Mark and the Diary

A 247-word story about a guy called Mark finding a diary.

Mark could never get the hang of aerobics, but the doctor insisted he do his exercises every morning. After falling onto his arse for the fourth time, he decided he’d just lie down and wallow in self-pity. A good plan, he thought. After all, he’d done it countless times before.

As Mark tilted his head he noticed something under his bed (something aside from the old shoes, magazines he’d rather not admit to owning, and the Mother’s Day gift he’d been meaning to deliver for three months now) - a small, pink book. Retrieving it, Mark noticed the faded words on the cover: “Secret Diary of Kelley Jacobs - KEEP OUT, JOSH”. Must have belonged to the previous residents, Mark reasoned.

Now, Mark wasn’t the kind of person who would just read a complete stranger’s diary. That would be wrong, he thought to himself.

And if he had listened to his conscious, he might have survived.

Leafing through the pages, Mark saw the typical preteen girl schmaltz (feeling rather dirty now for invading the young girl’s privacy), and skipped to the end out of boredom. One entry, with no date, in rather different handwriting.

“I know that sinful oaf Mark does his exercises as soon as he wakes up, and always falls down. I’m going to bait him with this diary and snatch the perverse moron while he’s distracted by it. I know you’re reading this, Mark. Hell awaits you, but not for long.”

Nobody heard the screams.

Reviews

[BarryL]

Really good stuff, I love the way you turned the whole thing on its head at the end. As with all good horror stories he should have listened to his conscience.

[emily.c.]

Wow this was super unexpected and terrifying. Is there a moral you're trying to get across ? It'd be cool to know some background on mark or what's under his bed, but it's simple and shocking as is.

[Felicity Wyrd]

The background of this is that at school I was tasked with writing a story in 247 words that featured aerobics, a diary, and something under the bed.

I suppose th closest thing to a moral here is "don't go reading other people's diaries"?