A World Gone To Pot #TWPC

I put the key in the lock and pushed open the door. The familiar smell of grandma’s house flooded my nose. Lavender, lily of the valley, mothballs and old cigarette smoke.

‘Gran, it’s me!’ I called.

Closing the door with my foot, I took the bags of shopping down the short hall and into the kitchen. Dumping everything down, I began to unpack things.

‘Gran?’ I called after a few moments then stopped to listen.

She didn’t reply so I went into the living room. The TV was up full blast and she was fixed to the screen watching the news report about the spreading virus.

‘Did you lose your hearing aids again?’ I asked then muted the TV.

Gran looked around at me wildly then shouted, ‘Cara? When did you get here? I lost my hearing aids! Have you seen the news?’

I rolled my eyes and answered, ‘yes, gran.’

Searching for her hearing aids took a few minutes; they were down the side of her chair. Then we put the TV to a lower volume and I went back to unpacking. After, I made us both tea, sandwiches and cakes.

‘I got all your shopping in, gran. There’s no need for you to go out,’ I said.

‘What was that, Cara?’

I signed, my gran was ninety-four and still living in her own house because she was so stubborn we couldn’t get her to move into a home. Beside from her deafness and slowly fading memory, she was healthy and seemed to be coping fine.

‘We talked about this yesterday. You can’t go out and have to stay isolated because of the virus. You can’t catch it. That’s why I’m doing the running around for you,’ I explained slowly.

‘I remember! I’m deaf not dumb, child,’ gran shot back.

I sipped my tea and watched the news. There seemed no escaping the pandemic.

‘World’s gone to pot!’ Gran cried, ‘you youngsters don’t know anything. I lived through the war I did! We had to make sacrifices, live as we could, get on with things. We knew what to do; mending and growing, saving, scrapping, getting by without. We had to support our boys too. I knitted socks and scarfs to keep ’em warm. And what’s all this now?’

She waved her hands at the TV in anger and carried on with her speech.

I half listened, having heard most of this before. She was right of course. Everyone was behaving badly, only looking after themselves and driven by fear instead of fact. Gran had lived through worse times and she and others got through it.

‘Fighting over toilet roll!’ gran shouted, ‘I wiped my bum with last week’s newspaper!’

‘Gran!’ I snapped in shock.

‘It’s true, girl. We used what we could back then.’

‘I know. It’s okay. Let’s change the channel.’

With gran muttering, I put something else on; a repeat episode of an old TV drama series. We watched it for a while then I tidied up and got ready to go.

‘See you tomorrow, gran,’ I said.

‘I don’t need babying,’ gran mumbled.

‘I know, I know,’ I signed ‘and you are right by the way. People need to behave better, like they did back then. It would be easier if we were all not selfish and just able to carry on.’

‘Keep calm and carry on!’ gran yelled, ‘we use to say that!’

‘Yes, yes, you did and that’s what we need to do now. Right, see you later,’ I added and kissed the top of her head, ‘and remember no going out. Though the garden is okay. All right?’

‘Yes. It’s time for Countdown. Where’s the control?’

‘Right there, next to your hand, gran,’ I pointed out.

She nodded and changed the channel.

‘Bye,’ I called and let myself out.

 

https://godoggocafe.com/2020/03/17/tuesday-writing-prompt-challenge-tuesday-march-17-2020

Storm Ciara

When the news said there was an amber weather warning, I knew that Ciara wasn’t going to be friendly. She was coming over from America with the full force of a winter storm. At least, the British weather wasn’t as bad as the USA.

Ciara woke me up on Sunday morning by driving hailstone on to my window. I heaved the winter duvet and my massive Great Dane, King, off me and looked out of the window. The wind was fifty to sixty miles per hour, everything was moving violently and the surrounding bare trees were really showing how strong the wind was. Rain thundered down and the wind whipped the water into a frenzy.

I got up and sorted for the day. My bachelor mind doing it’s normal voice off about how nice it was not to have a wife or kids being noisy but also how worrying it was not to have those things.

Letting King out into the garden, the wind blew ice into my face and I was grateful that within a minute King was back inside. I dried him off, wondering how he could be so wet!

King sulked off to his massive dog bed in the converted dinning room. Dispite him being a huge dog – he came up passed my hip and I was six foot two, he could easily rest his head on tables too – King hated the cold and wet weather.

Getting a large mug of coffee and some toast, I went to my study and began working on my different writing tasks. I had a novel to complete, creative writing lectures to plan, students’ essays to mark and journal articles to finish. It might have been a Sunday but writers and teachers never stop.

Storm Ciara erupted throughout the whole day. She hit against the windows desperate to get in. She threw out everything she had; wind, hail, snow, rain, thunder and lightening. I glanced up often from my work and watched the storm from the small window.

King joined me at some point, he put his dark grey head into my lap then curled up tight under the desk. When the thunder started, he yowled and only hugs and comforting words soothed him.

I tried to take him out at lunchtime but a quick trot to the park entrance at the end of my street was it. Storm Ciara was still bad in the afternoon and darkness came early. I took King out again and we embraced the gusty wind and drenching rain together. I tugged him along, trying to convince him that a longer walk was what we were going on.

The trees above swayed violently and the branches cracked. Deep, long stretching pools of water were either covering the grass or the pathways of the park. As we passed the children’s playground, a creeping feeling crawled along my skin. The swings, roundabout and the rocking animals were moving because of the wind but for some reason I thought of ghost children at play.

The wind was whistling through the climbing frame, slide and other things, making ghastly sounds. Rain was dripping off everything and it was all so eerie, almost abandoned looking.

We hurried home and once safe inside, I got use both into a hot shower. King sit, drinking the shower spray and I enjoyed the warmth spreading on my icy skin. After, I got the fire in the living room going and feed King. I just had some soup then we both sat by the fire, watching TV.

‘What is it, King?’ I asked as he raised his head and whined.

Then I heard it, the monstrous groaning and cracking of a tree. There was almighty snap, crunch of metal and shattering of glass. I felt a tremor running through the house and King threw back his head and howled.

I rushed to the window and saw a tree had come down across the street and was laying across a number of cars.

There were bits of tree and car scattered across the road. The wind was picking up the lighter things and blowing them away. Doors of the houses opposite opened and people stepped out. I couldn’t hear them but I could see the shock on their faces and in their body language.

King pushed me out of the way and looked out of the window too. We stayed there for awhile. Watching the crowds of neighbours gather and soon a fire engine arrived. No body had been hurt but some of the cars were write offs for sure.

‘There’s not much we can do,’ I said to King, ‘looks like everything’s under control. It’s snowing again. Let’s go back to the fire.’

Settling down again, King sprawled across the sofa and myself. His head and front legs on my lap, pinning me down. I felt safe like that, even though King was a rubbish guard dog. I guess just having a massive dog and his heavy weight on me was enough comfort as storm Ciara raged outside.

 

(Inspired by current events; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/11/storm-ciara-commuters-warned-snow-ice-across-parts-britain/)

Yestreen #atozchallenge (Part 2)

Yestreen; during yesterday evening. 

Finishing the washing up, I moved on to drying. I heard my wife moving around and it sounded like she was tidying the dinning room. I really hoped she was going to go out soon, I needed to phone Bob, Bill and Jim. My memory from yesterday evening was hazy and I needed them to confide in.

Putting the dried plates, cutlery and tea things away, I chased down the idea to question my wife about today’s activities. She was suspicious about me enough. I turned off the radio and went into the dinning room to get my newspaper, I hadn’t finished reading it. My wife had moved it and herself into the sitting room.

I settled into my favourite armchair and took the newspaper from the side table where she had placed it. The TV was on some drama show my wife liked and she was looking through her small diary. I turned the newspaper pages loudly and buried myself once more in the articles.

‘Perhaps,’ my wife said slowly, ‘I’ll go and visit the vicar’s wife. Though, everyone else is probably doing that. Their daughter was in my school, you know and I am a key member of the village council now.’

I nodded, tried of her reminding me about that.

‘Are you going to the allotment?’ she asked sharply.

‘What, darling?’ I asked, lowering the paper.

‘The allotment, dear. Are going today?’ my wife pressed.

‘Yes, yes!’ I cried, she had just given me a great idea and the perfect cover.

‘I’m not deaf,’ she tutted.

‘No, sorry, love. I had forgotten you see…I was going to show the lads my…erm…lettuces! I should give ’em a bell and remind them,’ I added.

Tossing my newspaper down, I hurried to the phone and called them one after the other. Bill, Bob and Jim were all confused at first but I talked them into it without giving away anything. Then I hurried to change and gather my things whilst trying to keep yesterday evening out of my head.

‘I’m off then, dear,’ I called from the front door.

‘Here,’ my wife called from the kitchen before hurrying down the hallway.

She give me a thermos of tea and a plastic box containing sandwiches.

‘Remember, be back before five. I’m cooking lamb chops,’ she stated.

We kissed goodbye and I left quickly. I hurried down the street, caught the local bus and went to the edge of the village. Getting off, I walked down the lane to the allotments’ gate. It was unlocked and as I walked to my patch, I could see a few other people moving about. Luckily, they were all too far away to over hear me.

I unlocked the wooden garden gate and stepped into my fenced allotment. In neat rows where growing all kinds of veg. I walked up down, checking them in the glowing sunny day.

‘Just a little water,’ I mused.

Soon after I’d done, that my friends arrived. We greeted each other and showed them the few things that were really coming up now.

‘What is that about really, Gerald?’ Bob asked.

‘The news this morning,’ I whispered, ‘did you see it?’

‘Of course! The whole village knows about the murdered vicar!’ Bill said loudly.

‘Hush!’ I hissed, ‘look, I don’t remember much, so I wanted to know if any of you saw anything in the church.’

They fall silent in thought.

‘We heard a scream, a thud and someone running out the other door,’ I said to jog their minds.

‘Yes, then we ran the other way,’ Bill put in with a shrugged.

‘We thought we’d be caught too, remember,’ Jim added.

‘I was too drunk,’ Bob announced with a scrunched up face.

‘And we didn’t…None of us saw the vicar?’ I asked.

They shook their heads.

‘We going to the police?’ Bill questioned.

We all looked shiftily at each other.

‘Why? What can we tell them?’ Bob cut in.

‘I don’t know….That we heard something and saw a figure but we didn’t know what had happened?’ I suggested.

‘Then they’ll want to know why we didn’t check the place out,’ Jim replied.

‘And what we were doing there,’ Bill tagged on.

‘Maybe, we should keep mum,’ Bob spoke out.

There was a muttering of agreements.

‘If they ask though…?’ I broke in.

‘Then…we weren’t there,’ Bill declared, ‘we were in the pub and everyone there can confirm that. When we left we dropped Bob off then went our separate ways.’

I flashed back to this morning. I’d rather face down a policeman then my wife.

‘So we agree then?’ Jim said.

We agreed.

‘Look at those clouds,’ Bob spoke, ‘don’t like the look of ’em.’

Looking up, I saw there was a bank of dark grey clouds rolling in. The sun seemed to have dimmed too. There wasn’t meant to be any rain today, but it seemed no one had told the clouds that.

‘I’m off,’ Bill said, ‘I’ve left Molly with the grandkids.’

‘I should mow the lawn before it rains,’ Jim spoke next, ‘Anne’s been getting on my nerves about it.’

‘I..got…’ Bob trailed with a scratch of his head.

‘It’s fine. See you all later,’ I said and waved everyone off.

Watching them all leave, I wondered if we had done the right thing. But what would we really told the police? And surely, because we all intoxicated they couldn’t really take our word? I shuffled around the bed where my carrots were, debating what to do.

‘Did we really witness a murder?’ I muttered.

I tried hard to recall what I’d seen but it was all shadows and dust. Deciding to go home, I finished my tea and packed everything up. As I waited for the bus, spots of rain fell. It seemed I had left just in time. My thoughts were still stormy like the sky when I got on the bus then off it at home.

My wife wasn’t in, I guessed she was still out visiting the poor vicar’s wife. I put the TV and lamps on then sit in my armchair. I couldn’t settle though. Finally, I reached for the phone and called the local police station.

‘Hello, I’d like talk to someone about the vicar’s murder….I have some information.’

Yestreen #atozchallenge (Part 1)

Yestreen; during yesterday evening. 

‘This says he was killed yesterday evening,’ came my wife’s voice from, behind the newspaper.

I grunted, shuffled my own paper and turned the page.

‘Up at that old church in the glen!’ she added.

Grunting again, I reached around and felt for my teacup. My fingers clinked against the bone china and I groped for the handle. Finding it, I raised the cup and brought it to my lips, taking a few mouthfuls of tea.

‘Dear? Weren’t you up there the other night?’ my wife asked in a pondering voice.

I chocked on my tea little then coughed loudly to cover it up. Setting my teacup back on it’s saucer and my newspaper down beside it, I looked at my wife. She was looking fine in her Sunday best dress which she had worn to church earlier. Her grey hair was curled tightly and pinned up. There was a puzzled expression on her wrinkled face and a demanding look in her blue eyes.

‘What? Er, no. Course not. No where near!’ I spluttered.

Her face hardened, turning into the pinched and knowing look she had been famous for as the headmistress of the girl’s high school years ago.

I felt a wave of guilty school boy in my belly. There was no lying to my wife. I had to be careful now.

‘Oh, maybe we did a little,’ I said, trying to wave it all a way.

‘What did you do?’ she asked sharply.

I shrugged before replying, ‘just stayed at The Woodsman pub, talking and drinking. Played some darts, arranged that golf rematch with Bill. Then four of us went for some fresh air and we took Bob home. You know, he lives close to there…’

I smiled and picked up my teacup again. Dropping my eyes to the small table as I drank, I saw the reminds of our Sunday breakfast; greasy plates, empty toast rack, jar of jam, bottle of brown sauce, the teapot with it’s knitted cosy on, the small jug of milk and the sugar bowl.

My wife ruffled her newspaper again and looked down at it, ‘no details of how he died,’ she muttered under her breath, ‘police still investigating and asking for witness….Who would kill a vicar?’ she said loudly.

‘No idea,’ I answered and got to my feet.

I began cleaning the table, avoiding my wife’s staring eyes. Gathering up the plates and other things on the tray, I went into the kitchen. I put things away then began washing up. My wife had left the radio on and there was some song from the sixties playing. I hoped she didn’t come in here and went out instead. I tried to remember if she was visiting anyone today.

Washing the plates, my thoughts turned to yesterday evening. I hadn’t told her the whole truth. We had been up in the church, we had all been drunk and fancied a laugh. It had been Bob’s idea really, he had a spare key to the door but it had been Ernie who’d come up with the ‘joke’.

At the wooden front door though, we had heard voices shouting, a scream then a thudding noise from within. Bob had flung open the door and we had piled in to see a shadowy figure fleeing through the back door.

To be continued…

Somewhere On The Beach

The beach was empty which was strange for a warm, sunny day. Normally tourists flocked here to see the famous natural rock sculptures. Clearly everyone had better things to do today and I wished I had too.

Trekking down to the beach and towards the rock formation known as the Rhino, I let my troubles consume me. The sand was damp under my feet and my footprints were deep, but I was wearing strong water proof boots, so my feet stayed dry. I heard the sea in the distance, it was far out in front of me and the waves were rolling gently against the sand. The air smelt of spring grasses and salt. Seagulls squawked and circled in the sky, the only other sound to be heard.

I had no reason for being here. The urge to visit the Rhino had come from boredom. If I had a dog that would be my excuse. Maybe I needed to get one? Not a big bounding beast, just a small friendly creature, who wouldn’t give me too much fuss. I had never been animal person though.

The grey and white layered rock rose before me. The top point must have been thirty feet high and there was a thick covering of moss, seaweed and other plants. From the distance, it did look like a rhino eating a chunk of grass, but as you got right up it just looked like a interesting shaped rock; worn over the years by the sea and nature.

I lazily explored the rock pools that gathered in the base of the Rhino. There were a few small crabs, starfish and other things that were surviving in the pools till the sea came back in. Nothing greatly fascinating.

After, I found a dry place to sit on the rocks, looking out at the far away sea and straight of damp sandy beach. Sometimes, there’d be boats or surfers or swimmers to watch, but there was nothing today.

The oddness of that made my thoughts turn away from my troubles and to wondering what was going on. Maybe, the fact it was Monday morning didn’t help. No there was something else going on.

I got up and headed back to the wave breakers and the white fence that marked the start of the beach. Sand clung to my boots and the bottoms of my water proof trousers were wet. It felt like a long walk back. I wished I’d brought my ipod or my phone with me. I had left both hidden in my car though, wanting to be totally alone.

I made it back to the wall and the car park. Something fluttering in the breeze caught my eyes and I went over to it. Flowers, ribbons, cards and a teddy bear collected in a neat little pile. Someone had recently died. I looked at a few of the cards. They were in memory of a young man, but I couldn’t tell anything else from that.

Leaving my car, I went over to the row of shops across the road. It wasn’t holiday time and some of the little shops were closed. A cafe was open and as I walked in I went to a table with a newspaper on it. I sat down and picked it up. On the front page was a report about a young man who had fallen off a boat yesterday and drowned.

That’s why the beach had been empty.

Reading For Love

Everyday on her bus journey to work, Jamie looked through the newspaper’s personal ads and love column searching for any mention of herself.

Creepy Clown (Part 3)

Heavenly stumbled away from the window. She tripped and almost fell over. Steadying herself, she turned to her desk and searched for her mobile phone. A few moments later, she remembered it was still in her bag. Fumbling to find it as her mind raced, Heavenly unlocked the screen and sank down next to her bed.

She dialed the police and listened desperately to the beeping tone as if it was a life support machine.

‘Hello, nine-nine-nine. What service do you require?’ a chirpy female said.

‘The police, please,’ Heavenly breathed.

‘What’s the emergency, please?’

‘There’s a crazy clown outside my house. He followed me from the park. He chased me,’ Heavenly gushed.

‘Can you see him now?’ the female voice pressed.

Heavenly peered over the edge of her bed, but she couldn’t see the window from here, ‘I’m not sure. But I know he’s there.’

‘Do you know what he was wearing?’

‘Erm…’ Heaven cast her mind back, ‘It was like a jumpsuit. Yellow and spotty. A red wig and a red balloon.’

‘Is he carrying a weapon?’ the call operator asked.

‘I didn’t see one. Please can you send someone? I’m home alone. I’m only sixteen. My mum’s at work.’

‘What’s your address, please?’

Heaven spoke her address slowly.

I’ll send someone as soon as I can. Are all the doors and windows locked? The curtains drawn? Are you somewhere safe in the house now?’ the woman questioned.

Heavenly nodded, ‘Yes. It’s the first thing I did.’

‘Okay. Someone will be with you shortly.’

‘Thank you,’ Heavenly said and hung up the phone.

Feeling cramp in her legs, Heavenly got up and stretched. Even though she didn’t want to look, she tip-toed to the window. Trying to conceal herself, but still get a good view, she looked out. The neighbor’s security light had gone off and the back garden was in darkness.

Pulling the curtains back to, Heavenly sank on to her bed and pressed her phone between her hands. She wanted to phone her mum, even though it seemed pointless and why would she want to worry her? Sitting for a few minutes, she debated what to do.

A light tapping, like finger tips on glass broke through the silence of the house.

She looked over her shoulder. The police already? But why would they knock so lightly?

Heavenly listened and realised that something or someone was tapping the window in the back door.

She knew the back door could be seen from her window, but she didn’t want to get up to see. She bite her lip and thought; if that is the clown I could yell out the window that the police are coming. That’d scare him off.  What if it’s a neighbor or a cat?

No. I’m not moving. I’ll wait for the police.

Heavenly crossed her arms and stayed put for an hour. During that time though, she did send a text to her mum, flip through her history and English lit text books and change her clothes so that when the police turned up she was wearing more then just PJs.

The ringing of the doorbell startled her. The noise was so shrill and echoing it took her a moment to unfreeze and go to answer it. She paused, the image of the clown springing to her mind. She opened her mouth to call out who was there, but a voice on the other side beat her to it.

‘It’s the police. Are you there?’

Heavenly swallowed and opened the door. There were two officers standing on the front step. A man and a woman, both looking to be in their early thirties and dressed smartly in their uniforms.

‘Are you okay?’ the female officer asked.

‘I think so,’ Heavenly replied, ‘but the clown…I think he’s in the back garden. I heard knocking on the back door.’

‘We’ll check it out, don’t worry,’ the male officer spoke.

Heavenly nodded and let them both in. She took them into the kitchen and unlocked the back door. The man went out first, turning on his torch and shinning it around. There was no one out there, but the back gate had been unlatched and there was a red balloon tied to the handle.

He came back with it and asked Heavenly about it.

‘When I was walking through the park,’ she began to explain, ‘I saw a red balloon tied to a bench opposite the playground where the clown was sitting on a swing. When I ran out of the park and turned back, he was standing there holding it. Then when I looked out of my window before, I saw the balloon over the fence.’

‘There’s a note here,’ he announced and picked up what looked like a gift tag attached to the middle of the string, ‘I’m going to get you,’ he read.

‘Get me?’ Heavenly gasped.

‘It’ll be alright. I need to take a statement off you. Do you think you can do that?’ the female officer asked.

Heavenly nodded.

‘I’ll go and have a look around,’ the other officer said.

At the kitchen table, Heavenly told everything as she could remember it. The police officer wrote her words down and asked only a few questions. Soon, they were all at the front door again and the police were leaving. They give her instructions then went back to their car. Heavenly shut the door, locked it then went into the kitchen and double checked the back door was locked.

Turning off the lights and feeling exhausted, she went to bed. She didn’t sleep easily though. Her dreams were filled with clowns that chased her and balloons that turned into heads and tried to eat her.

Heavenly woke suddenly and pushed the duvet away. She got up, feeling hot and sweaty. It was still dark even though it was morning. She turned on the lamp and saw it was a few minutes to seven. Almost time for her to be getting up anyway and her mum should already be home. Heavenly got up and went straight to her mum’s room. In the light of the hallway, she could see there was now a shape in the bed.

Closing the door, she went and showered. The hot water helped awaken her and push last night further from her thoughts. She dressed and got her things ready to go to school. As she left her bedroom, she thought about opening her curtains but then decided against it. She went downstairs, made a lunch to take with her and grab a quick breakfast. She went into the living room and turned the TV on whilst she ate.

The morning news was on and once again they were reporting on the clowns. Heavenly turned the volume up and listened.

‘Last night, a twenty-two year old man was arrested after he chased a group of teens across a park threatening them with a knife. It was also reported that he had been following school children on their way home earlier that day,’ the male news report spoke.

The female reporter chipped in with, ‘you have been sending us photos of your clown sightings.’

The screen changed to a very dark photo in which there seemed to be a very distance white masked and wigged figure. It was replaced by another, which was clearer and showed a clown coming around a metal gate. A third photo swapped in, this one showing two clowns facing each other outside what looked like a shop.

‘Pretty creepy,’ the woman spoke.

The studio came back on and there was a shuffling of paper. They turned to other news and the weather forecast.

Heavenly turned the TV off and got up. Her thoughts racing, could that have been the guy that was chasing me? Hopefully it was.

Gathering her stuff, she went to the front door and unlocked it. A wave of nerves wiggled through her as she opened the door and looked out. A normal grey, drizzle morning met her eyes and the wind embraced her in a wet, cold hug. Heavenly stepped out and closed the door. She looked from side to side and saw nothing unusual.

She started walking down the short path that cut through the front garden to the gate. Something caught her eyes in the middle of the pathway. She came to a stop before it and saw that it a soft clown doll.

To Be Continued…

Creepy Clown (Part 2)

Heavenly paused at her bedroom window. Her room faced the back garden which was only a small square of short grass framed by tall dark brown fencing. Evening had all but turned to night, but enough of the neighbors’ house lights were on to see by.

Heavenly looked out, she saw a cat walking on a wall a few gardens down and the wind blowing harder through bushes and tall plants. Over her garden wall, she could just see the alleyway that ran between the rows of terraced houses then the next line of houses’ back gardens. Nothing else was moving , so she let the curtain fall and turned away.

She walked out of her room, cross the hallway, passed the bathroom and into her mum’s room. There she went to the window and drew in a deep breath before gently opening the gap in the middle of the drawn curtains. Peering out, her breath held as she looked down on the street. Nothing was moving, but the wind which she could just about hear.

‘There’s nothing out there,’ Heavenly spoke aloud, ‘it’s all in your mind. And that clown was just trying to scare you and nothing more.’

Letting the curtain slipped from her fingers, Heavenly closed the gap. Turning she, tightening her fists then releasing them. Trying to push the event out her mind, she let her mum’s room and went back to her own. She got changed out of her high school uniform into fluffy PJ’s.

Putting some other clothes away, she caught her reflection in the wardrobe mirror. Her long curly dark blonde hair was a mess. She took it down then re-put it up again. Her pale and freckled face was flushed deep pink with the cold and the run. She pushed her purple framed glasses further up her nose then closed the wardrobe door.

Heavenly then picked up her shoulder bag and dug around in it. She took out her empty plastic lunchbox, school text books, notebooks and pencil case. Picking up the lunchbox, she weighed it in her hands and glanced over at the curtained window.

Just one more check…. she thought.

Slowly, she went to the window and slipped her fingers down the end of the curtain to peer around one side. The gap was too small. Heavenly pulled the corner back more and looked harder. The cat was now walking across her fence. The ginger moggy sure footed as it balanced its way across.

Heavenly looked down both sides as far as she could see.

‘There’s nothing there!’

She dropped the curtain and hurried out of her room and downstairs. She turned right into the kitchen and dumped her lunchbox next to the sink. She got and drink a glass of water then turning around spotted a scrap of paper on top of the cooker. Going over, she found and read a note from her mum;

Hi sweetie, pie and chips in the oven. Please take the washing out of the machine and I’ll see you in the morning. Love you, Mum x.      

For the first time in months, Heavenly wished her mum wasn’t working nights at the hospital. Right now, she didn’t want to be alone. Heavenly dropped the note on the work top and looked down at the oven. She could feel the slight heat coming off the glass still. With a sigh, she opened the door and took out her food.

Grabbing a can of cola, Heavenly went into the living room to eat. She turned on the TV and put on the news. She ate quickly, wanting to go to her bedroom, lock the bolt on her door and do her homework. Finishing up, she was about to turn the TV off when a news report stopped her.

‘The sightings of clowns throughout England continue to grew.’

The breathe caught in her throat and Heavenly became fixed on the TV screen. The male news reporter continued, ‘the craze which has been happening in America over the last few years every October has started here. People have reported seeing scarily dressed clowns outside of schools, shops and their homes. Police have stated they are looking into it and ask people to stay away and report all sightings to them.’

Heavenly swallowed and whispered, ‘clowns…’

She turned the TV off and flopped back against the sofa. Taking a few deep breaths, she shut her eyes. Straight away, she saw that clown sat silently on the swing and the red balloon tied to the bench.

Heavenly cried out and snapped open her eyes. Abandoning everything she fled upstairs and into her room. She slammed the bolt on the door home and took a few deep breaths. Going to her bed, she gathered her school things and sat down at her desk. Turning on her computer, she flipped through her homework diary and debated what to start work on.

However, as soon as the computer and the internet home page had loaded, Heavenly typed into the search engine; Clowns England News. 

Straight away millions of results appeared;

‘Killer Clown’ Craze.

‘Creepy Clowns’ Invade UK.

Girl aged 10 threaten by creepy clown outside school.

Creepy clowns sightings on the raise.

Seen a creepy clown? Here’s what you should do.

Clowns in outrage over misconduct by ‘creepy clowns’.

‘Wow,’ Heavenly breathed.

She clicked and opened up a few news pages and began reading. A dozen or so websites later, Heavenly had to stop, her mind was freaking out and all she could think about was what if the clown had caught her? What would he have done to her…

Heavenly felt the panic raising within her. She dived into her bed and buried herself under the duvets. She tried to collect herself, but she was crying already. Taking in big gulps of air which didn’t seem to help, she wiped her face and thought about calling the police. Just like most of the articles had stated. Calming herself and turning things over in her mind, she thought about other things for a few moments.

Shaking her head, Heavenly felt like laughing at herself. Reaching the conclusion that the clown had meant to do nothing but scare her and it was a Halloween prank, she dropped the whole thing.

‘This is just silly,’ she finally said aloud and threw the bedding off.

She got up and went boldly to the window. Yanking back the curtains she looked outside. It was totally dark out there now. Heavenly stared hard, trying to see anything at all.

A neighbor’s security light flashed on. Heavenly blinked away sudden blindness. Something moved on the other side of her fence. The ginger moggy? Heavenly pressed her face against the cold window and watch as a red balloon bobbed into view.

To Be Continued…

Dear Diary #22

 

Dear Diary,

It’s too quiet in the office. I forgot it was half-term and nearly everyone has booked today off. It’s strange seeing so many empty desks, it’s like the staff have all got up and fled as the Doom chime sounded.

Sitting at the front desk is even worse. At least though the phone sometimes rings and someone walks through the door. Ah, the postman is here. I’m not nosy, but sometimes I just get drawn in wondering about people’s correspondence with each other. It’s poor pickings this morning. There’s a small gardening magazine, a letter for someone who left a few months ago and a leaving card for someone who’s moving to another department next week.

Nothing worth pondering over. Also, today is one of those days were I don’t have much work to do. That’s why I’m sat here, writing this down and looking out of the window at the coming rain. It was meant to be nice today, but it’s clouded over so fast now it looks like a cold grey sea hanging  above the buildings.

There’s a slight rattling in the back and running water. It’s only the cleaners finishing up. Seems like they were on a late start this morning. I can hear them talking, passing on some gossip about someone’s affairs. They come to the front desk, saying cheery goodbyes before heading into the now drizzling weather.

I watch them walking away, chin resting on my hand and a small smile on my face. Then I’m back to daydreaming when I can escape into the stormy sea scape of the day.

 

Dear Diary #19

It’s the start of a new month and boy, am I embracing it head on and arms out! Returned to the gym this morning and tackled the running machine again. Still a bit nervous on it, but once I’d got the rhyme and the beat of my music right I went for a full twenty minute fast walk. Felt really pleased with that and unlike last time, I didn’t get myself down about the person a few places over from me who was actually going at a full run.

Swimming afterwards was like Heaven. Though I hope the water is warmer up there! When I got home I actually felt more creative and sat down to try and do some writing before husband and baby appeared. I got maybe five hundred words done and finished off the chapter I was stuck on last night. Small steps!

Breakfast was a mad rush then it was just me and B. She’s starting to get a fat face and I swear she’s still forever hungry. Tomorrow, is weigh in day for the both of us. I tried to find out what she should be at for four months, but of course there’s so many factors to fit in there and the average is just an average.

I’m doing really great sticking to the day schedule though, but I’m not sure how much longer I can go without my mid-morning and afternoon TV. I miss Netflix’s too, though hubby and I did finally finish watching Dexter at the weekend. The escape from technology is so hard. I hinted that we need to become nomads a few days ago because I can’t see it being possible any other way.

Hubby won’t have it though. He muttered something about going camping. But with B in tow would I really want to do that? I’m still having a slight problem exposing her to the outside world. I know that sounds really bad, but I’ve not been out with her on my own still. I keep saying I’ll go to the park or the shops or to a friend’s with her, but always at the back of my head there’s this little voice that sounds off.

What if something happens to her or me? What if she catches something or is bitten by an animal? It’s safer inside.

I know that’s insane. Who doesn’t want to show off their first baby? But still…I hope these thoughts got away soon. I saw this thing in my baby pack about post-traumatic stress and how your mental health can be affected by a birth. Perhaps that’s what is and nothing more. I don’t really want to talk about it though, because what if it’s not and I am actually going crazy? I can’t think about it. But seriously, if it doesn’t go away, I’m going to have to do something.

I don’t want to be a bad or dangerous mum. The other day I kept thinking about that poor woman who jumped off a cliff with her hours old baby. She had lots of issues all her life, the news report had said and they didn’t understand why she’s been able to walk out of hospital alone like that. That’s an extreme really though.

Maybe, what I need to do is speak to hubby. I know he’ll tell me it’ll all be fine, but to be honest that’s all I want to hear and my own body back again! B is now crying, so I’d better go and see to her. Then it’s bedtime. Though it feels like I’ve done nothing all day, I’m so tired.