Death Sentence

"When I get back I'll take an instructors job at the base so I can be home every night with the girls. We'll get by fine without you. One things for sure. I'm not coming back here. Before I got here I worried that I wouldn't be able to handle being shot at. That wasn't a problem. What does worry me is how much of a soul I will have left if I have to kill many more mother's sons. It eats you.

"Good night Pam. Don't bother to mention any of this by email or phone until I get back. I'll not be set up to take a fall when I get home. Just do everything I said and you should have a long and happy life. Not one that is anywhere near what could have been but you made your choice. Now it's time to pay the piper."

With that I closed the connection.

I got home three weeks later and had an emotional reunion with Kate and Mel. I tried to explain that their mum wouldn't be living with us anymore. They didn't understand but copious distractions from Julia, Simon and their kids helped. Every time they met him they asked Simon why he walked funny. Every time he gave them a different story more fantastic than the last.

I was met by the police when I got off the plane. El shitheado must have been desperate. They admitted they'd spoken to my wife and she failed to corroborate his story. I didn't try any fancy evasive tactics but I didn't admit anything either. There was nothing they could do except warn me they would be watching.

The divorce went through with only small modifications on my part. I decided to leave it up to my girls how often they saw their mother. I was surprised how their young minds attributed so much blame to her over causing us such pain. They hardly ever chose to see her. Of course I didn't find out till much later that Julia had a hand in that. Julia was picking them up from school every day and the fun they were having reconnecting with their old friends, Julia and Simon's children, left little time for a distraught, no fun, mother.

Pam did ask me if there was any chance of reconciliation. I just allowed the ruthless killer that now lives within me to stare at her. It was never mentioned again. In fact she made sure we were never alone after that, I obviously terrified her.

I did get the base instructors job and was home every night. The girls were getting the best upbringing possible but divorcing parents always have an emotional impact whatever you do. That's why Psychologists recommend parents always stay together unless abuse is involved.

Yes, life is good.

4 years and 2 months later

Percy Newmont was relaxed. He was bow hunting with his friends out in the wilds. After all this time, sometimes whole hours would go by without him thinking of his former troubles.

He looked back at his friend Peter. He and the other two all worked with Percy and they hung around a lot these days. Peter caught his eye and smiled. Yes thought Percy, life was good. The only activity he skipped with them was Wednesday night poker. That was when Percy fucked Peter's wife.

Moving two states and finding a new identity had been hard and had wiped Percy out financially but it worked.

He knew that going back to Borderdale last month for his mother's funeral was risky. He'd felt a bit silly in disguise at the back of the church trying to avoid any contact with his relatives. But she was his mother for fucks sake.

There was a sensation of frontal impact then Percy was flat on his back. He looked down at the arrow sticking out of his chest just below his heart. He was momentarily confused. His three friends were behind him, how come he'd been hit from the front?

He passed out but came to sometime later. He was alone with Peter, the others had gone for help.

Suddenly the pain that'd brought him round in the first place was repeated. What the fuck was Peter doing grabbing the feathers of the arrow and yanking them sideways? And why the fuck was he smiling?

The pain was too much and Mick passed out again. He drowned in his own blood ten minutes later without having regained consciousness.

The coroner's officer looked down at the body. "Every year I get my ass dragged out here when some stupid fucker accidentally shoots one of their friends. Dickwad hunters."

And 2 weeks after that

Pam sat in her 12^th floor apartment crying. She had been at it for the last three hours ever since John, her latest boyfriend had left. "What is wrong with me", she thought?

She reviewed her life for the last four years.

She had really thought that Michael had been the one. She had married Dave because she knew her biological clock was ticking and it was a way of getting the children she really wanted. So when Michael came along and she saw the opportunity to have her children and a soul mate, she hadn't hesitated.

It took a month after Michael disappeared for it to dawn on her that maybe her love for him had been one sided. Without a glance at her, he had gone forever. Even leaving his jacket and wallet behind. Seeking some sort of closure, she'd gone to his apartment and workplace two days after he'd fled but he was gone. What hurt her the most was that he obviously didn't give a shit how she had fared after he bolted.

A big source of her depression for the first year or so had been her children. She'd just started the legal process of forcing Julia to return Kate and Mel when David returned from Iraq and quashed that. After that whenever she rang the girls, their conversation was stilted as if they blamed her for something. She did see them every week or so until that bitch had moved in with Dave nine months after Pam had moved out. Apparently she'd been the journalist that covered the story of David and his guys getting their medals. After that the girls hardly seemed interested in even speaking to her on the phone.

She had taken to parking outside the school at the end of the day. Even that stopped when she saw both girls running up and hugging the bitch like she were their mother. That year, they hadn't even rung on her birthday.

The pain lessened somewhat when she met Pat. He was a few years older than her but shared her dream of having a family. Eight months later, she moved in with him and they were talking marriage and children. Two weeks later, he devastated her by saying he'd met someone else and asked her to leave.

A similar thing happened the next year with Randy. They had connected right away and within two weeks were inseparable. Four months later, they moved in together. Three weeks after that, he dumped her saying he was getting back together with his ex-wife. Following that Pam started a series of one night stands, thinking it would boost her confidence. It had the opposite effect.

She really thought that John had been the one. Despite the fact she knew if she didn't have children very soon, it would be too late, she forced herself to move slowly with him. It took over 12 months before she bowed to his gentle pressure and allowed him to move into her apartment. With a small amount of regret she realised it was the best sex she'd had since Dave.

Three hours ago John met her at the door of her apartment when she came home from work. She saw his packed bags near the door. He gave no excuse, just said he was leaving. He never once made eye contact as he picked up his bags and left. Why had he muttered, "Slut" as he carried his last bag out the door? She hadn't so much as looked at another man since she'd met him.

Pam dried her eyes and looked at the mail lying unopened on the coffee table. There was one blank envelope and two bills. She had resisted the temptation to open the enigmatic blank one in her excitement at getting home to John. She picked it up now.

It contained a newspaper clipping. She was confused. Why would someone hand deliver a story about some stupid hunter that had died horribly after being accidentally shot with an arrow. Her face fell as she reached the bottom of the article where it explained that the victim had been formally known as Michael Brown who had lived right here in Borderdale. The paper fell from her numb fingers.

She thought of Michael, she thought of Pat and Randy. Finally she thought of Dave.

Surely not she thought.

Surely yes she KNEW.

Four years ago she'd had almost everything. In her quest for the last missing piece she'd ended up with nothing.

In a daze, she opened the balcony sliding door and looked at the long but inviting drop down to the car park 12 floors below.

The end

Yeah I know that Skype wasn't invented until 2003. It's called artistic license.

Some commentators have said they appreciate my pathetic attempts at humour. Below is one of the cleverest funnies I have ever heard.

The defence counsel is delivering his concluding address in a murder case. In this case the body of the victim has never been found.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I have a surprise for you. In 30 seconds time the alleged victim in this case will be walking in that door over there."

As one man/woman, the entire jury turn to look at the door.

45 seconds later the lawyer says triumphantly. "You see ladies and gentlemen, there is doubt in your mind that the alleged victim is actually dead. Therefore you must find my client not guilty. The defence rests."

The jury retires to deliberate but are back less than 30 minutes later. The foreman delivers the verdict of guilty.

The defence counsel is stunned. "But you all turned to look at the door when I said the victim was going to walk in."

"We most certainly did sir," said the foreman, "however we all noticed that your client didn't."

Don't take life to seriously.

The author.