Mysterious letter

"Sunshine, you brought me to church again. What for?" Mom asked me.

"What are you talking about."

"It's about to begin! Don't stand in the aisle."

Someone touched my shoulder. The man was waiting for me to sit down, so he could do the same.

"Sorry." The mass began, and voices subsided slowly. Not wanting to interfere, I also sat down.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways!" The priest started "We hear this all the time, right? Does anyone knows what it means?"

"That we have no power over our fate." Someone from the crowd shouted.

"It means, my children, that we cannot predict our fate. And we cannot possibly understand all the casual relationships. But the time will come where you will understand everything."

I turned around at the sound of bells. When I turned back again, the priest had disappeared, a long with all the other people at the mass.

"Mom?"

The bells rang louder. Standing up from the bench, I went still ,confused, listening to how the ringing intensifies, as if approaching. Not daring to leave, I carefully opened the door. The creak echoed through the entire church.

There was no one outside. "It's so warm outside, but it's cold in here, like a crypt." I mumbled nervously. Suddenly the bells stop ringing.

Gathering my courage, I flung open the doors of the church. "Where am I?" I am surrounded by bushes and in some sort of forest. I headed off into the unknown, hoping to get to the city.

The church was left behind, tucked away among the trees.

"Mom! Mom. Can you hear me?!" There was no answer. 'where did everything go...' My head was occupied by thoughts of how to get to the city and leave this forest when i tripped over something and hit the ground. The taste of blood spread over my tongue. "Ouch!" I got up, cleaned myself off, and only then I saw what it was in my path. "Ahhh!"

"Is that....is this a corpse?!"

"What does it look like?"

I flinched, not expecting to see anyone else here. When I turned around I saw that it's a policeman. "Oh! Thank God you are here! Something strange is happening...where did everyone go? Who...who is this?"

"Who? This guy?" The policeman grinned. " It's your first victim"

"Wh..what are you talking about. My eyes stopped on sight of my bloody hands, clutching a knife. The shock made my fingers go soft, and the knife fell, sticking into the blood-socked ground.

"What do you think? That no one would know about this? You thought maybe it's not you who killed him, and you're not a murderer , or what? That's right, you're a murderer ! A stone-cold killer! Hahaha!

"STOP!!" I can't take this anymore, but it doesn't seem like the man will stop.

"A soulless, violent murderer! Hahaha!"

At that moment everything went white. I woke up sweating, the crumpled blanket tangled somewhere at my leg, and my neck numb for sleeping on the couch. I touched my chest, trying to calm my beating heart.

The policeman gloating laughter, still rang in my ears. Suddenly someone knocked at the door. The clock showed 6:06 pm. 'I wonder who that could be? I wasn't expecting anyone this evening. I went towards the door and opened it, but there was no one behind the door...Only a crisp yellow envelope lay on the floor. "It's was marked: "From mr's hill. An invitation to my funeral."

Ok, that's weird...I returned to the sofa, looking over the envelope. I had a strange feeling inside , as if I was again in the twilight world of dreams. "Hmm...the letter is written by hands." I opened it up...

"Dear Sarah " The letter began in a sweeping handwriting. "I understand this is all very surprising. Perhaps you have completely forgotten the old owner of the antique shop, telling you unreasonable stories. That is why I've decided to remind you of me in this particular way. Life has scattered you to other parts of the world. I will not hear your joyous lilting, nor will I see you running by. But I understand, you, the youth, are in search of a better life, it is true. We are the creators of our fate, but after a time the only place left for us is the museum. And so, my time has come. We will meet in our memories."

Below, there was the time and place of the funeral service. "What a weird letter. Pretty much like Mr's hill. herself. I remembered her wrinkled but kind face. She always has this sly look, as if she has something that people would like to hear about. I imagined how she wrote this letter, sitting in her shop, admists all that old rubbish...And for some reason, my heart began to beat faster, and a chill ran down my spine.

"I can't believe it..." I looked down at the letter again. " I haven't ever been back to Saintfour. I left there ten year ago, hoping to never return...So many times, I meant to go visit my parents, and at the last moment I stayed back, not finding the strength to return there...And now this..letter...maybe it will be good to go back, now?"

There was silence in the apartment for a long while. I stood frozen in thought, clutching the letter in hands. The decision is final. Yes, I would go. I couldn't hide forever.

But then I immediately felt uneasy again. To remove the option of changing my mind, I dailed my mom's number, told her about the letter, and said I'll be coming to Saintfour. After a short, slightly, awkward conversation, I froze again, considering everything.

"The funeral is tomorrow, I have to get ready now. I should at least choose what to wear...to get away from all these thoughts." I choosed a black jumpsuit. Simple but reserved. Just what I need.

"I'll gather the rest of my things tomorrow. My eyes are shutting down...maybe I should go to bed." As soon as my head touched the pillow, I fell asleep, and I had restless dreams all night long....