“Shit,” mumbled Andrew as his flashlight beam grew smaller and paler and finally winked out.
He’d gone too far down into the haunted mansion, alone and on a dare from his sister Eloise, and wasn’t sure which direction he was facing in the windowless basement, and strange drafts moaned from every direction.
According to the map (which he could no longer see) held in his shaking hand, several rooms stretched on the below ground level with two contiguous sets of stairs somewhere, one that led down to a clear open channel to the river and freedom, and the other dropping off suddenly into the city’s gaseous and ancient sewer system; he’d lost a sense of the original staircase that lead him back upstairs, but remembered the two sets of contiguous stairwells.
Eloise, who’d lent him her flashlight for the dare, had been eyeing his single bedroom for the last several years, weary of sharing a room with their fractious, and much younger, twin sisters.
“Here Loser, you’d better take these, just in case your flashlight wears out,” she’d snickered, handing him a small box with three wooden matches.
Completely blinded, he’d attempted to use his sense of smell to navigate, but the air smelled thick and bad any direction he went; the only choice was to strike the first match, and pray.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2022)
The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “MATCH”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories
Valley of the Trolls 
Oh, nice start. I’ve been watching Midsummer Murders… (On You-Tube). It’s nice that I don’t have to watch them in order. Today’s featured a ghost too!! An basement below a museum and a dead body buried right in the middle of the main room (used to be an estate house).
I hope to move forward with your story as I catch up on my return visits… of which I am sorely behind again. Cheers, Jules
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Sounds like a promising series…will check my library for this!
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Very scary that she would set him up this way.
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Sibling rivalry cuts pretty deep in some families…and we count our blessings!
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I think you’ve set yourself up for a series now, Liz! 🙂
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A great start to what promises to be an exciting story!
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Oh dear! Pressure’s on! 😂
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Now, you’ve got me hooked already Liz, with the haunted mansion!
I hope Andrew finds another way to light his adventure… he can’t only go so far with this! 😀 😀
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Could be VERY short story.
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Well, it could be… if he only goes so far! 😉 😀
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hey, is it me, or is this Eloise a bit of a jerk?
(way to be a sympathetic character, yo*)
*yes, this does constitute a compliment on your Six, i.e.engaging enough to identify with the characters
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Family resemblances…
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Eloise is redecorating his bedroom at this moment.
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Probably! Ugh 🙈
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At least he had matches. They won’t last long, but he might find that stairway.
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Fingers crossed, depending on whose side you’re on…>>wink!<<
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Uh, oh.. “haunted mansion”. 2nd “uh,oh” going alone into a “windowless basement”!
Gripping opener, Liz. There is way much more to this story, can’t wait for Part 2!
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Link’s been populated!
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