The Intruder
This is a story I wrote for a flash fiction contest. It had to be a complete story written in 300 words or less. The Intruder is only has 284 words.
Jennifer's heart was pounding so loudly in her ears, she thought surely he would hear it. She struggled to quiet her gasping, ragged breath. She had one brown eye plastered to the keyhole of the closet door watching for his shadow to lead him into the room.
She had been sleeping soundly when she was shocked awake by a hand placed over her mouth and a guttural voice whispering in her ear, Lie still or I will kill you. He was lying on top of her pinning her to the bed under the covers. Her reaction had been pure instinct. She rapidly turned one way and then the other, throwing him off balance. A quick thrust of her knee into his testicles had made possible her escape.
She reached up to the shelf above her and brought down her shotgun. She pulled down the barrel to find the shell still in place, turned back to the door, and put her eye back to the keyhole. She could hear the creaking of the floorboards before she saw his big shape outlined in the doorway. I know you're in there, he called to her in a mocking, sing song tone.
At that instant, she kicked open the closet door and pointed the shotgun at his overabundant gut. And I know you're out here, asshole!! she hollered at him just before she squeezed the trigger, opening a hole in his belly the size of a softball. The shot had thrown his body out of the room into the hallway where it gave a final twitch before lying still. She stepped over it giving him a final contemptuous look before heading to the phone to call the police.