GA Writing Prompts - 32. # 128 In the Dark

In the Dark

I looked out of the window. It was a rainy day and fog lay low and heavy. I was lucky. I had a day off. I would definitely not leave the house today. I went back to the table and resumed reading the newspaper while eating a coffee roll and having a cup of coffee. I would have a good time. I would spend a lazy day at home. My happy mood, however, changed when I found that I had run out of toilet paper.

I looked at my watch and decided to go shopping. ‘Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today’, I thought sullenly. I put on my coat and my boots, and then I left the house. Rain fell in a drizzle. I opened my umbrella and sullenly walked down the street. A bus passed by and drove through a puddle. The water soaked my jeans. I let out a sigh of annoyance.

And then, from one second to the other, or so it seemed to me, night had fallen and a chilly wind was blowing. It was dark.

I felt cold and I shivered. I looked around in the fog-shrouded place. The dark trees and the bushes looked threatening.

I winced at a sudden rustle. I turned around, yet I did not see anybody. I stood motionless for a while, feeling totally numb. And then I noticed the shovel in my hand. I gazed at it in utter confusion. Fear took hold of me. I looked around again. My heart started to beat faster when I realized that I didn’t know where I was.

I turned my eyes back to the shovel. It was dirty. My hand seized it tightly. My thoughts started running wild. While my mind desperately tried to make sense of this all, cold fear crept up my spine. I was in a dark and empty park. Night had fallen. How had I come here and why?

I remembered that I had left the house in the morning. I focused my mind on the memory. I had left the house in order to go shopping. I did not remember what had happened then. I tried hard, but nothing came to my mind. And while I tried to remember, part of my mind was constantly scanning the area. I was highly alert. Finally, I ordered myself to calm down.

I placed the shovel on the ground. I looked myself up and down. I was wearing the clothes that I had worn when I had left the house. I checked my pockets and then I stopped short at the touch of something unfamiliar. I took the items out and looked at them. They were empty bullet casings. I gazed at them. Fear took hold of me again. My mind was blank and I was in a state of shock. But then my thoughts started running again. I tried to find the connections between the shovel, the bullet casings, the park and my somewhat weird state of mind.

The first thought that came to my mind was utterly frightening. Had I killed somebody? Was I about to dig a hole in the ground in order to hide the body? Had I already done it perhaps? I looked around more closely again and I listened into the night. Was somebody approaching? Was it better to leave the park at once? However, I hesitated. I felt the need to check the park thoroughly. I moved around in the park cautiously. I was nervous and afraid. Luckily, I did not find a hole in the ground nor did I discover a body. I calmed down finally. I was definitely not a murderer, I thought with relief.

I felt reassured and this helped me to think more clearly. Bits of memories returned. I had left the house in order to go shopping. I had walked down the street. Rain had fallen in a drizzle. A bus had passed by and driven through a puddle. The water had soaked my jeans. I had let out a sigh of annoyance. And then I had entered the park. I had intended to walk through it. It was a shortcut to the store.

What had happened? Had nobody seen me? Had nobody watched what had been going on here? I looked at the empty bullet casings. They were not mine, definitely. Had I watched a murder? Had I spent hours in a hiding place? Had I come out from it when night had fallen in order to look what the murderer had left behind? Had he forgotten the shovel and the bullet casings and had I picked them up?

I felt tempted to just leave the place and take the shovel and the bullet casings with me. But what if somebody had seen me in the park? I scanned the area again. No, whatever had happened here and whoever had done what in this park, it had not been me. I was sure of this meanwhile. I had watched a crime and this had caused my amnesia. The criminal had left with his victim’s body. Apparently, he had left in a hurry. He had left behind the shovel and the bullet casings. I was thinking of what to do best now. Call the police or just leave?

I gazed into the darkness. The place was fog-shrouded and I felt cold. A chilly wind was blowing and the dark trees and bushes looked threatening. Sudden rain drops shook me out of my paralysis. I put the bullet casings in the pocket of my coat and picked up the shovel from the ground. I hurried to the entrance of the park. And there I spotted my umbrella. I picked it up also, and then left the park. I hurried and finally I started to run. I ran through the meanwhile heavy rain.

I checked the newspapers carefully the following weeks. Nothing. No article mentioned the park. I got rid of the shovel and the bullet casings two months after the incident. I calmed down as time went by, but I was never able to relax entirely. The incident preyed on my mind. Rainy days made me nervous and I was not able to enter the park. Three years went by until I finally learned what had happened that day in the park.

I had a day off. I was reading the newspaper while having a cup of coffee. I came across an article about a serial offender who was responsible for at least 81 cases of housebreaking. The man had always carried a shovel and a gun. I gazed at the picture of the man. My hands trembled slightly. I recognized him. I knew his name. Terry Simpson. He lived near the park. I had often seen him walking his dog when I had taken my shortcut to the store. I had even talked with him several times over the years, nothing important, just some talk about the weather. But that was why I knew his name.

Finally, everything fell into place. I stood and walked to the window.

I looked out. It was a rainy day and fog lay low and heavy. I took a deep breath and tears filled my eyes. The sight did not frighten me anymore.