Chapter Eight

A Chapter by Tabitha t

Trisha had been an avid gardener for years. Something about the act of loosening the earth, burying bulbs deep within its rich soil and watching them sprout life in the spring calmed her, but there was something about burying her husband between her hydrangeas and callalillies set her nerves on edge.

She had made good time getting James across the rain soaked grass. Once she has she headed towards her gardening shed to grab her shovel. Even though she was tired, wet, and sick to her stomach by this point she made quick headway with the digging. The rain rolled down her forehead and into her eyes making it hard to see, but every time a flash of lightning lit up the world around her she mentally prayed none of her neighbors saw her.

There was a small picket fence circling the property when they bought the home but since James had caught a few neighbor kids hopping it to take a quick dip in their pool late at night. He had replaced it with a six foot wooden fence, swearing that their parents would sue them for every penny they have if one of them ended up drowning on their property. Trisha still sometimes caught a few daring teenagers climbing over the taller fence but she never told James, afraid of what he might replace that fence with.

Now she was glad that he had been so paranoid. The only way someone could see her now is if they were looking directly into her yard from an upstairs window. At this time of night she was sure that was unlikely, but every time lightning flashed she still flinched. Sure that someone would see her stooped over, digging a grave with the body of her dead husband laying face down in the muddy ground.

Her shovel sunk deep into the water logged ground and within thirty minutes of frantic digging she was standing in a hip deep grave. She knew that six feet would be better but she didn’t want to stay outside any longer then she had to. As soon as she felt that the hole was adequately large enough she scrambled out of the hole and wiped her brow. A streak of mud marked its way across her face. The rain washed it off within a few seconds.

Her muscles were sore and tight. She wanted nothing more then to take a hot shower and go to bed but she knew she had a long night in front of her. With sheer determination she flipped James over onto his back and by standing on the other side of the grave and stretching her arms out she was able to drag him into the grave. His body made a soft thud as it hit the mud below. She looked down to see James slumped onto his side with his arms lazily crossed over each other. If she didn’t know better she would say that he was asleep.

Trisha felt a sharp stab of pain run through her heart. He had the same innocent look in his sleep that Amelia has. His lips slightly puckered out, all the tension from his face washed away by dreams. The only difference that Trisha knew is that this night he did not dream and he would not be waking up in the morning.

She shook her head vigorously as if to wipe away the sudden blanket of emotion and set to work filling the hole back up with the muddy dirt. With each fresh shovel full of dirt she began to erase the image of James from her mind. First his face then his body then his arms and head. Soon she had the entire hole filled and she tossed the shovel to the ground. As it clattered against the ground she collapsed beside it in exhaustion.

Rain splattered against her hot cheeks and a fine mist of steam rose from her over hot body. As she dragged in each much needed breath she looked down to the fresh earth that covered her husband. A smile lit up her face then as the ironic thought of how grand her garden will look this spring crossed her mind. What lovely plant food her dear husband would make.

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© 2012 Tabitha t

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Reviews

KAOlmsted

"...but there was something about burying her husband between her hydrangeas and callalillies set her nerves on edge."
--need a 'that' in there between lilies and set

"Once she has she headed..."
--Once she had

"...by this point she made quick headway with the digging."
--Not in love with 'by this point', it sounds too much like somebody standing over Trisha's shoulder giving a play-by-play

"There was a small picket fence circling the property when they bought the home but since James had caught a few neighbor kids hopping it to take a quick dip in their pool late at night. He had replaced it with a six foot wooden fence, swearing that their parents would sue them for every penny they have if one of them ended up drowning on their property."
--lose the period after night and add a comma to complete the sentence. Quick thought: it is illegal in nearly every state (you can check for the state you are writing your story in) to NOT have a big old fence around your pool. So it is highly unlikely there would have been a pool with only a picket fence around it to begin with.

"...and within thirty minutes of frantic digging she was standing in a hip deep grave."
--holy cats...the woman is a digging machine.

"...by standing on the other side of the grave and stretching her arms out she was able to drag him into the grave."
--too much grave. Maybe replace one with hole?

"He had the same innocent look in his sleep that Amelia has."
--had

So she buried her husband a few feet down in her flower bed without even wrapping the guy up in a tarp? Does she not understand what a decomposing body--even one buried in dirt--will smell like? Is she not worried that the new puppy will dig it up?? More importantly...dis she REALLY check this guy's pulse well enough to determine he is REALLY dead?? Because, I gotta tell ya, I don't think this guy is really dead.

So. Where the hell are you going with this, I need to wonder, because it doesn't sound like she's thought this through. She's got a potentially rotting corpse in her garden and a witness to her crime (Rosa), and, as far as I can tell, no real cover story going as to what she is going to tell all of the prominent people this guy works with when they discover him missing. Does she not think the police are going to look at her...hard...and probably--I mean definitely--going to discover the shallow grave in her backyard??

*sigh*

You make it hard to love you, girl. *laughlaughlaugh*

All is not lost, T. With the proper amount of research, I think this could be a pretty good story.

Posted 12 Years Ago

"...but there was something about burying her husband between her hydrangeas and callalillies set her nerves on edge."
--need a 'that' in there between lilies and set

"Once she has she headed..."
--Once she had

"...by this point she made quick headway with the digging."
--Not in love with 'by this point', it sounds too much like somebody standing over Trisha's shoulder giving a play-by-play

"There was a small picket fence circling the property when they bought the home but since James had caught a few neighbor kids hopping it to take a quick dip in their pool late at night. He had replaced it with a six foot wooden fence, swearing that their parents would sue them for every penny they have if one of them ended up drowning on their property."
--lose the period after night and add a comma to complete the sentence.  Quick thought: it is illegal in nearly every state (you can check for the state you are writing your story in) to NOT have a big old fence around your pool.  So it is highly unlikely there would have been a pool with only a picket fence around it to begin with.

"...and within thirty minutes of frantic digging she was standing in a hip deep grave."
--holy cats...the woman is a digging machine.

"...by standing on the other side of the grave and stretching her arms out she was able to drag him into the grave."
--too much grave.  Maybe replace one with hole?

"He had the same innocent look in his sleep that Amelia has."
--had

So she buried her husband a few feet down in her flower bed without even wrapping the guy up in a tarp?  Does she not understand what a decomposing body--even one buried in dirt--will smell like?  Is she not worried that the new puppy will dig it up??  More importantly...dis she REALLY check this guy's pulse well enough to determine he is REALLY dead??  Because, I gotta tell ya, I don't think this guy is really dead.

So.  Where the hell are you going with this, I need to wonder, because it doesn't sound like she's thought this through.  She's got a potentially rotting corpse in her garden and a witness to her crime (Rosa), and, as far as I can tell, no real cover story going as to what she is going to tell all of the prominent people this guy works with when they discover him missing.  Does she not think the police are going to look at her...hard...and probably--I mean definitely--going to discover the shallow grave in her backyard??

*sigh*

You make it hard to love you, girl.  *laughlaughlaugh*

All is not lost, T.  With the proper amount of research, I think this could be a pretty good story.

Rating /100

Craig2591

"Trisha had been an avid gardener for years. Something about the act of loosening the earth, burying bulbs deep within its rich soil and watching them sprout life in the spring calmed her, but there was something about burying her husband between her hydrangeas and callalillies set her nerves on edge."- has to be the most hilarious paragraph I have ever read in my life! I love it!

A good chapter overall. I could feel how hard she labored and also her fear.

Toward the end I would change 'over hot body' to 'over-heated body'.

I agree that the last line is is a bit morbid.