Polly pulled the window curtains aside ever so slightly. Through the window of the next house, she could see Mrs. Durmont sipping tea with some friends. Some community meeting, no doubt. Mrs. Durmont was the President of the town committee, so she organized all the nonsense that went on in the neighborhood. Any dunce could pull it off, and Polly was sure that she could do the job just as well. Of course, Polly never ran for community president, for she had more important things to do.
Loud snoring. Jonas was no doubt still fast asleep in the next room. Polly sat down at her kitchen table with a huff. That man was always tired from work, and always went straight to bed when he came home. A ghost of a husband, thought Polly. When was the last time they had gone to the movie show? Never, in Polly's mind.
A ring of the doorbell. Polly got up from her wooden chair and made her way over to the front door. The mail had just been dropped through the slot. Polly raised an eyebrow. Besides the usual bills and invitations to formal affairs, their was a slim brown package piled on top of them all. It was tied with a thin red ribbon that twinkled in the dim kitchen lamp-light.
Polly picked up the brown package and left the other envelopes for Jonas to deal with later. She set it down on the table, and heard a muffled tap as whatever was inside made contact with the wooden table. A bit of excitement in her movements, she undid the ribbon and started to peel away at the paper exterior. As the wrapping fell away, Polly gasped. Inside was the most beautiful piece of silk, its color a deep, alluring red. Like blood.
Polly smoothed a hand over the gorgeous silk. It was so wonderfully soft. Then her fingers met the hard surface of the object wrapped inside. She pulled the silk off with a slight flourish, beaming. If the silk was so exquisite, what sort of treasure could be inside it?
It wasn't what Polly would have expected. Lying on the table was a rather large dagger. It shone beautifully and had a shallow engraving near the point:
M.I.
Polly took the elegant knife in her hand. It was so very light. She noticed a small piece of paper dangling from its handle. It was tied in some more of the sparkling ribbon.
Polly parted the piece of folded paper with her fingers. Written in neat cursive was a single message:
You know what to do.
Polly read the message over and over again. What could it mean? Polly couldn't fathom who had sent this knife to her. It didn't make sense.
Jonas' snoring grew louder. Polly looked up, the knife still held in her hand. That Jonas, why was he always avoiding her? More and more often he was coming home late at night, even on the weekends. Polly couldn't imagine a simple bank teller having this much work load.
The grandfather clocked ticked away from the living room, and its sound seemed to fill the entire house. Polly gripped the dagger tighter. What if Jonas was seeing another woman? Yes, that had to be it. That bastard was seeing another woman!
Polly quickly stood up, and the chair screeched as it was forcibly slid on the hard wood floor. Beads of sweat started to form at Polly's brow. After all these years together that man decided to cheat on her. Polly would not let him use her that easily.
Silently, she walked to the bedroom door, shifting the dagger awkwardly in her hand. He was still deep asleep, probably dreaming of that slut.
Polly violently forced open the door and stormed in. Jonas was roused from his sleep, and he shifted in his bed, starting to stretch his arms. Polly ran over to him, the dagger held high. A silent rush swept through her body.
"Darling, whatever are you doing with that knife?" yawned Jonas, sitting up in the bed. Polly ignored him.
A scream, followed by a flurry of bloodstained sheets kicked up into the air. They hung like clouds, and then finally settled onto a still body.
Jonas ceased to snore that night.
!
. It was my fault for not making it clear that M.I was the engraving, so I fixed it. And I think you're right about it being too short, and I'll probably lengthen it.
