Judgement by Brenna Yovanoff

“Judgement” by Brenna Yovanoff

I hadn’t picked out a short story to read this week, but when I received The Replacement in the mail today, I noticed that the author, Brenna Yovanoff, writes at Merry Sisters of Fate. This is the first piece of fiction by her that I came across.

The story is set in a high school on a rainy day. A flood warning is issued and all the students are to stay in the building, but when the story moves to Clemmie’s  locker, the school is now all but deserted. Clemmie sees no one she knows until a dead girl passes her, dripping blood along the hall.

Clemmie eventually finds two other teenagers she knows, the first a girl crouched in the shop room.

“It’s Revelation.” She was hugging her knees to her chest. Her voice sounded high-pitched, like it was squeezing through a tiny hole in something. “It’s the Rapture, the Second Coming, when the righteous will be lifted up to Heaven.”

Then they find a young man in the cafeteria, each of the three has a secret, a secret that needs to be confessed if they are going to be saved. Sadly, at some point there is no one left to confess to, even if you choose to tell your story.

The story is eerie, the atmosphere ominous. You’re wondering through the first two-thirds of the story what exactly is going on. By the end, I felt sorry for Clemmie, but found her disturbing at the same time. Overall, a story that’s worth reading and it made me look forward to reading Yovanoff’s novel.

John hosts Short Story Monday at The Book Mine Set. Head over there to see what he and others have been reading.

The above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate.

[tweetmeme source= “carolsnotebook” only_single=false https://carolsnotebook.com/2010/07/26/judgement-by-brenna-yovanoff/]