The ant
"I got hit by a splinter in my cheek that dug in and festered and later had to be spliced out", one of the workers said. The three men had a break and hoped to be allowed to go home soon. They had to remove the walls in a basement of a family home and what they had found was too hard to talk about yet. They knew they had to. Once their task was finished they would write a report and in the meanwhile the appointment with a psychologist we're made for at least the next six months. It was better to talk about the small things, the little pains in life as long as they still had the chance to do so. They didn't know what would happen in the next days, nights, most likely sleepless nights. There was no need to be a parent to feel what they felt as they found the bodies. Bodies bricked in, bricked in alive.
"They are out of remdesivir", his mate said.
The two others nodded. Remdesivir the magic medicine that was no magic at all.
"Aren't hospitals businesses these days? I mean shouldn't they make money and keep people as long as possible?"
"No worries they do. It's not remdesivir that does the trick but dexamethasone you know".
They'd rank their coffee in silence and waited for the moment a police officer would show up out of the hole to gave them permission to go.
"One thing is sure it wasn't a vampire, what about that guy Jim?"
She rubbed at her head. "He lives over on the illusion she's still his little girl. Wait till he meets her, if she wants to meet him at all."
She paused, waited for his answer. Right after she had left Ben's house she went back to Jim's. How weird she had felt, an outsider. Ben and Jim had looked so close and it didn't sound as if he would come back home soon.
"Did they gave you an address?"
She nodded, rubbed her forehead again and sighed.
"Well, did they?"
"No, sorry. I was in thoughts. I didn't ask for it either. You know it might sound weird but what I feel most now it peace. Piece if it comes to my daughter I mean. She's an adult. You told me she's fine... Fidelo saw her. He said the same. It's just..."
"Jim?"
"Yes, Jim. As I came back he needed help needed me and now..."
"He no longer needs you?"
"..he no longer needs me", she whispered and ended the phone call.
Jim no longer needed her but she needed... What did she need?
Her phone rang. She hesitated. Would he be made with her because she ended their conversation?
Better have it behind me as soon as possible I can't run forever, it's time to face the truth, stop running.
"Hello?"
A deep whisper was her answer. In a reflex, she threw the phone through the room. Not again. How could he have found her after so many years? Carefully she looked through the curtains. The street was empty. Did she lock the door, close the windows? He said he would find her, always would find her and it was thru. He did. After all those years he had found her, even called her on her new number.
She picked up her phone and switched it off. She needed to think, watch her steps again. This time it was serious. Who had her phone number? Jim, Fidelo, Been, the doctor, the hospital perhaps? Who more? The gardeners, the women who decorated the house...Jim's phone. Where was it? Ben had given him an old phone of his. Where was Jim's? Did he lose it? She searched the house carefully. If the phone wasn't there anyone could have it and have her number. She didn't know how to reach Jim. Ben didn't tell her the new number.
She sat down and thought. What did she know about Ben? Could he be trusted. He never told where he found the bag, the doll, those wraps. What about Fidelo? He had given her a salty peanut butter bar once. How did he know she liked them?
Was there anyone she could trust?
Slowly she writes down what she knew, what happened, and added some notes to it. This would be her private file. Something was going on and it didn't matter if she was alone, could count on help, she would figure it out.
After she closed her diary she put it in an envelope. If something happened to her she hoped it would be sent to the right person. The statement Fidelo asked for didn't take her long. She added the name of the hospital, her doctor, and the hotel she had stayed at. "If he likes to know more he can ask around", she mumbled.
Time to buy a new sim card. This time she would keep the number secret, emergency calls only.
Well said