Redemption U. and other Short Stories by Perdue Frank

Author:Perdue, Frank [Perdue, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2014-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

The end

NIGHTMARE IN PARADISE

It was a cool, crisp, wintry day. Stone sat in his favorite reclining chair in front of his large bay window, peering out at the snow-capped mountains clearly visible to the east. The range was so close to their cabin, that sometimes at night he dreamt the mountains broke up and the boulders came tumbling down, engulfing and burying them in tons of rock. Other times it was lava from nearby volcanoes like Mount Rainier and Mount Baker.

It was strange. He was never bothered by nightmarish dreams before the accident. Actually they had begun a week before the tragedy.

His life had seemed so uncomplicated before. He and Marge had just bought the cabin. All their debts otherwise were paid. He was a junior executive who had just received a substantial raise. But lately he had been traveling around in a state of disbelief.

It began when he noticed his wife seemed to be preoccupied with something. He had asked her about it, but she said he was being silly. There was nothing wrong.

He’d accepted her answer at the time, but then one night, as he was leaving to catch up on some office work, as he did every Monday and Wednesday, which was normal now that he was an executive, he noticed a car parked just down the street. The street lamp on the corner near the vehicle allowed him to see that it was occupied by someone. It appeared to be a man. The vehicle was unfamiliar, but they hadn’t lived on that block long enough for him to be suspicious. It could be that the car belonged to a visitor of one of his neighbors.

He climbed in his own car, started the engine, and drove off. He had just about reached his office building when he realized he’d left some important papers on his desk at home. He had no choice but to retrace his course. He would need that work.

When he reached his home he noticed the car by the corner was still there, but it seemed to be unoccupied now.

As he started up the steps to his front door, he heard voices, passionate voices, and one of them was his wife’s. He stood there listening, unbelieving. Then he stumbled back to his car, where he started the engine and drove up to the corner. He stopped there, exited his own vehicle, and checked the registration of the other car, which was hanging on the driver’s side visor. That was exactly one week before the accident.

There had been a hearing, naturally, since someone had been killed. Stone remembered it well.

“You say you didn’t see the man in the crosswalk, Mr. Stone?” It was the detective assigned to the case, which had only tentatively been labeled an accident.

“That’s correct. Actually I didn’t even see the walk itself. I knew it was there somewhere, and I slowed down, but it came up on me quicker than I expected.”

“Yes, I understand the light over the walk was broken.” And he added, “Did you know the deceased?”

“No, I did not.

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