Surprise

Laura opened the front door to find nobody there.  She looked up and down the street expecting to see a group of kids laughing and hastily leaving the scene of the crime but there was no one.  Laura was just about to close the door when she looked down, and there on the front step was a brown parcel.  It was addressed to her but she wasn’t expecting anything.  Again, she glanced up and down the street before bending down to pick it up.

Laura put the parcel on the kitchen table, maybe it was a present from a friend or surprise from her lover but usually such gifts were given to her in person or posted.  This one had no stamps, so had clearly been hand delivered but a friend would not leave it on the doorstep.  Her lover lived a fair distance away with complications for visiting so he wouldn’t travel all that way and just leave the parcel there.  If he didn’t have time to spend visiting, then he would have the time to spend traveling either and if that was the case he would post the parcel.  So who could it be from?

Laura knew it had to be from someone who knew her.  It had her full name and address on the label.  Maybe it was a friend playing a practical joke.  Now, Laura wasn’t sure that she wanted to open it.  It didn’t look suspicious.  It just looked like your everyday, run-of-the-mill brown package.  Laura couldn’t imagine what it was that made her feel nervous about opening it.  She told herself not to be so stupid and went to the kitchen drawer to get her scissors.  

Laura cut the brown paper, carefully pulling it away to reveal a patterned box with love hearts all over it.  So it was a package from her lover.  She couldn’t understand why he hadn’t called in to see her.  Maybe he had his girlfriend with him.  Laura hated that thought.  She understood it when he said it wasn’t a good time to split up.  Well, she told him she understood but there was always something that cropped up.  He couldn’t do it this week because she wasn’t well.  He couldn’t do it that week because it was someone’s birthday or she’d arranged to go away.  The list of excuses was endless.  Sometimes Laura thought that he never wanted to be with her, but then his girlfriend would go away for the weekend and he would spend the whole weekend convincing Laura that he wanted to be with her and that one day it would happen.

Laura shook her head, she wouldn’t think about that now.  Her lover had dropped of a parcel and she should feel happy that he was thinking about her.  She opened the box eagerly wanting to find out what lovely gift her lover had bought her this time.  Lifting the lid, she screamed, inside the box was a bloody heart with a piece of paper. Torn letters from magazines and newspapers spelt out the ghastly note…  Surprise, I know about you!  As Laura stood there in her kitchen with utter disbelief on her face, she felt someone grab her from behind.   Laura wanted to scream but nothing would come out.  Then as she felt the cold, sharp steel of her own kitchen knife being drawn across her neck, a woman’s voice whispered in her ear, “Maybe now you’ll leave my boyfriend alone!” 

Laura felt the woman release her grip and unable to stand, Laura slumped to the floor.  She tried to talk but ending up choking on the blood.  Laura watched as the woman, who she now recognised as her Lover’s partner, pull a bin liner from the pocket of her jeans and begin to strip off her blood splattered top placing it in the bag along with the bloody knife.

Clutching her throat, Laura tried to reach her mobile that was lying on the kitchen worktop.  A gloved hand quickly snatched it from her grasp.  The tears welled in Laura’s eyes as she struggled once again to scream, knowing it would be fruitless but trying anyway.

Laura watched as the woman placed the mobile in the bin liner and took her gloves off, replacing them with a fresh pair.  She smiled at Laura, “Always come prepared, that’s what I say.  Don’t move, I’ll be back in a minute.”  And with that she disappeared.

A few minutes later she appeared back in the kitchen in one of Laura’s tops, a corset styled affair that Laura had worn on her last date with her lover.  She twirled as if modeling, “This definitely looks better on me, you really haven’t got the neckline to pull it off!”

End