"I won't have it any more Craig! You are not walking out that door!" 1
The young man, dark eyes dulled by anger, turned to look at the irate red-headed woman he had called his wife for the last five years. He sighed, and got a better hold on his blue duffel bag. "Yes, I am Hazel. I'm not in love with you anymore. I didn't mean to find someone else, but...it happened. I'm sorry."2
He turned to go out the door, still feeling the burning eyes of Hazel on his back. Trembling, she whipped behind her, and picked up the antique shotgun above their mantelpiece. Craig had been given it by his Grandfather, and they always kept it loaded, just in case.3
"Stop there Craig. Come back in the house, and we'll forget all this happened. Go, and I'll shoot you." She pointed it at his back, closing one eye slowly as she spoke.4
Craig sighed, and turned around. "Please, you would never shoo-" His words got cut off as he saw the gun in her hands. He dropped his bag, as his eyes widened in shock. "Okay, now don't do anything silly Hazel."5
"Are you going to stay?"6
Craig sighed. "Of course I'm not going to stay just because you point that at me Hazel-"7
He never finished his words. A shot hit him in the stomach, and he collapsed to the ground, wheezing and clutching at himself. 8
Hazel stood for a moment, mouth wide open in horror at what she had done, the gun slowly slipping from her grasp. Trembling, she ran over to where he lay, and dropped down next to him.9
"Oh my God, Craig, I am so sorry! Don't worry, we're going to get you some help, you're going to be fine! Oh my God, I didn't mean to..." Her words ended in a high-pitched sob as she reached for the phone, hands shaking...10
***********************11
Craig lay in the bed, resting his head on the pillows. Hazel walked in, carrying a hot breakfast on a tray. She smiled at him, lovingly. Carefully, she lowered the tray onto the bedside table next to him, and sat on the bed. He moved his head to look at her, his eyes tired-looking.12
Hazel picked up his hand, and raised it to her mouth to kiss it. "I'm so glad they let you out the hospital, darling. Its better that you're back at home where I can look after you." She paused, and bit her lip. "You know I'm sorry, don't you? I never meant to shoot you. "13
Craig gave a quick nod. Hazel smiled, broadly.14
"I'm so glad. We will never fight again. Lets just put this behind us, and forget it ever happened. We'll never mention it again." She patted his hand.15
Slowly, Craig moved down the pillow a little bit. Hazel looked at him, and stroked his face.16
"I think you should have a rest for a while." She put a hand to his mouth before he had a chance to protest. "Ah, ah,ah. The doctor said you have to have loads of rest, no arguing, okay? I want you to get well as soon as possible."17
Tenderly, she fluffed his pillows up behind his head, and pulled the sheet up. 18
"Sweet dreams sweetheart." She kissed his forehead gently, and smiled at him. Craig smiled back.19
********************20
Downstairs, she sighed, and placed the empty tray on the kitchen top. Holding her breath for a minute, she burst into tears. She slid onto the floor, and sobbed, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, her red hair getting mixed in with the salty water. 21
After about ten minutes, she stopped and took a deep, shaky breath in. "Don't be so silly." She muttered to herself. "He's back home, he's going to be okay. You don't have to cry now."22
Suddenly, the phone rang shrilly, cutting into the silence in the kitchen. Frowning, Hazel pushed herself off the tiled floor, and stared at the phone. 23
"Who could that be? I'm not expecting any calls."24
She reached out for the phone, and held it to her ear, a worried look on her face.25
"Hello?"26
"Oh, hi. Its um....its June."27
June. The 'other woman'. Hazel's face clouded over.28
"What the hell do you think you are doing, ringing here?"29
"I just wanted to ask about Craig-"30
"If you ever ring here again, I'll get the police on you, understand? Craig is nothing to do with you, and he never will be."31
Breathing hard, Hazel slammed the phone down into its cradle. 32
How DARE that woman ring here! She thought to herself. Composing herself, she straightened her hair, and took in a deep breath. 33
Never mind. Lets not let that bitch ruin our day.34
Hazel smiled to herself, and began running the water into the bowl to wash some pots. She looked up out of the window, and closed her eyes to enjoy the warm rays of sun on her face, streaming through the glass.35
*********************36
When she went up later that night with his dinner, Craig was still asleep.37
Giggling, she quietly placed the dinner tray down next to him, and gently began shaking him awake.38
"Come on gorgeous, time for dinner. You can't sleep the whole time!"39
She propped his pillows up as his eyes slowly opened. Hazel leaned over, and kissed him tenderly. 40
"Would you like the telly on sweetheart?" Moving quietly, Hazel paced across the room, and switched the television on. The screen flickered into life, colours lighting up the screen as the room was filled with sudden noise.41
The phone rang from the hallway, adding to the loudness. 42
"My goodness, the phone hasn't stopped ringing all day! I'll just go and see who that is." Craig smiled at her as she walked out of the room.43
Shaking her head, and looking at her watch, she picked the phone up form its hook.44
"Hello? Hazel Travis speaking."45
"Hello, Mrs Travis? This is Mike, from the funeral home? I was just ringing to see if you had made any decisions on what you were planning to do?"46
"Um...no, not yet Mike. I need a few more days, I'll give you a call."47
"Okay, Mrs Travis, thats fine, take as long as you need."48
"Okay, thank you. Bye."49
"Bye."50
Still smiling, Hazel put the phone back, and walked back into the bedroom. She looked, lovingly, at the corpse of her dead husband, neatly tucked into the double bed they had once shared, a fake grin forced onto his cold lips, his eyelids propped open by force. 51
"There, I don't think we'll be bothered again tonight." She lowered the light switch, and walked around to her side of the bed, raising herself onto it, and sitting down next to Craig's body.52
"I love you gorgeous." 53
His head fell sideways slightly, rolling onto her shoulder, the smile still plastered onto his face.54
She turned her head and kissed the top of his.55
"We have each other Craig, thats all we need."......56
Bronze trophy winner
Honorable mention
Gold trophy winner
Adding your comment:
I could totally see the picture playing out in my mind *shudders* lol... Great work here 
) but for some reason SW won't let me edit it (I've been trying for a while.
- I loved your style. I could see how a woman could threaten her husband with a gun to try to stop him leaving, and then being overwrought after she pulls the trigger. It was morbid how she continued to pretend that he hadn't died, but it has been known to happen in real life.
