Short Story: Beverly · Jan 16, 11:25 PM
I came across this story that I wrote in high school (1995?) for Mr. Gates creative writing class. Here it is, typos and all:
The Foxes have been my next door neighboors since I can remember. During that time I have seen their Grandma, Beverly, only once. Beverly actually owns the house and lets her daughter, Dori, and three grandchildren, Robert, Timmy, and Cinnamon, live with her. At least that used to be the situation.
About eleven years ago was the last time I saw their grandma. The rumor in the neighborhood is that Beverly became bedridden. I don’t believe that. It is my theory that the Foxes collectively overpowered their dear grandmother, killed her and have been living off her social security checks ever since. They keep up the front that she is still alive because the house that their loving grandmother shared with them goes to Frances, Beverly’s other daughter, in Beverly’s will.
Around the same time Beverly died, the Fox’s dog supposedly died. I find this all to convenient. Dogs have a nasty way of digging up the yard, and when you’ve got a sixty year old grandmother buried in your backyard, you don’t want some dog digging up a decomposed hand. That would ruin your whole scheme. So the Foxes took the dog for a long walk, tied it to a tree, and left it to die. They never thought the dog would find its way back, but they wre wrong. About five years ago as I was walking home from school, I saw him. The Fox’s dog came back. That’s when I realized what all the disappearing acts meant. The Foxes had killed their Grandma. Obviously the dog didn’t stay around too long. The Foxes took care of their last loose end for good. But they were exposed. A plucky young thirteen year old neighbor had pieced together their whole plot. Now it was just the Foxes and their grandma and me who knew. Fortunately they didn’t know that I knew their dark secret because soon there would be a new victim.
Robert. Robert was the oldest and probably the one who held the pillow over his grandma’s face. I haven’t seen Robert in about a year now. He became victim to his own greed. With the skyrocketing inflation there just wasn’t enough money to go around. Robbie, as his family so affectionously called him, had misgivings from the beginning.He was the last weak link. The rest of the family wanted him out from the beginning, but he was too strong for them back then. Now with the shortage of money they had no choice. Robert was out. It happened one night while Robbie was asleep. Timmy slipped into the room and smothered Robbie the same way Robbie had smothered Beverly, with a pillow.
But that was not enough for Timmy and Cinnamon. They wanted more. About six months ago, Timmy and Cinnamon became orphans by their own hands. The details are sketchy, but I think they fed her with rat poison and buried her in the back yard with their brother and grandmother. The reason? Not greed this time, now they just enjoyed the meaningless killing and one day Wham! mom wound up dead.
True I don’t have any hard evidence, not yet anyway. This Friday I plan to sneak into the Fox’s yard and just see what’s buried beneath the marigolds in the backyard, then we’ll all see what other vile schemes the Foxes have been up to.
— bryon
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