A Blog about Stories
Everything is there to be faced
Fear comes wave by wave as
your terrorized imagination threatens
to run berserk.
Will you muster sufficient faith to be able to restrain it,
having already prayed to a selection of known Gods?
***
By now do you realise how little control
you have over things that really matter?
Flailing, kicking and twisting in the water, remembering when they taught you
on your only day at swim class,
“Don’t fight it, just let the water carry you.”
Lenny Marlin’s instinct was always spot-on when it came to clients, as it was on this occasion. The only problem was he didn’t heed the warning.
1.
Lenny sprinted up the narrow alley, breathing hard. The hand was in the carrying case, he was pretty sure, but he wanted to stop and make doubly sure. After several backward glances and seeing no pursuers, he stopped running. Unlatching the case, he peered inside and – yes! – Osgood’s hand was there. He took off again as his thoughts veered out of control.
Why did he go to the meeting? It had nothing to do with him. Stupid, stupid decision! Osgood was the one meeting Marissa and her dull brother. Lenny had known she was trouble the first time he saw her at Greater Aldershot. He should have minded his own business.
Lungs near bursting, he reached the crest of the alley where a wide strip of overgrown grass lay between him and a busy road. He waded into the grass.
The policia said they’d wait for the autopsy report before concluding on the victim’s identity.
The mound of earth on the open plain had unmistakable traces of having been seared. Was it by lightning? Rubie now understood why that possibility had occurred to the authorities. She did a slow 360-degree turn and saw mirages dancing on the horizon where the sun was sinking softly. Reddish clouds hung low on the opposite side. There was nothing to attract lightning for miles around. Except, perhaps a body as loaded with metal implants as she knew her father’s was.
The media had reported that the victim’s remains looked like overcooked meat, giving off an unbearable stench. The policia said they’d wait for the autopsy report before concluding on the victim’s identify.
“Come back Tuesday”, they’d instructed, as nobody there worked weekends while Monday was reserved for catching up on paperwork. Continue reading “Rubie’s Search”