'Murder in the Marsh' sneak peek

sneak peek from this year's NaNoWriMo project in-progress

Margie rolled over on her back in the large bed.  It had to be after midnight, but she was having trouble falling asleep.  The marsh was quieter than the city, but it had different sounds all its own: the chittering of bugs, the rustling of branches in the wind, nocturnal swamp critters moving about.  Margie kept thinking she was hearing something walking around outside her window.  She tried to ignore it, but could not help but envision creepy Benjamin prowling around outside.  She thanked God that they had a set of keys and could lock the doors.  But what if Benjamin also had a set of keys?

She rolled back over on her side, just wanting to get some sleep.  She was also worried about her necklace.  She hoped she had just dropped it on the ground and not into one of the murky pools of algae-infested water.  If that were the case, it was gone forever.  She suddenly grew tense; was that something scratching at her window?

“No, no…  It has to be tree branches rustling in the wind.  That’s got to be it…” she thought to herself, trying to calm down; she could feel her heart beating out of her chest.  The scratching ceased and she relaxed.  She had finally begun to drift off to sleep when it started up again.  This time she could tell that it was close enough that something had to be scratching the glass.  She sat up, trying to see what was outside the dark window, but was too scared to get up and look.  A low growl came from just the other side of the glass and Margie began screaming, terrified of what was trying to break into her room.

George heard her scream and jerked awake, throwing the sheet off of himself and running into her room.  “What!?  What is it!?” he asked, disoriented, looking at his sister sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest.

“Outside!  There’s something outside scratching at my window!”  She pointed at the window, trying to fight back tears and oncoming hysteria.  They both fell silent and listened.  Nothing.

“Well I don’t hear anything now…  Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“Yes George, I haven’t slept a wink.”

He walked across the room and looked out through the window into the dark night.  “There’s nothing out there Margie.  You’re not used to staying outside the city, you probably just heard some wildlife or Benjamin walking around outside.  Try to get some sleep.”

“Just Benjamin walking around outside?  I don’t like him being around…  He gives me the creeps.”

“Well, it’s way too late to do anything about it now.  Just try to get some sleep.  He’s just… odd.  I’m sure there’s really nothing to worry about.  You just heard swamp noises and got spooked.”  He hesitated, setting his mouth.  “I’m going back to bed…  Are you going to be all right?”

Margie still sat with her arms wrapped around her knees - pouting.

George shook his head and walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch.  He was wide awake now after being startled awake, so he turned on a lamp that he had taken from one of the boxes and began reading the book Elaine had recommended.