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A snowy wood nightmare
Snowy Wood
This was it, all the planning and packing for a trip away and it snows. British weather is unpredictable, and the idea of a romantic break had sounded fun. This was far from fun. The brochure showed a sunny cabin in a wood. A beautiful remote location. Have to admit it is beautiful, but in the snow it is cold and lonely. The hut has no heating and there is no one else around here for miles.
My car had struggled up the snowy dirt track to get here, so I didn’t fancy the risk of going out unnecessarily. The brochure should have advised that we need an off-road vehicle. Not a twelve-year-old Ford.
Sitting on the porch I tell myself that I am lucky to be here. If it had not snowed, I wouldn’t be sat here sulking. Hearing my name called, I reluctantly now stood up and went inside. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to hear.
The evening news had just started. Barry was sat with his mouth open. The news reporter was stood in a wood, our wood, covered in snow. I sat down, my legs shaking like jelly. I could see the people dressed in white suits behind him. A dog walker had discovered a body, and they were thinking it was a holiday maker staying nearby.
We can’t leave just yet as its snowing outside now and we risk getting stuck if we attempt it. Hearing a knock at the door, I look at Barry, should we ignore them? As they knocked again, Barry got up,
“It might be the police.”
Barry
As he left to answer the door, I sat back and watched the news. I now learnt that there had been disappearances all over the nearby village. The holiday maker had been one of many, had she been staying here? If she had, all her stuff had gone, maybe her killer had covered his tracks. Remembering Barry, I got up now to check on him. All was quiet and the door was wide open. Feeling sick, anxiety shooting through me, where is he?
Slowly walking now, I glance outside, no signs of Barry. I was alone, what now? do I shut the door? Do they know I’m here? Pulling out my phone I can feel the tears now chasing down my face.
“911 emergency, which service would you like please?”
“Police, my husband has been murdered.”
Had he been? He wasn’t here.
“Mam, where are you?”
“In a cabin, in the wood on the news. Stammering I’m thinking the worst.”
“I’m sending two officers out. Inspector Williams and PC Jones. They will be carrying ID and have matching bands on their cuffs. Please don’t panic!”
Don’t panic, my husband has disappeared. He went to answer the door and vanished. Hearing a police car outside I wondered how they got here so quick. Then I remembered the police presence surrounding the body.
Answering the door, the lady officer motioned me to come out. Trusting her, I told them my story. As I relaxed and talked, I let my guard down. As I talked the lady put her arm around me and they walked me to the car. They then offered to help find Barry, Getting into the car, all I could think about was finding him safe.
The police
Williams brought the jeep to a stop outside the small hut. Seeing the door wide open he felt uneasy.
“Jeff, she’s not here, that hut is empty.”
“Where would she have gone?”
“I don’t know but she’s not here. Something’s really wrong”.
Jeff Williams got out of the car and checked the hut, finding it empty he closed the door behind him.
“Follow the tyre tracks, Julie, she can’t have gone far.”
Julie Jones had been a Police Constable many years and had seen things that would cause nightmares. The latest series of murders had confused the police as they appeared to all be random. Following the tyre tracks they drove for about a mile around the wood. Entering into a further deserted area Jeff put his foot on the brakes as he saw what looked like a police car ahead. The car was stopped at what looked like a farmhouse. Was this where the couple were? And where the murder suspect might be?
Julie radioed through for more officers and gave their location.
“Now we need to sit and wait,”
Help
About fifteen minutes later a helicopter could be heard and then cars, speeding towards them. Julie and Jeff picked up their guns and took it now as their time to get out and join the other officers. As the helicopter landed, someone ran out the back of the farmhouse, soon to be caught and handcuffed.
As the police entered, the stench of flesh and fear met them. What really was the sense in all of this? Hearing a woman wailing they followed the noise, Realising it was coming from the basement down they went.
Found
I have never been so scared ever in my life. Being captured and then dragged into this basement was not on my agenda this week. Barry is next to me alive but unconscious, Hearing the people arrive upstairs I worried that this was it, this really was the end.
As PC Julie Jones took my hand, relief flooded through me. She advised that the men had been captured upstairs and I was safe now. I told her that I really should not have got into their car. Julie reassured me that if I had not got in their car, then they might not have followed the tyre tracks and found us as quickly as they did. Tracks that wouldn’t have been there if there was no snow.
Later
A few weeks later I found a news article about the farmhouse. The men had been at their gruesome business for a while. There was more than one body found and body parts. We had been lucky but next time that Barry wants to go on a romantic weekend anywhere, I think we will opt for a busy hotel with a swimming pool. Not a remote idyllic snowy wood.
Written for Write the story prompt on Writers Unite
For more see The empty school classroom
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A perfect ending to a painful day
A perfect disaster
What had he just said? Julie stood shaking, why was she not good enough? Why was she never good enough? Julie had aspired for more, but she had ended up in a back street restaurant waiting dirty tables. As Richard’s words filled her head, the tears started. Why was she upset? She hated this job, Maybe the whining customer had done her a favour. Not good enough to wait his table, Julie threw her apron down and walked out.
As she reached the high street with its fancy shops, she told herself to pull herself together. She couldn’t pay this months rent but she no longer had to worry about ‘Richards grill bar’. What now? Job centre tomorrow? Internet search tonight? What did she really want to do with her life?
At twelve she had wanted to work with dogs, at fourteen with children, then at fifteen she thought about teaching. After failing Maths GCSE she considered that maybe teaching was not her vocation. At seventeen she considered working in a shop, then at nineteen she thought about A levels and University. This had led her down a rabbit hole of studying the wrong course and graduating with a history degree. Julie had thought about becoming an Historian, but was not sure if this was the perfect career for her.
Job search
Not knowing what she wanted to do with her life had meant she had gone from dead end job to dead end job and lived in a grotty one bed bedsit. Life was far from perfect. She was also single, twenty-five and now living the life of a jobless single girl, maybe soon to be homeless.
Telling herself not to think like that she kept walking, Bright lights and happy voices surrounded her. The posh restaurants with their expensive menus, no point in going there for work, wouldn’t be long before she would tip gravy down a wealthy man’s business suit. Though, she thought, that could lead to something more, get herself noticed by a wealthy man, maybe not a bad career decision. She smiled to herself and kept walking. Through the laughing people she went, wishing she was already home.
As her pocket vibrated, she knew who it was, glancing at the screen she hit the end button. She was not in the mood for a long conversation with Rachel. Rachel with her perfect life, perfect boyfriend, perfect job. Julie knew she needed to do something about her situation but didn’t know where to start.
The homeless man
Seeing the man sat in his usual place by the subway she wondered what his story was. Sitting alone on a cold night wrapped in his sleeping bag, she asked herself if he had once had a grotty bed sit. What had put him here? Homeless and now sat in front of her on the pavement, she reached into her pocket for some change. Finding just a £5 note she thought for a fleeting moment of taking change from his tray, no she wouldn’t do that. Placing the money down in front of him she asked if she could sit down. The man nodded, maybe grateful for the company.
Smelling the man next to her, she realised that he hadn’t bathed in days, she thought of the homeless shelter and again wondered what happened that had brought him here. Trying to start a conversation she told him how she had been fired tonight. How her life was far from perfect. The homeless man looked at her and nodded and said,
“Perfection is what you believe it to be. I’m perfect sat here. No bills, no stress, people bring me food or put money in my bowl, I’m doing alright.” He smiled at her with a handsome grin on his young grimy face.
Julie was surprised, how could he be alright?
“Aren’t you cold and lonely? What brought you here?”
No family
“I have no family and after I lost my job my wife threw me out the house. She kept all the money and my car, I was a terrible to live with and she said that I made her miserable. I’ve been sat here six months now. Very few people make the time to talk with me, but you have,”
“What was your job?”
“I worked at the University, I was a support worker and I loved it. I helped out in the history department, but due to cutbacks they are no longer teaching history degrees anymore. Hence, I am now out of work and now I’m on the street, it’s impossible to get a job.”
“My degree is history but somehow tonight I was sacked from ‘Richards Grill’.”
“The dirty restaurant down the Sea Road?”.
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Well, I can see you are worth more than that. Do you know what some of our students ended up doing with a history degree?”
“Historian, but I’ve always fancied working with kids. Can’t be a teacher though as I failed maths?”
A career idea
“Some of our students went on to be tour guides at the museum, you could be perfect for it, Young, attractive and educated, worth a try.”
Julie hadn’t thought of the museum, she looked at her new friend.
“What is your name? I’m Julie.”
“I’m Peter.”
“Peter, have you considered working at the museum too? I’m sure you have learnt a lot from the university”.
“I’m homeless, I’m stuck here.”
“I have an idea, I don’t know you, but I could give you some clothes. How about I meet you at the homeless shelter tomorrow at 11.00 am, you get a shower, wash your hair, I will bring you clothes, shampoo and shower gel. Then we will go to the museum together, maybe they will be sympathetic to your situation. Would give you something to motivate you and hopefully get you off the street”.
“Okay, it’s a deal, I will meet you, its worth a try”.
The museum
The next day after showering and smelling now of fresh flowers and dressed in a smart grey suit, Julie and Peter arrived at the museum. Asking to speak with the Curator they then explained their situations. Listening to Julie he could see she would be a perfect tour guide, perfect for the school visitors. With Peter he was more hesitant, no fixed address but full of relevant experience. He sat for a while and realised that at any time any of us could end up like Peter. He didn’t always get on with his wife, but hoped she would be empathetic if he was made redundant, not put him on the street.
“I’m going to help you both. Julie you can start tomorrow. Peter I’m trusting that you still have a bank account, so we can pay you. I’m going to talk to a mate of mine who rents out properties, I know he has a one bed flat near here, so he can give you somewhere to live and get you off the street.”
Peter looked at him, this was incredible. He had only just met the museum curator and he had offered him a job and sorted him somewhere to live. He looked at Julie smiling back at him, a perfect day, a perfect woman and hopefully a supportive boss.
Six months later
As Peter stood organising the leaflets, he could hear Julie. He knew he had to somehow make her his. Newly divorced it was time to move on. They had been out together a few times now as friends, but he knew that he wanted more. She was perfect and all he could think about. Tonight, he was going to tell her.
The sea front
Sat by the sea, Julie looked at the man next to her. She saw his handsome smile and knew that he was someone special. They had discussed many subjects and walked many hours together, but tonight as she stared at him, she realised he was going to kiss her. As he put his hand on hers and then lent in, she moved towards him too to reciprocate.
Finding this man on the street had changed her life. Usually, she would have just walked on past, but that night something had made her stop. Meeting him must have been destiny and now she had the perfect job and possibly perfect boyfriend, and she was happy.
Written for Blog Battle – word prompt – Perfect
for more see – Snow, Cold and the Old Farmhouse – written for Blog Battle – Axiomatic
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