Awake At Dawn

Kit woke suddenly, was instantly alert, a noise, a sharp rattle reverberated through her head. She looked toward the window where the grey light of dawn drizzled through the thin curtains. She sprang out of bed and peered outside, all seemed quiet yet her mind still held an echo of the sound that had disturbed her dreams. Her eyes travelled to the old disused garage across the street; she could just see the faded Shell sign hanging from its casing.

Crumpled newspapers skittered along the concrete forecourt in the early morning breeze reminding her of tumbleweed in long forgotten western movies. Abruptly her eyes came to rest on something that immediately seemed out of place, she adjusted her focus screwing her eyes up a little to accommodate the grey light, it looked like a pile of ancient clothes but something about the way they were arranged disturbed her.

Before she had time to consider the consequences she was dressing hurriedly and running down the stairs, through the front door and out into the cold morning air. She crossed the road in no time flat and brought herself up sharp just before she reached the bundle of rags. Her heart hammering against her ribs, she knew instinctively now what it was.

Slowly she move towards it and gingerly pushed at it with her foot, it rolled back striking the doorway. Kit recognised the clatter that had woken her. She jumped back a couple of steps in shock at the sight of the empty eye sockets that stared back at her, blood still dripping from the eyeless shells.

She turned with a silent scream in her throat and in those few seconds saw the last thing she would ever see. This time she didn’t hear the clatter that had first attracted her attention. She just fell backwards against the rotting doorway beside the dead man, the first travelling companion the elderly tramp had had for years…

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VMM2008