2006 FEATURED SHORT STORY

2005 FEATURED SHORT STORY
2004 FEATURED SHORT STORY
Previously Featured Short stories:
  • Running... a thriller
  • A Devoted Friend .. A story about a dangerous friend and one woman's struggle to face her worst enemy, herself. It's a worth while story to take the time to read.
  • Vampyr ..A dairy based off the novels by Ann Rice..
  • Farewell ..Ever wonder how you would live your life if everyone was killed and you for some reason were spared to live out your days?
  • Lynn Warden's Secret .. There is only one way to find out..
  • INITIATION Follow Matthew into the darkness..
  • Bad Awake Karen is running for her life.. find out why..
MAGAZINES:
BOOKS ON THE SHELF:

The Library




Lynn Warden's Secret


By Erin Mann
Quickborn, Germany


It was past midnight and the empty street of the residential district lay in darkness of the night. The full moon that time and time again disappeared behind clouds, cast a ghostly light through the window of Lynn Warden's bedroom.
The young woman moved into the house just a few months ago and lived there all alone. There were rumors Lynn Warden would be the richest of the rich who lived in the town and her collection of jewelry would be one of the most valuable in the States. Lynn Warden didn't care about these rumors but a lot of others people did.
It was 3:20 a.m. when Lynn looked at her alarm clock. She had been awakened by a noise that seemed to be coming from down stairs. Slowly she sat up, stroked a lock of hair from her face and listened into the darkness. A slight clatter confirmed that the noise came from the downstairs living room. Lynn pressed her lips tightly together and reached for the drawer of her beside table. Since she moved, there have been five other attempts to be robbed from those wanted to find out if the rumors about her wealth were true. Now it seems that the sixth was at the bottom of the staircase.
Lynn slowly opened the drawer and took out the loaded gun and put it gently beside the small lamp sitting on the bedside table. Then she quietly glided out of the bed and slipped into her negligee. Again she reached her hand inside the drawer and took out a small black object that she let disappear into the pocket of her silk negligee.
Lynn then took the gun, unlocked it and held it tight in her right hand, the finger on the trigger. A cloud past over the moon causing total darkness in the bedroom. Nevertheless, she crept toward the door, her footsteps as light as air, opened it silently and entered into the gloomy corridor. Lynn sneaked along in the cover of the wall until she reached the stairs. When she got there , she recognized a weak gleam of light in the living room and heard a suppressed clatter of metallic objects. The boards of the stairs didn't creek when she went down them half way. Lynn saw the painting that usually covered the safe leaning against the leather sofa sitting beside the fireplace. The Tiffany lamp placed on the bureau sat right below the safe.It offered poor light because it was covers with a chiffon cloth. The man dressed all in black did not even notice Lynn as she came down the stairs. His ear was pressed against the safe listening for the combination.

"You won't find what you are looking for in there." Lynn Warden said as she switched on the light. No light penetrated through the blinds to the outside world. Startled, the man turned around. He saw the beautifully shaped woman pointing a loaded gun at him.

"Oh, Did I scare you? I'm Sorry" She said in a coy voice. Heart pounding, the burglar looked at her with confusion and gulped dryly. He wasn't sure what he was going to do now.

"You shouldn't move. I've got a nervous finger. Are you looking for my jewelry?"

The man still stared blankly at her, his arms tight at his side.

"I asked you something, Are you dumb or just plain stupid?"

"No", he replied guarded.

"You know, I don't keep my jewelry in the safe. I think safes are too insecure."

"What are you going to do with me now?" The burglar inquired meekly.

"Do you want to know what is in the safe?" a shine glittered in her says as she teased him, but she didn't get an answer. "Surely you do. The combination is 5R-3L-3R-7L".

The man hesitated. Lynn Warden pointed to the safe with the gun.

"Come on, open it or I'll forget myself!" she commanded.

With uneasiness the burglar turned to the safe and started to move the little number wheel back and forth. The turning of it was the only noise that could be heard. Before the man opened the safe's door he gave Lynn a glance and she smiled at him. At the same moment he turned away from her to see the contents of the safe, she slid her hand into her negligee and removed the silencer. Placing the object on the gun took no time at all to complete.
As the burglar opened the safe's door, his eyes were wide open he was horrified and immediately felt ill to his stomach. Before he could turn around and express his boundless surprise, Lynn pulled the trigger. The shot was duller then the dead body hitting the parquet floor.
There were no witnesses to the proceedings that happened in Lynn Warden's home. No one ever knew that she dragged the dead body into her kitchen. No one ever knew what she did with the carving knife. It also stayed a secret that Lynn after a while entered the garage to stew away anything that might incriminate her into the trunk of her car. After that was done, Lynn returned to her bedroom, took a shower and hastily put on fresh clothes. It was necessary that she arrived at the slaughterhouse before it opened and her employees began to show up for work.
On her way back to the garage, Lynn looked at the painting that now again was in it's proper place on the wall. Nothing pointed to her nightly visitor, not even one drop of blood. A smile appeared in Lynn Warden's face as she thought of the next greedy burglar who would find six heads in the safe.

Copy write by author, 1997





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