I tried to look up at him to understand what he was saying, I was thinking how he could save me. I coughed up some blood, whatever he was going to do I hoped he would make it happen sooner as I did not want to die. Danny moved his face closer to mine and still stroking my cheek, I properly gazed into his eyes. They had lit up like they were glowing but they looked beautiful. He kissed me slowly and so gently, his lips felt so soft and smooth, I tried to kiss him back but I was too weak. I closed my eyes and everything went black.
The next morning, I woke up in my bedroom, my dress was hung up on my wardrobe. I couldn’t remember how I even got home. But I remembered someone had tried to kill me and I was going to find out who it was.
The Text Message
This story was first published in Fish and Freaks, October 2018.
Jane had just woken up from an awful dream that felt like an actual life nightmare, this was the same re-occurring dream all week, the sweat dripped rapidly from her forehead taking in deep breaths to try calm down from her never ending nightmares. The dream was about a teenage boy her age; he had chocolate coloured brown hair and ocean blue eyes. The teenage boy looked very similar to her best friend Pete. She had witnessed that both of them were on the run from a couple of robbers trying to break into a nearby car. One of the robbers pulled out a gun from his faded denim jacket pocket and shoots at the callow lad. He falls to the ground clinging hold to his blooded chest fighting for his life, his last words to Jane are “Jane…. Run… don’t worry about…. Me.” At that very same moment Jane then opens her hazel eyes to the clock face showing 6:00am, wiping the sticky sweat from her forehead and stroking back her long blonde hair and thinking happy thoughts, she shuts her eyes again and drifts off into another heavy sleep.
Pete and Jane have been best friends since they were both very young, they both attended the same schools, secretly Jane had always hoped their friendship would blossom into something more romantic. “Jane…. Jane….wake up, it's 10 ‘O'clock, Pete will be here in an hour.” Her mother yells up the stairs to wake her up. Jane opens her eyes to see the time is actually 10am, and that she had managed to sleep for another four hours without having another nightmare. Like every Saturday morning Jane is in no hurry to get out of bed and chooses to lay in bed a little while longer, reaching for the bed-side table for the television remote she decides to finish watching the rest of her favourite film from the night before. Not long after the television is on her mother walks in with a cup of tea like she does for Jane most Saturday morning’s, there were no other children to treat as Jane was an only child.
“Thanks mum” Jane says with an enormous smile on her
“Don’t expect it from me every Saturday morning” tells her mother with a big joking smile on her face. Her mother was unaware of Jane’s re-occurring nightmares, although they had a close relationship, Jane chose not to worry her mother and keep it quiet. She couldn’t t tell anyone, especially Pete. Jane gave her mother a hug before leaving Jane to watch her film. As her mother leaves Jane reaches for the bed-side table again but this time for her mobile phone. Jane switches on her phone, straight away a text message from Pete is received and as always the feeling of butterflies in her tummy appears again, the same feeling she always gets when Pete is around or texts her. Smiling away to herself she reads the message from Pete asking if their plans today will be perhaps a walk round town, Jane replies straight away accepting his idea. Realising the time, Jane finally decides to get up and sort herself out.
An hour later as Jane is getting ready, the doorbell rings, Jane hears her mum hurry to the front door and then inviting the person inside. “Jane… Jane… Guess who is here.” Her mum always knows how to embarrass her.
Jane comes flying down the stairs to Pete and throws her arms round him for a hug. Pete hugs her back. “What’s all this about?” he asks with a smile on his face.
“I am just looking forward to our plans today.” Jane replies, giggling away. She then puts on her sketcher trainers, kisses her mum goodbye and they both walk out the house linking arms. They head towards the nearest bus stop to catch the next number three bus route into town. It was a dull overcast day and the air felt chilly for an April spring morning, Jane had hoped the sun would be out today to compliment what she hoped would be a romantic walk through town with the hopes of birds, butterflies and bees flying through the air. They both had not walked far from Jane’s house when they spot a pair of crooks trying to break into a nearby car.
“HEY.” Yells Pete at them without thinking and realising what he has just done “What do you think you are doing?” The two crooks stop what they are doing, the pair of them are wearing faded black hooded jackets and sunglasses to try to hide their identities, but they both look in the direction of Pete and Jane.
“Pete, I think this is a bad….”
“Ssshhhhhh Jane, I don’t want this to go out of control.” Interrupting her.
Then suddenly, the two men walk towards Pete and Jane. One of them is holding
