The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Confinement
by Melissa R. Mendelson

I found the doll in the garbage.  Well, it wasn’t in the garbage.  It was left on top of it, and I almost didn’t see it when I was walking the dog.  But then it caught my eye, and there was the doll staring back at me.

The doll was left in front of my neighbor’s house.  Only one light was on, which might’ve been her bedroom.  I remembered that she had long, red hair, and the doll’s hair was like hers.  Then, there were the rumors.  One neighbor had heard from another that she could not have any kids, and then that neighbor told my mother.  Shortly after that, little girls began to disappear around town, which reminds me that I should head back.

I walked away from my neighbor’s house when I noticed a thin, red string…