An Undisturbed Rest.

An Undisturbed Rest.


It was early in the morning. Long before the first blue jay came to sing its beautiful song. But today, the blue jay wouldn't be anywhere to be seen. Instead, it was replaced by the sad, evil, death bringing screaming of the crow.

The crow jumped from branch to branch. It was an effort to warm it's small body, because the morning still held the cold chill of winter in its hands; even though it was mid-spring.

The midnight black crow stared down at one house that seemed to be the center of attention on this frosty morning. The crow let out a hideous cackle as the paramedics carried what seemed to be a woman on a stretcher.

She was dead.

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"Have you gotten any good books in yet, Harvey?" called out Jenica from behind one of the shelves that were stacked with books. She was staring from top to bottom with a small frown, and her arms crossed just below her chest.

"Not until next week, kid." replied the aged man with a small laugh from behind the checkout counter.

"Oh come on, Harvey. I'm hardly a kid anymore! I'm twenty-five now." She responded with a laugh of her own. She came out from behind the shelf with a broad smile, her hand unconsciously pushing her blonde bangs away from her eyes.

"I've known you since you were running around in diapers. You'll always be a kid to me." Harvey leaned against the counter and shook his head at her with a smile. Jenica just shrugged at him and wandered over to a different part of the small bookstore.

Her eyes wandered over the brown leather backs of random books. This seemed to be where all of the older books where kept. She ran her finger idly over a row of books. As her finger touched a book she read the title of it, deciding in her mind whether it sounded interesting or not.

As she reached the end of the row, one of the books caught her eye; it wasn't very big, probably only one hundred pages long, but it had an old brown leathery back. She pulled it off the shelf and examined the cover. Odd...she thought...it hasn't got a title?

"Found anything interesting back there, Jenica? I'm about to close the shop." Harvey appeared next to the large bookshelf, just as Jenica was going to open the book. She looked up at him with a start, and then nodded.

"Yeah. I'll take this one. Do you know if it has a title?" She handed the book over to Harvey so that he could look at it. He looked at the cover, and opened up the front, skimming the first few pages. He got a puzzled look on his face, and handed the book back to Jenica.

"I've never seen that book before. I don't even know if it belongs in this store. I see that there's a dried plant inside it of some sort, though." He stated while pointing at the top of the book. A few leaves were poking out from near the end of the book. "Even that I don't recognize off the top of my head. Tell you what, go ahead and take it. You can keep it. No charge."

Jenica smiled at him and nodded. She gripped the book somewhat tightly to herself and headed for the exit. She said her goodbye to Harvey as she stepped out of the shop.

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Jenica was just settling in for the night when she realized that she had set the book on her nightstand. Still feeling wide-awake, she decided that now was the perfect time to start reading it. She sat up in her bed, which was empty except for herself, and turned on the lamp on the nightstand.
Like a child who was playing with a brand new toy for the first time, she reached out and picked up the book. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she opened up the cover and flipped through the first few pages to find the start of the story. Before she started to read, she realized something?

This was no storybook--it was a journal! Somewhat shocked, she started reading.

"My name is Doctor Victor Mulding. I am 47 years old." The first few lines of the book were simple enough.

As she continued to read, he described why he decided to start a journal; to record anything spectacular while he was exploring places visited by few "civilized humans".

He went on to describe his trips on boat to distant lands, good and bad. He described his encounters with the native people of these lands, their warm greetings or their hostile behavior towards him. He also included what they wore. He described how they used plants as both garments and housing, and how the men or women in their tribes used some plants as medicine.

He went on to describe the exotic animals of these lands. The different colors and shapes of the birds, the size of the land animals, and how odd the water-bound animals looked. He took note on what plants and animals the natives ate or used.

By now, Jenica had been totally wrapped up in the book. She finally took notice that she was almost near the end. She figured that he visited one last place before finishing with this journal.

"I've come to realize that I am getting much too old to continue to research plants, animals, and civilizations. I have decided, with much regret, to do one last exploration. After this, I shall retire at the age of..."

Jenica stopped reading as the plant near the last page had slipped out. Curious, she raised what seemed to be a bud near the middle of the plant to her nose. Even after being so old and dried out, the bud had a very fragrant smell to it, and the plant itself looked like that of a small flower. Turning her attention back to the journal, she continued reading.

He, Doctor Victor Mulding, had reached his last destination. He described a small tribe of natives that were very eager to welcome him. The people of the tribe were nestled in a very tight group, in the heart of vast jungle.

"It's amazing here! Almost every plant exceptionally oversized, and the tree's are as big as mansions!" he described, "Birds come in every color and size, and there are too many different animals to even name!"

As he was describing what the natives used all of the large plants for, Jenica realized that she was starting to become incredibly drowsy. She raised her hands to rub her eyes, and went back to reading. Before she even got to the last paragraph, though, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

It read:

"What surprises me most of all in this native tribe is their fear of a particular plant. They fear this plant more than they fear the carnivorous cats that roam freely around them. This plant grows at the base of the large trees, and is, surprisingly, the smallest plant in this entire jungle. It appears to be a small flower, but the natives say that the scent of this flower could, in their words, "cause a man sleep forever". Death? Could the scent of a flower really cause death? While handling this plant, I notice that they cover their noses, to prevent smelling it. They mainly use the plant on the elderly, or the seriously wounded, so they can have a painless death. I have seen it being used, and in fact, the look on their faces after they die, is that of truly being in a restful sleep."

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"I hate crows..." muttered the detective as he stared up at a nearby tree. The crow up in the tree stared down at him with an evil look, and let out another loud cackle. The detective shuddered slightly, despite himself.

"Detective Grinshaw?"

"Hmm?" Michael Grinshaw turned away from the tree, ignoring the screaming of the crow. He turned his attention to the young police officer standing in front of him, his eyes flickering to the stretcher that was passing behind him. "Yes, what did you find?"

"The woman who lives in this home is named Jenica Berkent. She's single, age twenty-five..." The officer went on with the details, and Detective Grinshaw continued to listen, nodding his head every once in a while. "...and the only thing found next to her was a book. The book itself is somewhat odd."

"Odd?" replied Detective Grinshaw with a puzzled look on his face. The officer held out the book toward the detective, who started to flip through its pages. Grinshaw's face looked even more confused when he looked up from the book at the officer standing in front of him.

"The book--It's empty!"



- End -

Hoorah! It's a completed short story I wrote two years ago! It's a shame I've lost my first short story. It was about baby killing and multiple personalities and psycho babysitters and everything.