Lakeside View                 by: Anne O’Nonymous

 

Joe Walker sat in his car admiring the lake spread out in front of him, the setting sun showing beautiful gold, purple and orange streaks, the lake was a turquoise jewel box. He felt he could sit for hours watching the interplay of hues, but he had a mission of sorts.

Just as the sun was fading he saw her jogging and he remembered! It was when he was much younger, a kid really. His mother was a dominant woman, his father a cowardly cringing man. Whatever she wanted she got, no excuses were acceptable.

Joe remembered how he was "trained" and the punishments he got--for nothing really. His mother and older sister ran the house and he was there just to annoy them. His mind dwelled on the time his friends were invited over to see him in girl’s panties and training bra doing housework. No dress or anything else--just a bra and panties. How his older sister made him use tampons or pad, took him to a beauty shop and told all the customers what a sissy he was. He remembered the threat to have his balls cut off. The implements of punishment--a yardstick to get hit with (he could not remember it being used otherwise), tied to a bed then being hit with a belt. Many other times filtered through, and he got angrier and angrier.

The jogger was running along the lakefront, and there were very few people left. As she run on, Joe searched in his car for the item he wanted. With an "Ah, here it is," he pulled up the silken scarf he had taken from his mother’s drawer on the day he ran away. After exiting and locking up the car, Joe started trotting after the jogging woman.

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Detective Paul Schmidt looked at the report on his desk and sighed.

"What’s wrong, Paul?" Sam Thomas, Paul’s partner, inquired.

Paul started reading the report to him: "Susan Aaronson, Caucasian, age twenty-three, blue eyes, blonde hair, approximately 120 pounds. Found by a man walking by lake. Cause of death, strangulation, possible something soft. Nothing taken, wallet was found intact. No rape attempt. All known boyfriends have airtight alibies."

"You know that sounds a lot like that case in Markham, and that’s tied to at least fifteen others. The victims were all female, strangled with a soft cloth. This sounds like a serial killer. Anything else," Sam asked.

"Just a note on the body, same as the others, computer made then copied on a copying machine. It says: "In Honor Of My Mother."

 

That’s All Folks, or is it---Annie O

 

 

© 2001
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