E is for Escape

April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

Hello! Welcome back! I hope you are ready for the next blog post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. If you missed the last blog post, definitely go read that one. Click here, or you will be very confused in reading today’s installment.

For this story, I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I felt that this was a really good opportunity for me to not only express my creativity, but challenge myself to building a very long story that could be cut up into multiple parts. And for it all to make sense! So if you want to follow along with other blog posts in the challenge, check the hashtag #AtoZchallenge to follow along.

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

E is for Escape

The day went without a hitch. But when it was time for lights out, Aspen still couldn’t figure out if she was going to survive. All she wanted was to get out and go back to her normal life. She laid on the bunk, praying that something will happen to change her life for the better.

A month had passed and Aspen went through the same routine everyday. Wake up, breakfast, work, lunch, class, free time, dinner, counseling, sleep. Everyday. Nothing was different, the routine was always the same.

Aspen was laying on her bunk during free time when an alarm sounded. It was loud and resounding throughout the entire detention facility. She jumped up to see the door from the common area open and some of her jail mates running through the door. Was this an opportunity for her to escape?

She bolted toward the door and kept with the group of girls. She knew that this was going to be her only opportunity to get out. The girls sprinted through the hallways, turning down every hallway hoping to find an exit. 4 girls ended up running down a different hallway, hoping to get out faster than the big group. The group had run for a while when there was a scream from behind them. Aspen looked behind her to see some of the officers sprinting to catch up. “Stop! That’s an order!”

As they neared a T in the hallway Aspen had to decide if she was going to go with everyone or go alone. She decided to go her own way just in case she could find a way out faster. She turned left when everyone turned right and found a small closet to hide in. Her heart pounded as she watched through the slightly cracked door for the officers.

Two officers walked down the hallway and made their way toward the closet. Aspen quickly hid in the maintenance trash can. She covered the trashcan and prayed that the officers wouldn’t look there. She heard the door open and the two officers spoke to each other. But then they closed the door and left her alone.

She quickly got herself out of the trashcan and slowly opened the door. There were no officers in sight and Aspen quietly crept out of the closet. She made her way toward another hallway and peeked around the corner. Another two officers were walking away from her. She bolted across the hallway and hid in the next closet she found.

Aspen continued to do this through all the hallways. She kept turning down hallways until she finally found a door that led to the outside. She pushed through it and felt the fresh air. It was great.

But she bolted. She ran toward the fence and started to climb. The voices of the officer’s echoed behind her but she didn’t care. A bullet whizzed by her but she kept climbing. She made it all the way to the barbed wire fence and carefully made her way through it before jumping to the ground. Another bullet whizzed by her as she bolted into the forest that surrounded the prison.

She kept running. She ran until she couldn’t run any further. Her breath was heavy and her chest moved up and down faster than she thought it could. Aspen collapsed to the ground and started to relax. She couldn’t believe she had actually escaped. She had actually made it out of the prison.

D is for Detained

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 2 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

D is for Detained

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sat on the bench. Her life was going to change forever. All she heard was the jury and the judge repeating over and over. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Aspen was marched down a hallway and set in front of a doorway. All was quiet at this late hour. “Open H14.” The officer holding Aspen’s arm yelled into the empty common area and the door in front of them slowly slid open. It was dark inside the small room and Aspen felt her heart start to pound a little faster. The officer turned her around and unlocked her handcuffs. “Goodnight.” The door slammed shut, echoing in the large detention facility.

“Whachu in for?”

Aspen spun around to see a woman laying on the top bunk bed. She wasn’t very visible in the dark cell. Aspen swallowed. “Uh…I was set up and no one believed me.”

“That’s what they all say.” She sat up and got down from the bunk. She reached out her hand. “I’m Lily, but everyone calls me Mami. I’m like a mami to everyone here. I’ve seen many a girl come in and many a girl leave. But it’s all up to you how you decide to use your time here.”

Aspen shook Mami’s hand. “I’m Aspen. And…uh…thank you. I appreciate it.”

Mami led Aspen over to the bed and sat her down. “Listen to me honey. You get to decide your future. I…I wasted mine. I got with all the wrong people and I gave up my chance to get out of here. Don’t be stupid. Now tell me what happened.”

Aspen felt her eyes start to fill with tears. “Uh…my boyfriend was very manipulative. He was not a nice guy. And I bought a gun to scare him, basically to show him that I was serious. But then he lunged toward me and I pulled the trigger but I didn’t even know it was loaded. I ended up killing him. But I only wanted to scare him, not kill him. And now I’m here.”

Mami wrapped her arm around Aspen’s shoulders. “Sweetheart, I want you to know everything happens for a reason. But get some rest before you meet the other girls tomorrow.” She gave Aspen a quick squeeze before climbing onto her bunk.

Aspen laid there trying to drift off to sleep. The metal bunk was difficult to get comfortable on. She tossed and turned on her small mattress hoping to get at least a little sleep before the day started.

Aspen was startled as an alarm sounded throughout the building. Mami helped Aspen out of the cell and into the common area. All of the inmates were lined up for morning roll call before being led to the cafeteria. They were given a small bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, and a small cup of fruit. Aspen tried to enjoy the meal, even though she knew it was going to be the same every morning.

C is for Court

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

C is for Court

Ross reached his hand across the table. “You are not the one to blame. You were trying to protect yourself. You were hurt by someone and you were trying to be safe. You are not to blame. Trust me.”

Months went by as Ross prepared Aspen’s defense. She was released on bail the next day and lived with her parents. She told them what happened, made amends, and they forgave her. They didn’t blame her for what happened, it was an accident. Now she just hoped the court would believe her.

Aspen sat in her chair and her foot tapped in nervousness. They had been through all the evidence and the jury took their leave. The jury was in deliberation for a full week before the court was called back from their recess for the verdict.

The 12 members of the jury walked back into the courtroom. They were all very serious as they made their way back to their designated chairs. Aspen felt her anxiety starting to rise as she looked at them, trying to decided what they jury had decided her fate would be.

She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and looked over to see Ross smiling. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You will be able to go back to your normal life sooner than you expect.”

Aspen leaned over to whisper back. “I’m glad you’re confident. I’m nervous.”

The judge hit his gavel on the desk. “Order in the court.” Everyone in the courtroom quieted down. The judge cleared his throat. “Has the jury come up with a verdict?”

An older gentleman in a blue suit with a red tie stood up. “Yes sir we have.” He handed the bailiff a piece of paper and sat back down. The bailiff handed the paper to the judge and took his position next to the desk.

The judge opened the paper, read it, and handed it back to the bailiff. The bailiff walked back to the jury foreman and handed him the paper. The judge coughed. “Sir, can I please have you read the verdict?”

The foreman stood up and cleared his throat. “We the people of the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”

Aspen screamed. She wasn’t guilty, the whole thing was an accident. How could these people think she had done this on purpose?

The judge banged his gavel on the desk. “Order order! Counselor calm your client down.” Ross leaned over and consoled Aspen as she cried. He nodded to the judge when Aspen had somewhat composed herself. “I hereby find the defendant guilty of first degree murder and sentence to life in prison. This court is adjourned.”

Aspen let out another wailing scream knowing that her life was over. The bailiff had to yell over Aspen’s wails for the entire court to rise as the judge left the room. The bailiff came over to Aspen and handcuffed her. She was led to the back of the courtroom and placed in a small room.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sat on the bench. Her life was going to change forever. All she heard was the jury and the judge repeating over and over. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

B is for Blame

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

B is for Blame

“NO! If you take the gun you will use it against me! I don’t think so.” Jacob lunged forward at Aspen and she pulled the trigger out of fear. There was a loud bang and Jacob fell face first onto the floor. A large puddle of blood started to pool around him. Aspen screamed, her brain didn’t register what had happened. Why was the gun loaded? How did she just shoot her boyfriend? She dropped the gun and fell to the floor, crying as she waited for the police to come.

“Jacob! Jacob wake up!” Aspen reached out and shook his shoulder. There was nothing. No life, no breath, no warmth. Tears flowed down Aspen’s cheeks. “JACOB! PLEASE!” She shook his body again hoping for a different result.

The front door flew open. “Police stay on the ground!”

“Please! It was an accident! I just had the gun to scare him! I didn’t know it was loaded!” Aspen wanted to make sure she was heard even though she was blubbering like an idiot through her tears.

One of the officers grabbed her arms and handcuffed her. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” He lifted her up and set her feet on the ground. “And I highly suggest that you remain silent.”

Aspen was led outside and put in the cop car. She was taken to the the station where she sat alone for quite some time. An attorney was assigned to her and he sat in the interrogation room with her. He cleared his throat. “Hello. I’m Ross Peterson. I am your attorney. And I have looked at what happened and I want to get your side.”

She swallowed. “Um…my boyfriend was very manipulative. He tried to change me to be a person that I wasn’t. I pushed all of my family and friends away because of him. I bought a gun from this guy online just to scare Jacob. I didn’t know there was a bullet in it. I know nothing about guns, I just wanted something to scare him into knowing that I was serious. But he lunged toward me and my finger was on the trigger and I was so scared that I pulled the trigger. And then he was suddenly on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. I…I didn’t want him to die. I just wanted things to change.”

Ross leaned forward on the table, getting closer to Aspen. “You know people are going to blame you for this right? They are going to say nasty things about you. Are you ready for that?”

Aspen nodded, tears still trickling down her cheeks. “I know they are going to blame me, and why wouldn’t they? I bought a gun and accidentally killed him. Of course I’m the one to blame.”

A is for Accident

April 1, 2019April 1, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 5 Comments

Hello! It’s April 1st today. Crazy isn’t it? It’s so weird that we are 1/4 of the way through the year already.

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment. Enjoy!

A is for Accident

“Thank you.” Aspen walked back to her car and slid into the front seat. She placed her new package on the passenger seat and covered it with her jacket. She took a breath and started her car to make the journey home.

Her breath became faster as she got closer to home. She was getting more and more tired of the problems that she was having at home and she was finally going to do something about it. Her boyfriend was making her life more miserable the longer that they stayed together.

Jacob and Aspen had been together for 2 years. It started off like any other relationship, just two people who met and ended up having a relationship. They moved in together after 6 months and their relationship started to decline not long after. Jacob was very manipulative, making Aspen’s life terrible. He made her do things that she had never done before, he made her feel terrible about herself on more than one occasion, and treated her like she was a piece of trash.

She finally decided to do something. Jacob would have to change his ways or she was gone. Aspen was tired of having to conform to what Jacob wanted her to do. She was allowed to have her own life and make her own decisions. This needed to stop.

Aspen parked at their apartment and took her belongings inside. She unlocked the door and walked inside the quiet place. She locked the door behind her and questioned the quietness. “Jacob?”

She sat down on the couch as he came thundering down the hallway. “What!”

“Calm down. I was just curious if you were here. I’m back from my errand.”

“What did you do?”

“Uh…” Aspen took a deep breath. “I went to have lunch with Krista and we did a little shopping. But I didn’t buy anything.”

Jacob walked over to Aspen and grabbed her arm. “Do you think I allowed you to go see Krista? Did you ask my permission?”

Aspen felt her lip starting to quiver. “No…but I’m allowed to see my friends. I’m allowed to have a life outside of you.”

He released her arm and slapped her across the face, causing her to fall on top of her jacket and new purchase. She felt him move closer to her. “You think I care about your relationships with other people? I am the only person you should care about. Not Krista. Not your family. Me. You should only…”

“SHUT UP!” Aspen stood up and pointed her newly purchased gun at Jacob. “I am so tired of you making me push everyone away. I am tired of you making me feel like trash everyday. I want things to change. I want us to be a happy couple. Because I can guarantee that I am not happy right now.”

Jacob’s eyes widened as he stepped closer. “Aspen. We can talk about this. Give me the gun and we can talk about it.”

Memories

March 29, 2019March 27, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! I hope you have all had a good week and ready to celebrate the weekend. I, unfortunately, have to work the weekend so all work no play for me. Oh well, it will work out in the end.

This story was inspired by my friend Melinda. I asked her for a random sentence and voila! A story has appeared. So thanks Melinda for the inspiration!

Also, this story is the last one story before I partake in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. This will be a long continuous story for the whole month of April, So if you want to follow along, feel free to start on the 1st and visit everyday for the month. Except for Sundays, there will be no post then. So enjoy this little feel good story and be prepared for a long story in April.

Memories

“I drove by a field of cows while on my way to school. That’s how exciting my day was. Yours?” Mattie sighed. She was so bored that day, nothing crazy had happened.

Oliver shrugged. “Mine was about the same. Nothing crazy. Just work like normal.” He cut his steak, took a bite, and frowned. “I didn’t season this enough. It’s kinda bland.”

Mattie chewed a piece of asparagus. “Yeah…the asparagus is pretty terrible too. How about we just get pizza instead?”

“We just had pizza 2 nights ago. Plus…we need to get better at cooking and we don’t have much extra spending money. So we might as well just suffer.” Oliver swallowed some asparagus and shuddered. “Ugh…but pizza does sound fantastic.”

The two of them somehow managed to get through their meal and Oliver went to clean up the dishes. Mattie sat there and watched Oliver with a smile on her face. They may have only been married for 6 months, but their whole relationship had been wonderful.

She thought about the first time that they met. They were in a group project for a communications class and grew closer as they worked. Oliver was the first one to make a move, asking her out to lunch. They started dating shortly after and Mattie had never looked back.

Oliver was the sweetest man she had ever met. He always made her feel special, almost like she was a queen. But he was so caring and compassionate. Mattie’s grandmother passed away shortly after they started dating and Oliver was there by her side as she mourned. He comforted her and made sure she was okay and it was something that Mattie appreciated.

He also helped her when it came to her schooling. Mattie remembered a time she called Oliver in complete tears and told him she wasn’t prepared for a test the next day. He immediately left home and drove to her place to help her study. They stayed up for hours as they studied and Mattie was so appreciative of him. She ended up getting a B on the test which she was okay with. But he was so supportive of her studying and getting a good grade.

So when he proposed to her a year ago, she obviously said yes. She couldn’t imagine her life with a different person. They planned a small wedding that was held in Oliver’s parent’s backyard. It was beautiful. It was perfect.

And now they were in their own house. Oliver had saved quite a bit of money to get them into their own house. It was small but it was perfect for the two of them. And now they were living a perfect little life. They didn’t spend too much money so they could still pay for their house. But Mattie didn’t mind, she was happy.

Oliver looked over from the dishes and saw her smiling. He smiled at her. “What are you smiling about? Do I look sexy while I’m washing the dishes?”

Mattie giggled. “Oh nothing. I’m just thinking about how happy we are.”

He walked over and kissed her. “We are pretty happy aren’t we?” He kissed her again. “I love you.”

Mattie leaned into Oliver, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I love you too.”

The Friend

March 25, 2019March 13, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! This story is the one that I posted on Book Boro for their Plot Twist Challenge. I unfortunately did not win but I have a good time posting my story for others to read. And congratulations to the winner, they deserved it!

There was a writing prompt for this story, which goes as follows: The sun had finally set. The day was finally over. All was quiet – until that fateful knock at the door. So we had to write a story of less than 1000 words with a plot twist that started with this line. And let me tell you, I LOVE long stories. So trying to keep it to less than 1000 words proved slightly difficult for me.

I’m going to throw a little twist in here and NOT tell you the theme. Basically if I tell you the theme it will ruin the entire story. So…here’s a nondescript themed story! Enjoy!

The Friend

The sun had finally set. The day was finally over. All was quiet – until that fateful knock at the door. There was a clatter of footsteps through the hallway of the quiet house. Mary yelled toward the door. “Stop running down the hallway! I don’t want to tell you again.”

The clattering stopped and the creak of the front door was heard throughout the house. There was a pause before a small voice echoed through the hall. “Hello?”

Mary walked to the hallway to see her son William standing in the doorway. The small boys silhouette stood out in the darkness of the outside world. “Who’s at the door sweetheart?”

Another small boy walked into the house. William’s face lit up. “Hi! I’m William! Do you wanna play?” The little boy sheepishly smiled and nodded. William giggled. “Let’s go upstairs and play!” The two boys ran up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Mary was worried. William had a hard time making friends, maybe it was because he was so outgoing. Some kids were scared of other kids who were too loud, and William was definitely loud. She shook her head, that wasn’t possible. William was a very sweet boy, he just had a hard time meeting new people.

She walked into the kitchen and continued to get dinner ready for the three of them. Mary wasn’t sure if the new little boy wanted to stay or not, but she thought it would be better to be prepared. She cut through her potatoes and put them in the pot with the rest of her stew, bringing the pot down to a simmer rather than a boil. Her hand reached for the loaf of bread that was on the counter and put it in the oven. That should be good. A nice full meal for all of us.

Meanwhile the boys played upstairs. William had a lot of tiny cars that they could play with, zipping and zooming the toys around the room. The little boy was quiet the entire time they were upstairs, almost like he only wanted to watch William play. William frowned. “Don’t you wanna play?” The boy shook his head, his eyes as wide as saucers. “What wrong? Are you hungry?” The boy shrugged, not making eye contact with William. William grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “Come on! Let’s go get some dinner.”

They made their way down the stairs to see Mary in the kitchen. She seemed to be waiting for the food for dinner to finish cooking. William cleared his throat. “Mama?”

Mary turned around to see the boys. She smiled. “Yes sweetheart. Can I help you?”

“Can he stay for dinner?”

She looked at the boy; his face was very pale, almost white. She frowned. “Are you alright?” The boy nodded quickly but it still made Mary skeptical. “Are you sure? You don’t have to stay for dinner if you don’t want to.” The boy didn’t say anything, but instead walked over to the table and sat down. Mary grabbed William’s arm and dragged him into the living room. “What did you do to him?”

William’s eyes widened. “Nothing! We just played with the cars and drove them around.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t scare him did you?”

William shook his head. “No mama.”

Mary let out a sigh and hugged William. “We just have to be careful, a lot of people don’t like us. But let’s forget about that and have dinner and act like a normal family. Okay?” William nodded and they made their way back to the kitchen where the boy was still sitting at the table. Mary pulled some dishes out of the cabinets and set the table before putting the food on the table. She served the boys before sitting down herself and eating her soup.

She looked up to see the boy sitting at the table, not touching his food. Mary swallowed her food and reached out her hand to touch his shoulder. He flinched. “Don’t touch me.”

This was the first time Mary had him talk. She was a little shocked. “Sweetheart, let’s take you home. You don’t look well.”

“No! I can go home myself. I don’t need you following me.”

Mary tried to calm him down. “We aren’t here to hurt you. We just want to make sure you get home safely.”

The boy stood up and pushed the chair backwards, making it fall on the floor. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. “No! I can’t do this. You have come here to hurt me. My mom warned me about this. She said if I was bad that bad then bad people will come to hurt me. I wasn’t bad. I wasn’t bad. I wasn’t bad.” He kept repeating the last thing he said as he ran out of the kitchen and out the front door.

Mary and William followed him as he raced out of the house. The door slammed, shaking the old rickety house. It became very quiet, almost a little bit eerie. Mary wrapped her arm around William and hugged him. “I’m sorry honey.”

William sighed. “It’s okay mama. I understand that people don’t like us. It just makes me sad that I can’t be friends with them.”

Mary felt saddened knowing that William was never going to have another friend. They floated there in the hallway, listening to the silence of their abandoned house. Mary apparated through the wall to clean up their ghostly dinner before floating up the stairs to William’s room. They played with his toys and read books throughout the night, just like the normally did. It was the same routine every night and it would be the same for every night in the afterlife. They couldn’t leave the house they were murdered in, but it was the house that they called home.

The King is Dead (Part 3)

March 22, 2019March 19, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ Leave a comment

Hello! The final part is finally here! Is everyone excited? If you have missed the past 2 parts, you have a bit of catching up to do. Click here for part one and click here for part 2. Come back here when you are done!

Now for the grand finale of The King is Dead! This story is in the Paranormal category. Thanks for stopping by and reading the story and enjoy!

The King is Dead (Part 3)

“Now don’t be mad at me King Stratford, but I figured out what the book says. But I don’t know what it means. Maybe you can help me.”

Stratford shrugged. Maybe…it depends on what you found.

Jonah cleared his throat. “Okay…so…here it is. Plant the seed in the garden. The bird will fly and take the seed. Do not let the robin take the seed. The jay must take it. The jay will enjoy and eat the seed but the night will not last long. The seed is poison for the jay. The kingdom is ours once the sun rises.”

Stratford stood in the middle of the room slackjaw. How did Jonah figure this out? Stratford knew exactly what happened. He knew who killed him. He raced into the kitchen and started banging the pots and pans about. He found a small portrait of a man and immediately let out a scream.

He felt the rage fill his ghostly body. Jonah came running into the kitchen, covering his face with his hands. Pots and pans were flying around the room and the portrait sat in the middle of the counter. Jonah made his way to the portrait and picked it up. There was a picture of a man who had a robin and a jay on his shoulder. Jonah held the photo up. “King Stratford! This doesn’t prove anything! This is just a picture of a man with a jay and a robin. I don’t know who this is!”

The pots and pans fell onto the floor. Stratford flew over to Jonah and stood in front of him. “This is Charles. The chef. He killed me.”

Jonah took a step back and put his hands in the air. “King Stratford sir. I know this isn’t the answer you want to hear, but this doesn’t prove anything. All we have is the thing from the book and this portrait. I hate to break it to you like that.”

Stratford huffed and sat on the counter. Maybe Jonah wasn’t a good person after all. If he was a good guy, he would believe Stratford. He sat on the counter with both his arms and legs crossed. He felt like he had figured it out, or actually Jonah had figured it out, but he thought he was close.

Jonah sat on the edge of the counter, mere inches away from Stratford’s ghostly body. He let out a sigh. “King Stratford. I know you are upset. I would be too. To come this close but still not know anything, it sucks. Honestly it does. But I can take this info and see if I can find a historian who can help me. I don’t know how much information you can give me, but I also don’t know why a historian would help me with little to no information. If there was anything you could give me that might help, that would be great.”

“Charles.”

Jonah turned and look at Stratford, almost exactly in his eyes. “Charles? Charles who?” He looked down at the portrait that he found. “Is this Charles?”

“Yes.”

Jonah nodded. “Okay. I will take all the information I have and go to a historian and see if they could help me. Maybe if I can tell you what happened, you will be able to leave this place. But I can’t guarantee anything. It’s just a thought.”

Stratford got up and left the room. He was mad. No, he was more than mad. He was furious. This kid was saying that he couldn’t do anything. But he had promised that he would get Stratford out of this castle. And now he was going back on his word. He sat in front of the cheating suit of armor and pouted. “This isn’t fair. The kid said he would help me and now he says he can’t. I don’t know what to do.”

“King Stratford?” He turned around to see Jonah walk into the hallway. “I know you’re upset and I’m sorry. But I’m going to leave. I need to do some research on Charles to see if I can find any information on him. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t bring you good news tonight sir. I will be on my way.” Jonah walked through Stratford, who was still pouting on the floor. He made his way into the throne room and out the front doors.

Stratford was still pouting when he heard the engine of Jonah’s car start up and wheels drive out onto the road. He didn’t say goodbye, but he didn’t feel like it was necessary to do so. He was still mad and he wouldn’t be happy until Jonah found some new information.

————————————————————————————————————————-

The sun was going down over the western horizon. Stratford sat on the roof of the castle, watching the sun set yet again. It had been 4 sun sets since Jonah had been there. It was typical. People promised him that they would figure out what happened to him and never actually did. He didn’t know why he actually trusted Jonah.

He scoffed. “Typical kid. Make tons of promises and not keep any of them. I don’t know why I trusted him. I don’t know why I gave him the information to help him. He ran away with it and hasn’t returned. Dumb. I was so dumb.”

The sun went down over the horizon and the world slowly became dark. Stratford continued to sit on the roof, watching the stars start to come out. He found all of his favorite constellations quickly, he tried to find them every night when he was on the roof. It wasn’t hard to find them anymore. The moon was full, shining a bright light over the entire castle.

A car came around the bend of the road. Stratford stood up. Was that Jonah? Was he actually going to be bringing good news this time? Stratford flew through the roof, through every floor of the castle down to the throne room. He sat on his overturned throne and waited to see who was here to see to visit him.

The door slowly opened and Jonah poked his head inside. “Hello? King Stratford? It’s me, Jonah. I brought you good news.” He walked over to the throne and turned it rightside up. He stepped down the small steps and sat on the floor. “I thought you would want your throne turned correctly to sit in one last time. I promise, this will be your last night in this castle. Are you ready?”

Stratford stood next to his throne, confused. Was this actually going to be his last time in the castle? Was he actually going to get the answer he has been hoping to get for over 500 years? Should he trust Jonah?

He straightened his robe and crown before sitting down in his throne. It felt good to sit in it properly. He couldn’t remember the last time he properly sat in it. It had been overturned for so long that he always just sat on the side of it. He felt proud, like he was actually king again. He settled into the throne and took a deep breath.

“Yes.”

Jonah cleared his throat and opened the notebook that he brought. “Okay. So here we go. I spoke with a historian who studied the time you were alive. She looked at everything we had and took some time to look into it. It took her two days to decipher everything and tell me what happened. So, this picture is in fact your chef Charles the Grey. Now, I know what you are thinking. He wasn’t Charles the Grey when he was your chef. Well…Charles married your lady after you died and took over her kingdom. Sorry…”

He paused for a second to let Stratford take all the information in. He continued. “So Charles was known for not being that great of a King in the other kingdom. He tried to fight with every other kingdom around. He had multiple children with multiple women. Some historians think he might have even been in a relationship with a man at one point. Either way, that’s besides the point. But, he was known for poisoning people that he wasn’t a fan of to get them out of his way.”

Stratford stood up in rage. “That fool!”

Jonah put his hands in the air. “Calm down sir, I know you are angry, but please let me continue.” Stratford angrily sat down in the throne again. “The historian found a document that actually contained what Charles used as a poison. For some reason, historians found the recipe and kept it. So…” He paused for a moment. “I’ll get back to that after the poem.

“Ugh….”

“I’m sorry sir, but I want to give you all the information first.” He pulled out the book he took and found the poem in. “I asked the historian about the book and if it meant anything. She said that Charles called his wife, your lady, a robin. He called her that because of her red hair. He referred to you as a jay because you were the king of a water kingdom. You know, your colors are blue, like a jay. Anyway. We still don’t know who Charles was writing to or leaving a message for, but we can definitely say that Charles was the main part of this. So the seed in the message was the poison. The garden was whatever you ate. Do you remember what you had for dinner that night?”

“No…I don’t.”

Jonah nodded. “That’s okay. I understand. It has been over 500 years hasn’t it.” Jonah laughed. “Okay…so the garden was your dinner. So Charles put the poison in your dinner, but made sure your lady didn’t eat it. Since the message said the seed is for you, you and your lady probably ate two different things for dinner. Does all of this make sense?”

“Yes…I want the truth.”

“Okay…” Jonah closed everything and look straight at Stratford. “So the historian compared the recipe we found with the recipe that they had for Charles. And…it was exactly the same. So we can confirm that Charles the Grey killed you by poison to your food just so he could be with your lady. I’m so sorry King Stratford.”

Stratford felt the rage fill his body again. But there was something else. Relief. He felt a sense of relief that he finally knew the truth. He let out a blood curdling scream, as scream that could not be replicated by anyone dead or alive. His ghostly body started spinning, a strange feeling for someone who only floated. The wind picked up causing a whirlwind in the throne room, blowing all of Jonah’s belongings around the room. The doors flew open as the whirlwind passed through them.

Stratford felt something rip out of his chest as he flew out of the castle. He flew straight up into the sky, passing through every floor and the roof before getting to the sky. He was out of the castle and into the clouds. When he finally stopped he realized what happened.

He was free. Jonah did it. Jonah was true to his word and got him out of the castle. Stratford didn’t know what he could do to thank him. Now he was in the clouds and Jonah was on the ground. And he didn’t ever have to wonder what happened to him when he died. Now Stratford had his answers and he could live in the afterlife in peace. “Thank you Jonah. I will never be able to repay you for what you did.”

Stratford wasn’t sure if Jonah could hear him or not. But what he did know was that he was finally free. Free to do whatever he wished. He didn’t have to play games with the suits of armor or the rabbits. He was able to see all the wonders of the world. He was able to fly anywhere and everywhere.

No more castle. No more being stuck in one place. More time being free.

Station One Do You Copy?

March 18, 2019March 17, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 4 Comments

Good morning! It’s a Monday today, it’s the beginning of a new week, and it’s a wonderful time for a new story. Is everyone ready?

This story is another one for Grammy’s Grid’s Short Story Link Party. I had a lot of fun writing the last one and I definitely wanted to participate in this one. If you want to read My Secret, which is the story that I wrote for the last link party, click here. And just like the last story, there was a writing prompt which goes as follows:

One flashlight flash meant danger, two flashes meant safe, but then she saw three flashes that night from beyond the swamp. They had never talked about what three flashes meant and now she…

So this story is in the Dark theme. I had a lot of fun writing this one, so I hope you enjoy reading it!

Station One Do You Copy?

One flashlight flash meant danger, two flashes meant safe, but then she saw three flashes that night from beyond the swamp. They had never talked about what three flashes meant and now she started to worry. What if Jeremy was in trouble and the only way he would get out was if Mollie went after him? She picked up her own flashlight and flashed it twice, hoping that Jeremy would respond. But there was nothing.

She sat on her stool and felt her heart starting to race. She knew she would have to go after Jeremy and help him, but thinking about the possible danger made her panic. Mollie knew Jeremy was self sufficient, but she was still mystified by the three flashes in the middle of the swamp. Her hand flew to the wall and picked up a set of keys for the spare airboat and raced out of the small ranger station.

Mollie jumped into the spare airboat and put the keys into the ignition. The boat roared to life, the large fan slowly starting to turn as it warmed up. Mollie untied the boat from the dock and made her way out into the swamp.

She knew where Jeremy was supposed to go, but she didn’t know exactly where the flashlight flashes came from. She slowed the boat down and flashed her flashlight twice toward the direction Jeremy was in. This time three flashes came from the middle of the swamp. Mollie raced toward the light, hoping to get there in time.

Mollie brought her airboat to a halt when she saw Jeremy’s boat. Jeremy’s body was sitting on the boat, motionless. She slowly brought her airboat up to the side of Jeremy’s boat, trying to prepare herself for anything.

But what she wasn’t prepared for was what she saw on the boat.

Jeremy had a single bullet wound in his head, execution style. It looked like it was close range, the perpetrator possibly standing in the airboat to commit the crime. The fan behind Jeremy’s body was covered in blood spatter. It didn’t look like he had suffered, which was probably a good thing.

The boats slowly drifted together and Mollie tied them together. She grabbed the radio off her hip and pressed the call button. “Station 1, this is Ranger Eckhardt. I am out and I have found the body of Ranger Ambross in his airboat. I require assistance. Over.” She waited for a response but there was nothing. She pressed the call button again. “Hello, station 1 do you copy?” She continued to wait but the only thing she heard were the crickets and a couple owls that were out this late at night. It was spooky.

Suddenly a roar came up out of the silence. Mollie turned toward the sound and saw a light flash three times. She scrambled onto Jeremy’s airboat and jumped to shore. She started to sprint. Whatever happened to Jeremy, she didn’t want it to happen to her as well.

As Mollie ran she did everything in her power to get away from whatever was following her. She turned corners, jumped over logs, and swung from branches to help her change directions. She was losing energy from running, but the adrenaline kept her going. As she kept running she jumped over a log but her foot caught on it. She face-planted and laid on the ground in pain and exhaustion.

The noise that was following her came closer and closer before coming to a stop. Mollie peeked up to see a large ATV idling near her feet. There was a crunch, like someone was sneaking up behind her. “Please…please…if you’re going to kill me, at least make it fast. I don’t want to suffer.”

Mollie felt a hand grab her legs and she was dragged a little further before being lifted by her legs. She felt the blood rushing to her head as she was hung by her legs from a tree. Her eyes barely opened and she saw her captor.

When they turned around Mollie could see it was a man. He had a long beard, so long it was almost to his knees. He wielded two knives, one in each hand, and had a grin on his face. “I hope you people learn your lesson from this. This is sacred land. No one but the native people live here. You are all bad people.”

Mollie felt tears forming in her eyes. “Please…I don’t want to die. I understand why you’re upset but I haven’t done anything wrong. I…I just work here.” She started praying, knowing that this would be her last day on earth.

The man walked up to her and dragged the knife down her body. “Well…if you didn’t want to die, you shouldn’t have accepted this job.”

She closed her eyes thinking that she would be feeling the wrath of this man. But nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes just in time to see a the man point a gun at her face and pull the trigger.

BANG

Mollie forced her eyes open one more time as the pain filled her body. The man made his way back to the ATV and started the engine. The last thing she saw was the headlights from the ATV flash three times before she faded into the eternal darkness.

The King is Dead (Part 2)

March 15, 2019March 13, 2019 ~ 2catsandalaptop ~ 1 Comment

Hello! Welcome to the next installment of The King is Dead. If you missed last week’s installment, click here, and then come back! Otherwise you will be very confused on what is going on.

Before we go any further, I want to let you know that I have entered a small writing contest with a story that I haven’t posted on here. I will post it once the contest is over so that everyone can read it. But, if you want to vote for it, follow this link and it will take you to the voting page. Unfortunately you have to create an account to vote, but I would appreciate the vote! Look for The Friend on the page and that’s mine!

This story is still part of the Paranormal category. I hope you enjoy!

The King is Dead (Part 2)

“I raise you 3 stones. If I win, I get all of the stones.” Stratford sat in the hallway in front of a suit of armor. There was a small pile of stones sitting between the two of them, most of them sat in front of Stratford. There was a small checkerboard with all of the pieces in their correct spaces. Stratford scoffed. “Come on! I play fair and you know that. Don’t you dare tell me that I cheat.”

The suit of armor stood tall, up against the wall. He didn’t say anything. Stratford stood up and pointed a finger in the suit’s face. “No! I will not agree to those rules. You agreed that we will play until the stones were gone. You cannot change the rules now that you are losing.”

Nothing came from the suit. Stratford threw his arms up in the air and started to walk away. “Fine. You don’t want to play fairly then we won’t play at all. You brought this upon yourself. I was trying to occupy both of our time so that way our afternoon went by quickly. But noooooo, you don’t want to play by the rules we set at the beginning and now we are here. Now we are done playing checkers and I bid you good day.”

Stratford stormed out of the hallway and up the staircase to his room. He didn’t know why he tried playing games with the suit of armor. The armor always tried to cheat and change the rules when he was losing so badly. It wasn’t his best personality trait.

Once Stratford got to his room he slammed the door. “How dare you armor! How dare you try to cheat through a nice game of checkers! I try to be your friend and you just pull the rug out from underneath me. No! I will not allow it.”

Stratford floated up to the bannister of the bed and hung upside down. He was upset with the armor, but he was able to look forward to seeing if Jonah had found anything.

————————————————————————————————————————-

“Poison. This recipe was for poison.”

Stratford was shocked. How dare one of his people poison him. That was rude.

Jonah put the scroll back in his pocket. “Sorry King Stratford sir. It looks like someone was out to kill you. It definitely wasn’t an accident.” Stratford started to float away, his arms crossed over his chest. Today was just not his day. Jonah cleared his throat. “But…there is a note at the bottom saying that something is hidden in the library.”

“Go on.”

Jonah jumped. “I didn’t realize you were here sir. Um…but…I guess we can go to the library and see if we could find anything.”

Stratford raced to the library to see if he could think of anything. He looked around the large room with a lot of empty shelves. It wasn’t very full, but there were still a couple books left on the shelves. It was dark and dusty in the room because Stratford had hardly ever visited it. There were only so many times that someone could read the same book over and over again.

“Whoa…I thought this was going to be a lot fuller.” Jonah spun around slowly, taking in what was in the room. “Well hopefully this won’t take as long as I was thinking it would.” He walked over to the first shelf and grabbed the book off the shelf. He started to page through the book and put it back. “Not this one.”

Stratford laid on his stomach on the top of one of the bookshelves, holding his head in his hands and kicking his feet like a child. He was enjoying watching Jonah work. It was almost like Jonah was his son and Stratford was very proud of him. If anyone could solve what happened, Jonah could.

“So the note said instructions were in the person’s favorite book. I don’t know who wrote this note and what their favorite book was. King Stratford, if you know what book this is, could you let me know.”

He had to think. If Charles was the person who wrote the recipe, he didn’t read much. But there was a book that Stratford remembered Charles reading. He floated down to the floor and floated between the shelves to find that book. He turned the last corner and saw the book sitting on a high shelf. Beowulf. That’s the book. Stratford floated up the the shelf and knocked the book off the shelf.

“What was that!” Jonah came running to where the book was and shone the light on the book that was laying on the floor. He walked over to it and picked it up. “Thank you King Stratford. I appreciate it.”

Stratford floated closely behind Jonah as he started to page through the book. There were certain letters that were underlined on the pages. He didn’t really understand what was going on.

Jonah closed the book. “Sir. I’m going to take this home and see if I can figure it out. I think that it will spell something out but I don’t think I can do it tonight. I need some time to do this correctly.”

He quickly walked out of the room and made his way to the throne room where he left his belongings. Stratford slowly followed him, not wanting him to leave. It was just so boring all day and all night. At least Jonah kept him company. Stratford watched Jonah drive off into the night, leaving him all by himself once again.

————————————————————————————————————————-

“Ready or not! Here I come!” Stratford went flying around the corner of the castle to look for the rabbits. They always beat him at hide and seek. They also kind of cheated. He swore up and down that the rabbits purposely hid from him until he got bored and gave up.

But that was the point of hide and seek.

Stratford searched high and low for these rabbits. He searched behind every rock, inside of every bush, and looked down every hole. He groaned. “This is ridiculous. You guys do this every single time we play.” He turned around and saw a tree with a small hole in the bottom.

He put his hand up to his chin and floated over to the tree. He leaned up against it. “You know…it would be quite a shame if you were all hiding…here!” Stratford bent down to see the three rabbits all hiding in the hole in the tree. He laughed. “See! I told you I would win this time.”

The rabbits scurried away quickly and raced into the closest rabbit hole. Stratford threw his hands in the air. “Oh come on! Seriously guys! I told you that it was possible that I would actually find you!” They disappeared into the hole, leaving Stratford by himself. He pouted. “Fine. I’ll go find other animals to play with.”

Stratford floated around the garden hoping to find someone else to play with but there were no other animals willing to play. He made his way back into the castle, hoping that the suit of armor would be willing to play some checkers.