The Shed

The Shed

By Conor Burrell

The screen door opened with a creak as Val entered into the cherry wood paneled kitchen. He gingerly removed his long coat and placed it gently onto the old wooden chair by the table in the center of the room. He leaned against it, transferring his entire body weight in the act. Val let out a sigh that compressed his lungs until they were flat. A voice in his head whispered for him to walk across the kitchen, open the utensils drawer and grab a knife.

“No…no…Susie wouldn’t want that.”

Pain throbbed inside Val’s temple as leaned harder into the chair. After what felt like an eternity he pushed himself from the chair and slowly walked down the hall. He did not bother to take off his boots. Val passively listening to the heavy creaks against the floorboards as he made his way to the bedroom.

~

Val slowly rose out of bed and dragged himself to the bathroom. He flicked the light on and stared at the mirror as the old bulb strained for its life. The once bright white light had faded into a dull warm yellow. Val relieved himself, letting his urine fill the toilet below. He looked down at the dark yellow liquid.

“Not drinking enough…”

Val dragged himself back into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. The warm and bitter scent of the delicious beans flared his nostrils as he waited patiently for the cup to brew. Val then poured himself a bowl of dry apple jacks, then he retrieved a cartoon of milk from the fridge and gently poured the white liquid into the bowl. Intermixing with the once dry green and orange colored cereal. Val settled into the wobbly wooden chair and alternated taking a sip of the warm and bitter black coffee, and spoonfuls of the cold and sweet cereal. He could see Susie sitting across the table, drinking her camel-meal tea and reading a cheesy romance novel. It was their morning ritual for thirty years. Then one day, she was gone. Left as if she had never been there in the first place. For the first day Val had waited, hoping she would come home, ignoring the panging thoughts in his head, ignoring the panic that lingered in his chest. On the second day he went to the police. It had been over two months now, and the police found no trace of Susie. It was as if she had never existed.

~

Val walked out his front door, listening to the old creaking screen. He had promised Susie over the years that he would grease the old brass hinges. He never got around to it. Val buttoned his wool overcoat and descended his front steps onto the side walk. So started his new morning routine of walking his neighborhood and the adjacent neighborhoods, looking for Susie. It was something he had done every day for the past sixty days. It never yielded any results. Many of the neighbors would awkwardly wave at him as he passed by and he would wave back with a small smile. Ignoring the slight embarrassment in his head.

“They probably think I’m going nuts…”

The truth was, Val felt useless waiting around for the police to update him on the investigation. Even if his little walks did nothing, they at least made him feel like he was doing his part.

Val stepped carefully on the rough pavement and kept an eye on where he placed his feet. He took great pains to avoid each and every crack. He looked to his right and watched a little boy play with his golden retriever in the front yard. He watched the great big smile on the boy's face, and the wagging tale of his furry friend.

“Maybe we should’ve tried to have kids…”

~

Val returned to his driveway after two hours of walking. When he first started these walks two months ago his legs would ache. Now, he felt nothing. He walked by the front door and stopped at his Subaru Legacy. He slid his keys from his pocket and pressed the unlock symbol on the fab. He slid into the front seat, closed the door and pressed the start button. The little boxer engine rattled to life as Val clicked his seatbelt in place. Blood throbbed in his temple and forced him to close his eyes for a moment.

“You were supposed to protect her…you are a failure…you failed.”

Val blinked and exhaled, letting the faint voice roll to the back of his head as he slipped the gear lever into reverse and backed out of his driveway.

~

Val had memorized the route like it was the back of his hand. Straight for five miles, a left onto Sherby Ave and then two rights onto Westwood and Tenet street. Then, the police station. Val gently led his small sedan down the various streets of town until the lifeless square cement building grew larger and larger in his salt speckled windshield. Val slowly glided the car right into the station’s parking lot and pulled into a parking spot in the middle of the lot. He turned too late, causing the front tires of the vehicle to bump into the curb before he was perfectly straight in the yellow lines below. Val sighed in annoyance.

“Can’t even park the car right anymore…”

Val looked over to the grey building as he unbuckled his seatbelt. His hand reached for the door handle and hovered for a moment, hesitating. He let out a deep breath and dropped his left hand, letting it fall onto his lap. His right hand buckled his seat belt again with a click. He slid the car into reverse and slowly backed up before slinging the gear lever into drive. The car complained with a low thumb and jerked forward in protest.

“Sorry…” He whispered in response for not waiting for the car to fully stop before shifting.

~

The sun was now getting low in the sky as Val pulled back into his driveway. He pressed the start/stop button, listening to the rattling of the car cease as he stepped out. As he made his way across his driveway to the concrete steps at the front door, he paused and looked into his small backyard. His two story house blocked most of the sun and casted his car into shadow. His eyes carried to the shed near the back of their fenced yard that he had built forty years ago. Junk, old pipes and boxes could be seen through the cloudy window just to the right of the door. Val simply stood there and watched his shed for a minute, feeling a dull pain grow in his stomach. He then turned and continued up the steps, opening the loud screen door and entering the wood paneled kitchen of his home.

~

A light thump thump thump echoed through the kitchen, prompting Val to push himself up from his late lunch and approach the door. The hot chilli from the crockpot that Susie had purchased for his birthday seven years ago permeated through the kitchen and beckoned him back to the table to eat.

“I should really start drinking more water…all I’ve had today was that coffee…”

Val squeezed the door knob and twisted it. He pulled the door back and pushed out the complaining screen door. His eyes settled on the police officer standing before him. “Maybe I should just have another coffee instead…”

“Afternoon Val.”

Val shifted back and forth on his heels, “Any news?”

The officer shook his head, "Unfortunately, no.”

“Then may I ask why you’re here?”

“You didn’t come by the station today, and…well…we were all a bit worried by that so I came to make sure you were okay.”

Val nodded, “Oh…yeah…sorry…I…the day got away from me. Haven’t been out much at all besides my walk. It just gets exhausting repeating the same things over and over again.”

The officer smiled weakly, “If you need us…we are just a phone call away.”

Val smiled in response as the officer descended his steps and walked out to his cruiser parked on the side of the street. The officer drove off and Val listened to the low drone of the police cruiser's exhaust fade into the low ambience of the town. Val looked to his left, in the direction of the backyard and shed. He closed his eyes as he shut the screen and front door and returned to his chilli.

~

Sun faded into darkness as Val strode through his living room, looking at the framed wedding photo of himself and Susie. He shoved his hands in his pockets and admired the young couple, he had a clean cut tuxedo and Susie had a long and flowy white dress. It felt like a lifetime ago that her hair was jet black, he missed that hair. He missed Susie. The throbbing pain in Val’s head returned as he slumped onto the couch. He reached for the remote and hesitated briefly as he did so. Susie hated it when he turned the TV on to escape her and would never cease to complain about it. He could hear her nagging voice deep inside of his head as his hand hovered over the remote. Val swallowed, pushing the voices and the pain down his throat as his rough and wrinkled hand clasped onto the small device. He pressed the red power button, and watched as the TV illuminated the room. Val clicked through the various channels, settling on a true crime reality show. He paid only half of his attention to the screen as his eyelids began to feel heavy and weak. Val fell into a deep sleep just as the investigators discovered that the husband was the one who murdered his wife.

~

The morning started just as it had the day before. Val got up from the couch and made his way into the kitchen, brewed a pot of coffee and poured himself a bowl of applejack cereal. He threw on the same wool coat and slowly made his way out the front door and into his driveway. Except, today, instead of walking toward the sidewalk, he found himself drawn to the shed. He stopped at the door and let his hand hover over the doorknob. A slight chill tingled through his bones as the wind swept a light gush of frigid air past his face. The throbbing returned in his head, he could see Susie’s soft face staring at him. He quickly opened the door and a rush of rotting air attacked his nostrils and held onto the hair in his nose like icicles. Val covered his face, looked down to his right, and settled his eyes on a blue tarp. Val quickly closed the door and made his way back into the house. He rushed by the kitchen table and made his way to the bedroom. He slid into the bed with his shoes still on and rolled onto his side and let his face sink into the worn silk pillow.

“Just a dream…just a bad dream…”

Val closed his eyes.

~

Later that afternoon Val awoke from his nap. He shook his head with disgust when he realized he had gone to bed fully clothed with shoes on.

“I must've been really tired last night…”

He made his way to the kitchen and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the half full cup of coffee and empty bowl with milk residue stuck to it.

“Weird…”

Val gently placed the cup of coffee and cereal in the sink, dribbled some Dawn Dishsoap in them and rinsed each out.

“I must’ve had breakfast for dinner last night…”

He brewed a new cup of coffee and poured himself a new bowl of cereal and began to eat. Then he exited the kitchen, descended his front steps, and took his walk around the neighborhoods, forever stuck in his hopeless search for Susie.

~

The morning after Val was out on his walk and he noticed that he did not see the boy and his golden retriever playing in the yard. It was a chilly day, but the sun was out, so it made no sense to him as to why the boy and his dog were missing. When Val returned from his walk he looked over to the backyard and stopped in his tracks. The golden retriever sat outside of his shed, growling, as the little boy emerged from the open door with his hands covering his face. Val stood there, motionless. The boy grabbed the collar of the dog and led him past Val on the other side of his Subaru and out into the street. Val looked back at the shed and slowly walked towards it. He poked his head into the rotten stench and centered his eyes on the tarp. Something was sticking out from it now. He quickly shut the door and went inside the house. Val went to his bedroom, making sure to take his shoes off before he climbed in bed and closed his eyes.

“Just another bad dream…”

~

A loud knocking on the door echoed through the cherry wood paneled hall and roused Val from his slumber. He slowly slipped his boots on and made his way down the hall, his footsteps creaking against the old wood the entire journey back into the kitchen and to the front door. Upon opening it he came face to face with three police officers. The lead officer, Val, recognized me as the one who stopped by two days ago.

“Hey guys, any news?”

The officers looked at one another before looking back at him. The lead officer stepped forward, “Val Cumber…we have a warrant to search your home, property, and shed.”

“W..what? Why?”

The two officers behind the lead one made their way past Val and into his home. The lead officer stepped forward, “Tell me where she is Val…this will go a lot easier.”

Val stood there, dumbfounded.

The officer nodded, “Alright, fine. Let’s take a walk out to the shed, you and me.”

So, Val led the officer out to the shed.

“Why would she be hiding in my shed?”

Val stopped at the door and hesitated for a moment and looked back at the officer. He couldn’t place as to why he always hesitated before opening the door to the shed that he had built all those years ago. The officer responded with a slight shake of his head. Val opened the door and stepped into the swallowing stench. The officer followed, cupping his hands over his mouth.

“Jesus fucking christ!” The officer yelled.

Val stood there, motionless, as his eyes settled on Susie’s tarp, and her matted grey hair.

“Val Cumber…you…you are under arrest for the murder of Susie Cumber.”

“...what?”

Val felt the officer grab both of his arms behind his back and place the cold metal handcuffs around them. They clasped shut with a click. The officer led Val from the shed back into his yard, passed his Subaru and out to the squad car. The officer placed Val in the backseat of the car, and stood by the open door.

“Val Cumber…you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. If you decide to answer questions without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney.”

Val shook his head, he looked to his right as more squad cars pulled up to the house.

“Val, what is your full name and date of birth?”

“Did you guys find her?”

“This will go easier if you answer my questions.

“Did you guys find her?”

The officer sighed. Val watched as more officers walked past the patrol car he was in and toward the shed.

“This is just a bad dream. Just a bad dream.”