Lyle broke a speeding record as we raced down the highway to the Bullfrog Country Club. I was out the door before she managed to park the car as gravel spun out hitting my ankles. I hardly registered it. Sprinting I made a beeline for the hole between the thick topiary and the side of building.
A cop car sat at to the left a few feet off. An officer stood dutifully next to the hood. His eyes bulged as I barreled towards him. "No one beyond this point miss-"
There was no time for him to finish the command as he reached out to catch me. I burst through him. The freshly cut branches of the dense bushes cut my face and hands as I scrapped past them. My feet carried me down the hill and my knees buckled as I hit the flat greenspace. Visible just beyond the line of trees I could see a flash of red and blue light I assumed to be another police car.
The breeze choked my lungs as I ran into a stream of fall air. I tore into the thicket not bothering to find the dirt path. This time, when I emerged from the brush, a line of three police officers stopped me. There was no register of their presence as I watched the scene of at least three other uniformed officers gathered around the mouth of the pond. By the bench where my mother had once sat a few more officers gathered, I recognized one to be the woman Lyle and I had given our statements to - Frankie's friend.
I tried to catch her eye as her coworkers held fast to my shoulders but once I recognized her troubled stare I turned my attention to the place that held her gaze. Uniforms waded into the pond a few feet off the edge, putting them in the same exact spot where Monroe's bullet carried me. Lily pads butted up against their legs and arms as they waited.
They were all waiting - but for what I was unsure of.
I turned to the woman who held my right arm, she too was captivated by the act. Everyone was eerily quiet as all eyes watched the pond. Evening light radiated a soft glow on the clearing and the frogs croaked rhythmically, the noise reminding me to breathe. Time seemed to stop and I barely noticed the gentle touch as Lyle's arms replaced the tight grips of the officers.
Then without warning something – or rather someone – rose from the water that had taken on the deep navy color of night. A person with a full wetsuit emerged and gave a thumbs up to the men and women standing in the pond.
Immediately those in the water shifted their stances while the officers at the edge opened the trunk of their police car and retrieved several large plastic bags outlined with blue lettering. One of the officers wrote on the bag with sharpie but I was too far away to see.
"May," Lyle rubbed her hands up and down my arms as I felt a chill run down my spine. "We should go."
I shook my head almost imperceptibly. I was unable to take my eyes away from the water as bubbles created circular ripples in the pond where the diver had gone under again. The bubbles continued until the diver broke the waters seal. With both hands they held something out for officers by the bench to see. It was angled away from us and I strained my neck to see what the diver was so carefully holding.
The object was passed off to one of the waders and in a few steps he was on land. I now noticed the rubber pants he wore over his legs but my focus was soon ripped away from his clothing as I caught a glimpse of what the diver passed him. Gingerly he relinquished the item to a woman holding a plastic bag, as he did so he turned toward us.
At first I thought a large rock, but as I looked closer I noticed two oval shaped shadows at the top before it rounded back in a circular form.
"No." I stammered. My head lulled back as if all at once it was too heavy for my neck to bear. I wanted to look away but I could not tear my eyes away from what I was seeing before me.
Inside the evidence bag sat a skull.
Silence wrapped me into a cocoon. I tried to cry out but no sound followed. My limbs melted to jelly and I had no reaction when Lyle pulled me to her chest. Stunned my eyes stayed open and I watched the lips of the officers move through salty tears yet no noise made it to my ears.
There was no doubt in my mind whose kind and creative mind once inhabited that skull.
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Much love to those of you who have stuck w/ this work this far ! xx
YOU ARE READING
The Painting
Mystery / Thriller"It took me five seconds to fall. The impact on my chest jarring my body but not my mind. I suppose this is the point where your life is supposed to flash before your eyes as time itself freezes - and it did in a way. But I didn't relive my life phy...
