Short Stories

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She knew he was watching her. He always watched her. Why would today be any different? She just wished she had proof. The cop said that they couldn’t arrest him just because they had bumped into each other a few times. But she knew that just bumping into him wasn’t all it was. He always wore a red scarf, the same red scarf every time she saw him. Although, she didn’t exactly see him everyday, he was there, she knew he was there. She could feel him.

She was especially jumpy today. He knew that she had started catching on, knew he was there. But that just added to the fun. “Don’t you worry Melinda, I won’t hurt you, and I just like to watch you” he hissed partly to himself, partly wishing she would hear him. He wanted to meet her. He longed to meet her. She was just, so beautiful and so perfect. Her body was perfection, pure, all pure except that small tattoo on her left shoulder. It was very small, he believed it was a heart; he had never gotten close enough to see it. But, it said a lot about her character. Her life was so perfect on the outside; she was so modest, like her body. But, there were secrets in the closet, just like the tattoo, hidden from the world, only seen by her, and him. That’s it, she knew he was there, it was time.

Melinda had just gotten of work at the small law firm downtown. She took a cab straight home, walked up the stairs, skipping the elevator and walked into her apartment, she locked the door behind her and threw her keys in the bowl next to the door. She double checked the door and bolted it. She hadn’t exactly seen him that day, but why should today be any different? He was always there. She went to the phone and ordered Chinese. “Typical” she thought while sorting through mail. Then, she saw him, in the mirror she saw him. She was right, he was there the whole day, but, now, in her house. He had never been in her house. She froze, just staring the red scarf man in the eyes, through a mirror. She stayed frozen for about 30 seconds then quickly turned around. She had never been face to face with him.

“Hello Melinda. Please, do not be scared. I do not want to hurt you. I just wanted to meet you, talk to you. I have been watching you for a long time, which you know, don’t know? Well, within that time, I have realized, you need me. You need me, Melinda, to save you; to save you from your problems. You cannot just keep ignoring them, Melinda.” He started towards her. Almost automatically, as if on auto-pilot, she started walking to the door. “Melinda, do not go away. It would hurt my feelings. I have gone through all this trouble to meet you, Melinda. Why would you run away?”

“I didn’t want to meet you, I just wanted you to leave me alone”. Frightened, Melinda started running toward the door, but, he grabbed her just before she reached the door. Although he had hold of her, she realized how small he was, he felt like she could break him in half. But, still, he had a hold of her, and she couldn’t get loose. She was scared. Then, he tied her to a chair with a rope, or maybe a cord, he had brought with him. She kept thinking about her so called perfect life, how she would have never included this in a story of her life. “Why, why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave me alone? He took the scarf off his neck, and put it over her mouth, she could not speak anymore. Maybe that was better, she thought. She was scared to do something that might push him over the edge.

“Don’t you understand, Melinda? I am here for you. You need me.” Minutes ticked by on the clock on the wall. There was just him staring at her, watching her cry, bawl. “Stop crying, love. I just want to help you.”

Then, the door bell rang. “The Chinese food” Melinda remembered. Her eyes lit.
And that was it, red scarf man ran, he went out the window, but not before kissing her forehead. Melinda didn’t understand, but she started screaming through the scarf, so the Chinese guy came in the door and helped her out of the chair.

Finally, she had proof; she could tell the cops it was more than intuition.

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