleton Army

Prompt: Try to write your own manuscript.

[Cue spotlight]

Tommy: [Stands at the feet of his dead father] I have slayed him, my own father. My personal lord of creation. Oh, what a shame to not know who he was, or what his agenda could have been in the castle as king. The skeleton army has been fighting us for years on end after capturing my father and making him their ruler. They did this to me—those bony men who have done nothing but torture and kill innocent people. They set my father in front of me, saying he was their master who had told them to start the war. I didn't recognize him without any skin to speak of, nor the dark red and royal flowing cape that covered his form—his big-boned form.

Mary: So what now, new "Master"?

Tommy: What the! You scared me! Get away foul beast!

Mary: Um, sure. Whatever... [takes a step back]

Tommy: Dose thou have no heart?!

Mary: Well, no. Duh, I'm a skeleton. And you killed Larry. FYI, your dad is named Terry. He's over there.

Terry: [Waves. Arm falls off]

Mary: He said there was something in the castle he needed... and all you did was kill our scouts and build walls. We had nothing else to do, so we spent years trying to get here. We only listened to Terry because he killed the witch who turned us into skeletons.

Tommy: Who was the witch exactly? Did you know her perhaps?

Mary: Yeah, I knew her. She was the little old lady who took me in as a young girl. She found me—or rather snatched me—from the woods one gloomy afternoon as I was fetching clean water for my family. She brought me to her house and forced me to do as much exercise as possible to strengthen my bones. She gave me glass after glass of milk, which was terrible because it was white milk, not root beer milk.

Tommy: [Rolls eyes] Sounds awful. Exercise and a healthy drink, day in and day out.

Mary: [Shivers/shakes] I know. And then finally, one December night, several angry old men came to the house. They knocked roughly on the wooden door, and almost broke it into splinters. They yelled for her to 'open up', or they would force their way in and kill her slowly.

Tommy: [Surprised expression] So... what did she do?

Mary: [Teeth curve into "smile"] She hustled to the backyard and pushed me deep into the snow. She used some potion that made me feel weak, and a little sleepy. I fell asleep quickly. When I awoke again, I was not freezing to death, but rather burning to death. The witch was staring at me intently with her green eyes, and creasing her forehead in concentration as she slowly rotated her wrist, controlling the flames. I watched as my once snow white skin turned crispy black as it dripped to the rotten floor. I watched as it pooled at my feet like an overdone marshmallow, and some slipped through the cracks. I heard moans to my left, and that is when I noticed two old men hanging next to me, going through the exact same process as I was. [Hangs skull and covers her eye sockets]

Tommy: [Leans forward] What happened next?

Mary: I served in her army for years. The witch used us to enslave more and more, drinking their non-bones remains to ensure her youth. Until your father freed us, we were weak shells of our former selves. We still are.

Tommy: Say, what did my father wish from the castle?

Mary: His diary? I don't know.