3 Short Stories for Fox Tales Contest #31

gaby-crb (59)in #foxtales • 5 years ago

Just a Job

The coroner sighed, replacing the skull onto the bench. He had checked for fractures and punctures, both of which were visible on the x-ray. His results showed the eye socket had also been broken. The bone had been crumbling in his hands; he suspected a lack of calcium. He had never hated his job as much as in that moment. The truth of the situation made him sick to his stomach; the child had been severely mistreated, his existence erased and his death covered up. The coroner would do everything he could to help catch his killer.

Catch

The bright yellow tennis ball flew through the air landing in perfectly placed hands. The kids laughed as they passed it back and forth, the smallest of them playing ‘piggy in the middle’. The fun stopped abruptly as the eldest of them, Rose, has miscalculated her own strength and the ball sailed past their heads and straight through a window. The window belonged to their father's office. They ventured inside on a mission to retrieve the ball. The office had always been off limits to the children. Rose lead them inside, they looked around the room and found it quickly. Rose was already distracted by a small skull resting on top of her father’s desk. She reached out with delicate fingers. She only wanted to touch it. A car door slammed startling her, before she could react it had slipped from her fingers and tumbled to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces.

A Memory

This one is my favourite, I think to myself as I pick it up with the tips of my fingers. I turn it over examining the chip in the base, made by the time my brother and I were arguing and it fell from its position on the mantelpiece. This skull has always been my favourite, partly because of its authenticity, the plastic still chinks against my nails but its colour looks real enough. The other reason it’s my favourite, is because it was my dad's favourite. It always had pride of place in our home, being always within view on the hearth, or the cabinet sideboard. He loved to show it to people. They would hold it, surprised by its weight. I wrap it in tissue paper and pack away into a box still smiling to myself with the memories. The skull is going to a new home with me.