Time to Breathe.
View all responsesFlash Fiction:“Trust is the thread that binds us… and the rope that hangs us.”
― M.A. Carrick, The Mask of Mirrors
Carrick is a pseudonym for authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms, who wrote the novel jointly..
Phone Calls:
Hello, Hello are you there? Please, pick up I don’t have time for this. It’s not as if we were in a relationship, Jason. I just need to talk, to get this sorted once and for all. This is the third time I’ve called you this week. Please speak to me. I don’t know what has made you so angry. You are married. I told you, I’m not interested in you as a boyfriend, lover or even as a husband. Not that I would’ve allowed this stupid idea of yours, to get so out of control.
For God’s sake, give me a break from your stupid obsession. If I have to talk to a bloody machine, I will. This is the second time… Hang on, no the fourth time, I have tried to speak to you, in person. Don’t send me, flowers, chocolate or stupid cards. I’m not interested. If I have to bloody move to get away from you, and your stupid obsession, I will. No is fucking No! I thought you were an intelligent man. So why are you behaving like a five-year-old who won’t take no for an answer?
[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://colourswordspaper.files.wordp..." data-large-file="https://colourswordspaper.files.wordp..." src="https://colourswordspaper.files.wordp..." alt="" class="wp-image-1158" style="width:248px;height:auto" />Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels.comFifth time, I’ve called you. This is getting ridiculous turning up at my place of work. I thought you would be sensible about this, Jason. We were never lovers, just friends. Yes, we went out for a meal. In connection with work. My job brought us together. Is that how you found out where I was staying?
Here I am asking you again! Do I have to spell it out to you? LEAVE ME ALONE! One meal doesn’t mean we are engaged. Yes, we did get on well. Yes, we do have a lot in common, but you are a married man, with a family. I’m a twenty-two-year-old woman who is the same age as your daughter. From now on, I will address you formally, maybe that will bring you to your senses, Mr Yarwood.
Right, this is the last message, Mr. Yarwood! I shall be going to the police. You’ve gone a step too far, telling my employees a pack of lies about me. You’ve made a big mistake. You should know that stalking is against the law. I tried so hard to reason with you, but now I know I’m wasting my time. I’ve tried so hard not to involve anyone else in your stupid fantasy.
“Play it back one more time, Emma. You said, you found this recording in among your father’s things.”
“Yes, my mother always believed that my father had killed the girl, but she never had the proof. when we found the old phone in the garage along with some newspaper cutting, we had the evidence. I know it comes too late to make a difference, but at least, my mother can go to her grave knowing she was right. My father was a monster. Patsy wasn’t the first, was she?”
“No, he confessed to eleven others. I understand you knew Patsy.”
“Yes, she was in my class at school. I wouldn’t have said we were friends. She focused on doing well at school because she wanted to be a property surveyor. My mother said my father was a hunter who like to chase his prey down. He would have lost interest if Patsy had come on to him. What he didn’t know was Patsy had a girlfriend.”
“Why didn’t she just tell him?”
“Why should women have to explain themselves, Detective Inspector Brooks. When I’m working, I don’t go around telling people I’m single. I’m a police officer, with a job to do. Do you have to explain that you’re married with children in your line of work?”
“No, you’re right. Patsy didn’t have to explain anything, just to save her life. I know there’s going to be a lot of explaining to do by others to why they didn’t listen to your mother at the time. She put her life on the line in an effort to save others. Eleven other young women lost their lives because the police didn’t listen to her.”
