GC

Story also appears in Mummification section Clunk. Ears prick. Conscious struggles to return. It must be 6.00am. Languidly I stretch. I wait. Engine sounds. I’m alone! At last! A thrill shoots down my spine. No, wait. What if the car returns? Fifteen minutes more. Almost… Engine. Door. Pause. Clunk. Engine. Gone. My heart races. Two whole days to myself. I swing out of bed onto bare feet. I am alert to every sound. In my heightened sensitivity I relish the different textures underfoot as I pad softly around. Out comes my heavy bag. Now the kitchen scissors, where else? Heart thudding I pace. I mustn’t leave anything. Once begun there’s no stopping. I dither. Surely I’ve forgotten something. I wrench myself out of my indecisiveness. That’s it. I cannot dally anymore. ...