Short Story - Noverber 2007

As you step outside                                                   

Yesterday my sister telephoned with the news that Malcolm Chapman had committed suicide. Nothing spectacular but the Coroner’s report made the local paper. Death of much loved doctor, ran the headline. The newspaper said he’d taken an overdose of sleeping tablets together with a bottle of mineral water My sister was surprised that I wasn’t as shocked as she’d expected me to be. My calm, quiet response disappointed her.

"Well Jilly, you always were a cold fish", she said which isn’t entirely true.

“I knew already”, I said.

My first impulse on putting down the receiver was to ring Avril, but then I remembered our last difficult conversation - instead I went outside into my new, autumnal garden and began to clear the fallen leaves.

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