Edith decided to take the rest of the day off. Her mind was still stuck on the weird letter she found buried in her garden. She decided to visit her mom and talk it out. Her mother, Maria, lived about five minutes from Edith. When her Maria’s eyesight deteriorated Edith decided to buy a house closer to her mother.
Edith parked her car in the driveway – which was always empty as her mother no longer drove.
She walked up to the front door and knocked. A moment passed and then her mother opened the door. Her mother was in her early seventies, her grey hair neatly maintained and though she spent most of her days indoors, her mother was always dressed smartly.
Edith could see her mother’s white eyes searching the porch.
“Mom.” Edith said.
Upon hearing Edith’s voice, Maria smiled and motioned for her to come inside.
“Edith,” Maria said, “Come in. Come in.”
Edith stepped inside and Maria closed the door.
“Would you like some iced tea?” Maria asked.
“That would be lovely.” Edith said.
Maria walked to the kitchen through the obstacle course of furniture as if she could see them. This came with years of practice. Edith followed her mother to the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. She knew her mother would not allow her to assist with the tea, as she was a proud woman. Always was and always will be.
Maria took two glasses from the cupboard and then reached for the freshly made jug of iced tea on the counter. She held one glass with her thumb reaching into the glass. She poured the ice tea and when she felt the tea touch her thumb, she knew the glass was full enough. When she poured both glasses, she brought them over to the table and sat down.
“Thank you.” Edith said.
“What’s up?” Maria asked
“What do you mean?” Edith asked.
“The last time you visited me during the day was when that low life man of yours walked out on you.” Maria said.
Edith sighed and said, “Mom, what do you remember of my childhood?”
“What do you mean?” Maria asked.
“I found a letter buried in my front yard.” Edith said. “It’s addressed to me and apparently it was from me. I’ve been going over and over this in my head. If I wrote that letter when I was 10, wouldn’t I remember burying it there? I mean, we lived about three hours from here back then.”
“What did the letter say?” Maria asked.
“It said that I will be murdered tomorrow.” Edith said.
There was a long moment of silence. Maria took a sip of her iced tea and then spoke.
“Maybe you wrote the letter.” Maria said tugging her shoulders.
“But why don’t I remember writing it?” Edith asked.
Maria took a deep breath and said, “There was this evening during the summer of 1977 that you were missing.”
“Missing?” Edith asked confused.
“Yes.” Maria said. “I was busy preparing dinner and your father was reading his magazine in the living room. You told us you were going to a sleep over at Mike’s but after you left, Mike came looking for you.”
“I don’t remember this.” Edith said.
“We were searching for you for hours.” Maria said, “Your dad finally called the police. He had just read about those kids who were killed by some chainsaw maniac and worried that something might have happened to you. We were going out of our minds with worry. The next morning, I found you standing in the front yard. You stood there motionless. You didn’t speak or blink or moved. You scared the hell out of me. When I asked you where you were, you said you could not remember.”
“So, do you think I might have come here to bury the letter?” Edith asked.
“Stranger things have happened.” Maria said, “But I haven’t told you everything yet.”
“What?” Edith asked.
“It was a red moon that night.” Maria said. “My mother called it a Blood Moon.”
“Blood moon?” Edith asked perplexed.
“It is said that when there’s blood on the moon,” Maria said, “Children with the gift of sight could see their own future.”
“Children with gifts?” Edith asked completely lost.
”Those dreams you had...” Maria said.
“What?” Edith asked? “The night terrors I had as a kid? What do they have to do with anything?”
“Do you still remember what they were about?” Maria asked.
“Yes.” Edith replied, “Some of those dreams are still vividly stuck in my mind. It was always the same. I was a grown woman coming home to find my children murdered, or my husband murdered and then someone grabbed me from behind and dragged me to the bathtub. And then the person would drown me. Those dreams felt so real.”
“It’s because they were.” Maria said.
Maria stood up and walked over to a kitchen drawer.
“What do you mean?” Edith asked confused.
“I remember this one night you woke up screaming,” Maria said, “You were screaming about a hitchhiker that was killed by a man with a moustache.”
Maria opened the drawer and took out a folder.
“At first I didn’t make much of it.” Maria said, “Writing it off as just another one of your night terrors.”
Maria sat down next to Edith and handed her the folder. Edith opened the folder which contained about thirty newspaper clippings.
“What is this?” Edith asked.
“April 2nd 1975 your first night terror turned out to be some kind of premonition.” Maria said, “The one about the woman who got home to find her children murdered. I started to notice more and more of your night terrors had the same details as murders in the newspapers.”
Edith started sorting through the newspaper clippings flabbergasted. As she saw the clippings, snippets of the night terrors came back to her in vivid realism.
“I don’t understand.” Edith said.
She stopped at the article about Jeffrey Dahmer’s capture. The words, one of his 17 victims were a hitchhiker caught her attention. She stared at the mug shot in the article. Dahmer had a moustache just as the man had in her dream.
“Are you saying I predicted these murders?” Edith asked.
“Not only did you predict them.” Maria said, “You saw them years before they even happened.”
Edith closed the file and lowered her head. It was all too much for her to take in. Why was her mother only telling her about this now?
“This is too much.” Edith said, “Why did you never tell me about this?”
“I didn’t see the need.” Maria said.
“You didn’t see the need?” Edith asked, “Well if all these became real, who’s to say this letter I found in my garden won’t become real as well?”
“It won’t.” Maria said. “The night you disappeared there was blood on the moon. You saw your own death and you were smart enough to know what you should do to prevent it. You drove your bike until you found the house from your dream and planted a warning for the future you to find.”
“Stay away from the light?” Edith grunted, “Not much of a warning.”
“Well, it’s the best warning you will ever get.” Maria said, “It’s up to you to figure out what light you have to stay away from.”
4.
August 3rd
Edith lay in bed. She stared at the clock radio that’s been buzzing for her to get up for almost 5 minutes. She wanted to stay in bed. It was the day the letter predicted she would die. Who would want to murder her? She had no enemies – she had no friends either. All she had in her life was Emily and her mom. She wouldn’t even admit it to herself, but she was scared of what the day held. There was nothing to prove that the letter was real, but still she was scared to death.
She reached for the buzzer and turned off the alarm. She threw back the covers and got out of bed.
She moved towards the bathroom like a zombie and got into the shower.
The water ran down he
r body, soothing away some of the tension, but her mind was still lingering on the letter and the harrowing words it spoke.
It was easier to prevent than to deal with the aftermath of any given situation and therefore she decided to call in sick that day. She would spend it at home. In this modern world there were many situations in which a person could be killed – hijacking, heist at the bank, armed robbery at the local shop, hit and run accidents, the list went on and on - but if she stayed home that list decreased drastically.
She heard Emily enter the room.
“Mommy?” Emily asked.
“I’m in the shower, sweetheart.” Edith called out.
Emily walked across the bedroom towards the en-suite bathroom and peeked in. Edith peeked out from behind the shower curtain. Her hair was covered in shampoo.
“We’re going to be late.” Emily said.
“I’ve decided we’re going to stay home today.” Edith said, “And pack for our weekend getaway.”
”Yay!” Emily said excited, “No school! Can I have chocolate milk for breakfast?”
“No.” Edith said with a smile, “Don’t push your luck.”
“Just checking.” Emily giggled and ran out of the bathroom.
Edith smiled and returned to her shower. She rinsed her hair and then turned off the water. She reached for the towel next to the shower and got out.
As she dried herself, she could not help but notice herself in fogged up mirror. It was the first time she noticed how tired and stressed she looked.
She definitely needed the week away from work.
When Edith came downstairs, she found Emily at the kitchen table having corn flakes. Emily looked up at her mom and smiled as she shoved a spoonful into her mouth.
“I was thinking we can start packing right away.” Edith said, “Then we can watch a movie on DVD and thereafter go say hi to grandma before we leave for the weekend? Does that sound like fun?”
Emily nodded and then asked, “Why can’t grandma come with us?”
“It’s just a weekend for the two of us.” Edith said, “And besides, grandma has got her Bingo night tomorrow. She won’t miss that for the world.”
”How does she play if she can’t see?” Emily asked.
“Well,” Edith said, “It’s at an old age home where the cards are specially made for blind people.”
“Oh.” Emily said.
There was a moment of silence.
“Will grandma die?” Emily asked.
Edith was taken aback by the odd question.
“Eventually yes.” Edith said, “But don’t you worry yourself about that. Grandma will still be here when we get back. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Can we watch the Scooby Doo marathon on Cartoon Network?” Emily asked, “I love Scooby Doo!”
“Sure.” Edith said.
“Yay!” Emily exclaimed.
Emily jumped up and ran into the living room next door. Edith sat for a moment and listened as Emily switched on the TV and the sounds of Scooby Doo echoed through the house. Edith stood up and put the dishes in the sink.
She entered the living room and sat down next to Emily whom was transfixed on the screen. Edith glanced at the TV. It was the episode where Scooby and the gang were captured by alien pirates.
Emily’s feet were swaying back and forth over the side of the couch and she was completely drawn in by the cartoon. To Edith on the other hand, after the third episode in a row was growing bored. Before she knew it she fell asleep.
When Edith woke up she saw it was dark outside. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she glanced over at Emily. Emily was still watching cartoons. Edith looked at her wrist watch and saw it was nearly eight PM. She had actually planned on them going through to the coast at 4PM. With the stress of the letter and work she had completely lost track of time and slept over 8 hours.
They could reschedule and leave first thing in the morning, but then they would have to pop round her mother’s to say goodbye and make sure she is alright.
“Have you been watching cartoons all day?” Edith asked.
“Yes.” Emily said transfixed on the TV.
Edith got up and stretched her legs and arms.
“Come on.” Edith said, “We’re leaving tomorrow morning so I’d like us to go say bye to grandma tonight.”
“But the cartoon is almost finished.” Emily pleaded.
“Now, please.” Edith insisted.
Emily sighed and got up from the couch. She turned off the TV and grabbed her coat while Edith grabbed her handbag and keys