A to Z Challenge - B is for Box

The A to Z challenge is to write a daily blog post centred around a different letter of the alphabet each day. I will attempt to write a complete story which will continue each day and hopefully draw to a conclusion when we get to Z.

It’s April’s birthday and she has just opened a box. If you missed the post for A find it here.

Davey had been expecting to surprise April when he rang the doorbell on the morning of her birthday. At first he had not heard the screams over the noise of the bell, but when he stopped pressing the bell the noise didn’t stop. He started jabbing at the bell trying to make it stop but nothing he did would stop the noise. Then he realised it wasn’t the bell, it was someone screaming.

Spurred into action Davey dropped the large bunch of flowers and vaulted the three feet high fence that surrounded the house. Running round the back he could see April standing at the dining room table with a box in her hand, screaming. Davey tried the back door but it was locked. He tried the patio windows but they were locked too. He started hammering on the glass.

‘April, April. Let me in.’ Davey shouted through the patio doors.

April didn’t move. Davey pounded on the doors once more and finally, as if in slow motion, April turned her head towards the doors and saw him. She dropped the box and running over to the door, opened it, and fell into his arms sobbing.

‘What is it baby? What happened?’ Davey asked holding her close and gently stroking her back.

April was still crying and gasping for air as she pointed behind her to roughly where the box lay.

‘It’s okay. I’m here now. Will you be okay while I go see what it is?’ Davey lifted April’s chin with his index finger so she looked into his eyes. He usually melted when he looked into those cornflower blue eyes, only this morning they were red with crying. She looked so frightened and vulnerable. April nodded and Davey placed her gently onto the garden bench whilst he ventured inside.

As he crept through the patio doors, not sure what to expect, something crunched under foot. He looked down to see large white crystals scattered all over the floor and the box upside down under the table. Davey bent down and lifted the box leaving its contents lying on the floor. It was then that the smell hit him and he started to gag. He gulped in air twice and then, remembering old detective shows, started to try and breathe through his mouth. He composed himself and turned away carefully following the same route back to April. Behind him the severed finger lay rotting on the floor.

 

Is the finger real? Whose is it? Why has it been sent to April? Who sent it?

 

Want to find out what happens next?

Get the full story from Amazon click here

Jo Jenner is on twitter @jojenner40 and on facebook

 https://www.facebook.com/#!/jojennerauthor

Check out her short story anthology available on Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DOCK3S0

 

 

 

 

A to Z Challenge - A is for April

The A to Z challenge is to write a daily blog post centred around a different letter of the alphabet each day. I will attempt to write a complete story which will continue each day and hopefully draw to a conclusion when we get to Z.

Everything about April screamed summer. Her fine shoulder length blonde hair, framed her face like a halo. She had alabaster skin which served as a perfect backdrop to her cornflower blue eyes. Even on the dullest days a light seem to shine around her. She was petit, no taller than five feet, and she wore ballet pumps which made her look even smaller, as all her friends wore at least a three inch heel. Her dresses were nineteen fifties in style and people often remarked that she made them think or Sandra Dee or Peggy Sue.

April was everyone’s friend and everyone liked her, but there was one small problem and that was her birthday. April had been born on April first and that was why her mother had called her April. All her friends thought it was great fun to send her joke presents on her birthday. April had a good sense of humour but not when it came to her birthday. Everyone else got treated special and spoilt on their birthdays and all she got was to be made a fool of. They always made up for it later on in the day but she had lost her excitement by then.

This year April had sworn it would be different. She had warned all her friends that she would never speak to them again if they didn’t treat her birthday with some respect and they had promised to make this year special.

April was going to be twenty one and she really hoped they would keep their promises.

When April the first arrived April woke up to the sound of the birds singing. Even early in the morning the sun was already shining through her window. She checked inside her slippers and her dressing gown. Nothing. She carefully walked through to the bathroom and checked the toilet seat for cling film and the shower head for ink. Nothing. She slowly edged down the stairs checking each step before putting her weight onto it. Nothing. In the kitchen she checked the milk and upon finding it was fresh, made her breakfast.

There on the table were a pile of cards and five presents. She carefully opened all the cards and read the greetings. April found a strange warm feeling enveloping her. This must be what it’s like for everyone else on their birthdays she thought. She placed the cards on the mantle and started to open her presents. An ipad, a couple of cd’s she wanted and a copy of 1984. She couldn’t believe how lucky she’d been. The final parcel didn’t have a tag on it. April wondered who it could be from. All her family had bought her something and she would see most of her friends later.

She slowly eased open the celotape and the wrapping paper fell away to reveal a small box. As she carefully lifted the lid, the smell hit her. Putrid, almost rotten. It was the worst thing she had ever smelt. The box was open in her hand and all she could do was stare at it.

The silence was broken as the doorbell rang. At the same time April started screaming.

 

 

 

Want to find out what happens next?

Get the full story from Amazon click here

 

Jo Jenner is on twitter @jojenner40 and on facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/jojennerauthor

Check out her short story anthology available on Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DOCK3S0