End of the Road by Dranfield Wendy

Author:Dranfield, Wendy [Dranfield, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 35717913
Publisher: Wendy Dranfield
Published: 2015-02-11T08:00:00+00:00

Winter

From the outside, with the light snow gently accumulating around the living room window, the household inside this semi-detached home looks like any other. The lights and the television are on and there is a married couple sitting on the sofa. Their two children play on the rug in front of the fire. A casual glance from a passing stranger wouldn’t arouse any suspicion of the turmoil this family is going through.

Inside, anxious eyes are on the television. The local evening news is about to start, and this family are part of the main headline. The familiar theme tune begins as two sombre looking newsreaders stare at the camera, directly into the eyes of the family. Mick, the husband, and Laura, his wife, shush their twin toddlers so that they can concentrate.

‘Today’s main headline: A local woman has disappeared on the day of her husband’s funeral.’

Tears accumulate in Laura’s eyes. The missing woman is her thirty-one year old sister, Nic.

‘Good evening,’ the male newsreader continues, ‘It was already a stressful day for local office worker Nicola Manning and her family. Her husband, who died last week of natural causes, was due to be buried. It was at his church service that Nicola’s family last saw her. That was two days ago.’

The camera dramatically cuts to the female newsreader.

‘Mrs Manning’s husband, David, had died unexpectedly of what is thought to be Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. He was only thirty-three years old and of previous good health. He and Nicola had been married for just under one year, although they had been together for four years.

Photographs of David and Nicola laughing and smiling at each other on their wedding day flash up on screen. Laura had provided them when the journalist visited her earlier that day. She had declined his request to do a piece to camera about how worried she was for her sister’s safety. The sight of the familiar photos makes her cry harder. Mick holds her firmly.

‘Nicola Manning was said to be devastated at losing her husband unexpectedly, and was not coping well. Although she attended her husband’s church service, she disappeared before the burial. At first the burial was delayed, in the hope that she would reappear but when, after an hour, she still couldn’t be found, Mr Manning’s parents insisted on going ahead without her. No-one has seen Nicola Manning since and she has been officially reported as missing by her sister, Laura White. Anyone who knows of Nicola’s whereabouts is being urged to ring the telephone number seen on screen now.’

The camera cuts back to the male newsreader as he moves onto today’s other stories.

Mick turns the television volume down and then turns to hug Laura. Her whole body is shaking and she is struggling to remain composed for the sake of the children.

‘Where is she Mick? Why hasn’t she phoned or texted me? She should know I’ll be panicking about her. Doesn’t she realise what she’s doing to me?’

Mick takes a minute to carefully word his response.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.