Booby Trap
I had seen them flirt from the opposite side of the hall. I resisted the temptation for as long as I could. My office mates did not. Soon, we were understaffed. One by one they followed the glowing bodies, the blinding smell of youth, and the deafening sound of joy. We started hiring every week.
An oblivious spell, or maybe just a morbid skepticism, prevented me from telling the new hires about the forbidden door that granted one-way trips to other worlds.
If you’re reading this, I’m gone for good. Do not follow them. No matter what you see peeping out of that door, do not enter the door on the opposite side of the hall.
In fact, block it, blow it. Out of sight, out of mind. They know our weakness. They’ll be our perdition.
Thanks for your reading
This was my entry to @mariannewest, @felt.buzz, and @latino.romano’s 5-Minute Daily Freewrite: Sunday Prompt: OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE HALL. You can see the details here
Make sure you visit the Freewrite House!!!
Great short story!
Reminds me of the siren known as Lorelei and other mythic beings like nymphs and fairies and fays and succubus etc.
Also reminds me of how young ladies were falsely accused of being all the above as well as witches, and that's the other side of the story.
Be well my friend! :)
Absolutely. There are always (at least) two sides to every story. The femme fatale has been a recurrent motif in folklore and literature. A good way to justify male follies.
Thanks for stopping by