Who Knows Best?

Copyright Jenne Gray

Now that Doug’s Min Min Challenge is in hibernation, we – C. E. Ayr and I – have have decided to continue with more or less the same idea, a story of anything up to 250 words based on a prompt, which this week is my photo, above. Why not join in? We’re still finalising the format, but if you’re interested, please leave a comment below the story and we’ll be in touch. And you’ll find C. E.’s story here.

Who Knows Best?

‘Shit!’
Oops, did I say that out loud?
My Mum doesn’t like bad language.
She doesn’t like a lot of things – like teenage daughters hitching lifts, especially when there’s been a killer on the loose for a couple of years.
She’s a bit paranoid, if you ask me.
This is a quiet place.
The only strangers are doctors who work up at the hospital.
It’s safe.
Besides, everybody hitch-hikes.

Back to ‘Shit’ – I’ve been on long shifts in the hospital and have just sleep-walked to the bus stop in time to miss the bus.
I slump onto the bench and prepare for Matron’s fury.
I’m nodding off when I hear a car stop.
Opening an eye, I see a handsome, smiling face that makes my heart skip a beat.
‘I saw you missing the bus. Would you like a lift? I have a shift at the hospital myself.’
Bless my nurse’s uniform!
My woozy head full of dreams of doctor-nurse romances, I jump into the car.
‘I’m Annie,’ I say, suddenly shy.
He doesn’t tell me his name but chats away quite the thing.
When I mention that he’s taken a wrong turning, he says it’s a shortcut.
I know it isn’t, and then, my mother’s words pounding in my ears, I’m panicking.
When the car stops at a red light, I jump out and run into a shop.
He speeds away.

Two days later, his face is on every newspaper.
And I imagine if that light hadn’t been red…

‘All this happened more or less’ back in 1958. The serial killer in question was Peter Manuel, the third-to-last man to be executed in Scotland.