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?
Jo Jenner is on twitter
@jojenner40 and on facebook
Check out her short
story anthology available on Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DOCK3S0
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