Quicklinks:
|
Great Writing - Home > Short S. > Tangled up in blue
| READING ROOM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| COMMUNITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| ABOUT GREAT WRITING | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| WORK AWAITING REVIEW |
|---|
|
| GW IS... |
|---|
|
Great Writing creative writing community is designed to prompt ideas
and provide inspiration and motivation within aspiring and amateur
authors. Whatever your topic; from love poetry to Doctor Who or Harry
Potter fan fiction, Great Writing's online writing group is where you
can make new friends and improve your creative writing. |
| WHO'S ONLINE |
|---|
| We have 2336 guests online and 6 members online |
Shorts
| print friendly version | |
| Tangled up in blue | |
| By Leo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 June 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Another piece using a song title (Bob Dylan this time) Contains adult themes Midnight. Terry pitched forward into the darkness. Twisting and plummeting. The muscles in his arms instantly snapped taut like great iron suspension cords as he scrambled wildly in mid air. All sense of which way up was lost; but the direction was not. Down. Down hard. Down fast. The surface of the water came up to meet his tumbling form. Unyielding and unforgiving, it met him without mercy. He broke the murky surface and the oily blackness consumed him. He couldn’t swim. He was panicking. Fighting for his life. A primal instinct for survival exploded like an electrical storm along his flailing arms and legs. It took over, and made him fight for the surface… She worked in the bakers. She had smiled at him when he asked for an apple puff. Her cheeks flushed scarlet as his blue eyes smiled back into her brown ones. Later, on their first date, he told her that he had noticed her a long time ago, when she walked past his flat as she took her little girl to school. She was sure he was saying that to make her feel good. It was ironic, because it had been her daughter that had initially made her reluctant to go out with him. Who would want to go out with someone who had all the baggage of a child? Her self-esteem had taken a hammering after previous boyfriends had walked out on her. She had been told on more than one occasion that she was useless, and worthless. Now she was struggling to bring up a child on the money she pulled in from working three days a week. It was nearly impossible. She wasn’t exactly a catch. But he seemed to really like her. He was so kind. She couldn’t believe her luck. He made her feel alive. The water was freezing. Painfully cold. His body’s ability to convert glucose into immediate energy was halving by the second. What little energy he did have was burning low, fast. His muscles were cramping. His diaphragm had convulsed as he hit the surface of the water. His lungs had involuntarily tried to fill. The water was thick and dirty as it entered his mouth and nostrils simultaneously. There was so much of it. Ice cold, heavy, black water. The absence of air was terrifying. His lungs struggled to fill. They were screaming for oxygen. In an instant they rejected the foul fluid, with one almighty explosive, contraction. They then tried to refill again instantly. He reached out, trying desperately to climb through the water. Trying to make the surface. His clothing, which was already five times its normal weight, was dragging him down, further and faster… He was so good for her. He always told her she was pretty. He bought her and Amelia gifts. Little things. Nothing expensive. He was so good with her daughter, even though he had no kids of his own. One day, as she got Amelia ready for school, her daughter had even turned to her mum and said in the kind of earnest way all four year olds do, ‘mummy, can Terry be my daddy’. Her heart melted, she could only dare to dream. He had encouraged her to reclaim her self worth. She finally got chance to dress up and go out. See her old friends. Go down the pub. Play bingo. Have fun. Her life was fantastic, and she only had him to thank. She didn’t know what she would do without him. His limbs finally slowed. A strange, reassuring, almost pleasant warmth spread through his body. He could no longer think clearly, as in his higher brain, vital cells died in their thousands. He was just aware of an all-pervading sense of contentment and peace that blossomed behind his eyes. He finally relaxed. Just then, one of the laces on his shoes snagged on an old co-op trolley that lay half submerged amongst the mud and weeds which covered the canal bottom. His eyes were now wide open, staring vacantly out into the eternal darkness. It was over. As his hand finally unfurled, the photo of a pretty little blonde haired girl escaped his grip, and floated up toward the surface… It had been with a sickening feeling that she finally made the realisation. Amelia had been moody and quiet. She complained of tummy aches. She didn’t want her mummy to go out and see her friends. But she hadn’t paid her too much attention as she was so enjoying the newfound independence. She had even asked Terry to try and talk with Amelia when she went out on Friday night. The following morning after he had gone to work, she had discovered the blood spotting in her daughters’ knickers. Initially she had tried to believe it was an infection or something. She couldn’t get in touch with him on his phone. She needed to speak to him. His mobile just went through to answer phone. His seemed to have disappeared. The hospital had finally confirmed her worst fears. After giving her the shattering news, the police officer told her that she had probably been picked out by him. People who groomed children did that sort of thing very well, he went on to explain. They could smell vulnerability. They were cunning and deceitful. She shouldn’t blame herself for being taken in. He had probably done this sort of thing before, to other people. In all likelihood, many times…. The dolly lay on the bridge wall, overlooking the canal. Tucked under it, a piece of neatly folded paper. It read: Sarah, If you are reading this then I have finally succeeded in doing the right thing for the first time in my life. Something I should have done a long time ago. Long before I even met you. Please believe me when I say that I am sorry with all my heart. I didn’t mean to hurt either of you. I know you won’t forgive me, and I don’t expect you to. What I did was just unforgivable, but you must realise I can’t stop myself. Something inside my head makes me do things I don’t want to do. Nothing works, not the drugs or the counselling. Nothing. It was only your kindness and love made me finally realise that I had to do something to stop myself from ever hurting anyone again. Believe me when I say I loved you both. Truly. Terry The wind then swept it off the wall; it floated lazily down through the night air, until it finally disappeared into the now calming waters…
Only registered users can rate and write comments. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Previous item
|
Next item
|
|---|