"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence." — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
hello  |  artworks  |  writing  |  reading  |  bookmarks  |  home

August 03, 2023

Fiction: Sandwiches, flatware & murder

typewriter and cup of flowers
This month's Words for Wednesday prompts are provided messymimi over here. This week's prompts are: flatware, season, resist, combine, second, breakdown and/or bottom, shame, spine, dinner, offense, front. I don't know what prompted me to write this story. Perhaps from watching too many crime shows or perhaps the prompts? I used all the words.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fiction: Sandwiches, flatware & murder

She liked her flatware to be useful for any occasion or season. Knives were especially her favorite kind. They were well made and practical. The steak knife, for instance, was considered to be the sharpest of all table knives and perhaps the most useful. Two years ago, a steak changed her life. Since then, she preferred her steak knife to have a 6.5 inch blade with a smooth handle.
    A month before the wedding, she had resisted visiting the house but the stress of making decisions by herself combined with losing her one and only assistant was enough for her to have a breakdown. But then she reminded herself, no one would notice if she moved a sofa six inches closer to the window. But no matter how she reasoned it, she knew if she didn't go and check again the things that worried her, she might go crazy.
    While standing on the front steps and holding the house key in her hand, she had a strange feeling she should not go in and yet, her feet carried her up the few steps and her hand unlocked and opened the door.
    She entered the small entryway, took off her shoes and stepped inside. There was no one there but the furniture. But something caught her eye. At the bottom step of the stairs that led to the second story was a red, silk dress. Something she would never wear.
    She paused and stared at the dress. Was it shame that first entered her mind? No. Nothing like that. She was slightly embarrassed but that was natural. People often thought she was a complete prude and someone lacking a spine. They never thought she would take offense if you did something bad to her or against her. She was too proper, too kind, too weak and too meek but full of goodness. She was known for her perfect but stylish interior designs. And sandwiches. She made the most delicious sandwiches. Everyone wanted her sandwiches for their wedding. Everyone liked her but no one knew her.
    A noise made her looked up at the stairs. An intruder perhaps? She went to the kitchen where everything had been meticulously arranged. First, she studied the cutting knives and then the table knives. Yes, one of those will do. She returned and climbed the stairs.
    They were in their nightclothes in bed with the sheets halfway over them. Their eyes were staring up at the ceiling. At first, she thought they were sleeping but who sleep with their eyes wide opened?
    Hours later, she sat in the livingroom answering questions after questions. The police were quite inquisitive. Yes, she knew the couple, she was their decorator and wedding chef. Naturally they gave her a key. She got the knife from the kitchen because she feared there might be an intruder. No, she didn't know the couple was going to be there nor why they were there. They weren't to come until next month after their wedding. As for the sandwiches, they wanted some samples but she sent them yesterday to the husband-to-be's office. No, she didn't know the couple too well, probably six months but she heard the man had a violent streak. After the police had exhausted her, they let her go home.
    A few weeks afterward, she saw them on the news. They showed the picture of the not-yet-married but dead couple in their wedding photo. There was no foul play and the police concluded it as murder-suicide. The woman stabbed the man with a steak knife and then herself. Rumor was the man was cheating on her.
    Yet, another murder solved. She was beginning to be good at this. She should probably change careers. It did bore her sometimes how predictable the husbands and wives-to-be were. Especially the man. She would always know which ones would go bad after the wedding. Still, she loved decorating houses and  selecting flatware was a delight to her and until she lost that enjoyment, she would continue on. First, she must make dinner to celebrate another failed marriage averted and to perhaps test out a new butter knife.

8 comments:

  1. Love this! There's nothing like an unreliable narrator!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debra She Who Seeks: She is not only unrliable but something else perhaps.

      Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.

      Delete
  2. Oooh. There is a LOT more to this woman than meets the eye.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child: Sometimes we do not look at a person too clearly so we might be surprised of their actions.

      Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Christine: Thanks. Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.

      Delete
  4. "Two years ago, a steak changed her life."
    Now I wonder...does it mean she murdered someone for the first time back then? because she had access to a steak knife?

    This was fun! I didn't expect that ending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roberta R.: Yes, that is, she is the murderess, although, that's my thinking but perhaps other readers besides you, thought differently? She loved steak knives, after all.

      Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.

      Delete

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."
- Kurt Vonnegut