A Worm And A Wet Place

It’s the beginning of a story — perhaps?

I wrote part of this piece years ago as a horror/sci-fi flash fiction piece. I’ve added to it and wondered if it might make a good start for a longer story. It’s titled The Dark Scent of Rain. Have a read of this first draft and let me know what you think! And it’s okay if you don’t like it. That’s what I’m here to find out!

The Dark Scent of Rain

The storm had passed and Caitlyn was running for her life. Her lungs burned as she slipped in the muddy broth coating the dirt road and stumbled over the soft mounds of dirt pushed up everywhere. The susurrus of a humid breeze brought with it the petrichor emanating from the surrounding fields telling her it might already be too late. She was too far from the shelter, too far from help, and she was alone. She grew maudlin, vexed by the specious claims the scientists had made; the giant worms of Altusia would burrow into the soil, rejuvenating it, and return the Earth to the agricultural paradise it once was. And indeed, they did. But like the mosquitoes hovering around her as she stopped to catch her breath, they came out to mate only when it was moist and, to fulfill their destiny, they needed blood.

Desperate for a way to save herself, she racked her brain for a path of escape — or means to fight back. There were…