I need tips and ideas on how to start a short frightening / suspenseful story. And ideas on what to make it about.

Ideas:

A girl finds out she can see into the near future and distant past, but she has to wound or injure herself to see it. She keeps her ability a secret from everyone. However, one day some men come and give her an ultimatum. What is the ultimatum and what are you going to choose?

Tips:

Over describe stuff and details

Foreshadowing

Betrayal

Plot Twists

Keep your characters in the dark - they don't have to know everything that is going on.

The tone of the story was changed to the tone of joy with the use of 'flower of Truth' metaphor in paragraph 33.

Explanation:

"A Matter of Prejudice" is a short story written by Kate Chopin. The story is about the prejudices that Madame Carambeau had and how her prejudices were washed with a warm touch of a little girl, who came to be recognized as Madame's granddaughter.

Madame Carambeau was filled with many prejudices but her prejudices were challenged when a small girl came rushing in her private space on the eve of her grandson's birthday party. The girl was suffering from fever, though Madame was prejudiced against Americans, she nursed the child with a care of a mother. The soft and warm touch of child bore a seed with her innocence in the heart of Madame Carambeau. It was this seed sown by the child's innocence that helped Madame to see her prejudices. This revelation or confrontation by Madame to her own prejudices is called the 'flower of Truth' in the story.

After this 'flower of Truth' bloomed, the tone of the story changed into a joyful tone. Madame Carambeau overcame her prejudices, attended an American church service and also welcomed back her son, who was banished from her house because he married an American girl. It is at this point, the readers and the characters in the story come to know that the child whom Madame nursed was none other than her granddaughter.