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Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS:

Episode 28   Part 1

The small green mini was being driven at a speed several clicks faster than was realistic for the narrow country road that Mary had been following as she approached the final leg of her journey to the farm.  Though, in her mind, she was still not travelling fast enough for her liking.

   ‘Enough was enough,‘ she thought to herself as her mind continued in its vain attempt to remove fragments of recent events from her memory.   All Mary wanted to do at the moment was to get as far away from the garage as fast as she possibly could and regain a sense of security and sanity when she finally caught up with Joseph.   Or at least – when she arrived at the farm – find somewhere to hide out of sight – and come up with a plausible story for her being there.   Then she would confront Joseph and his friends as casually as she could and get herself invited into their in-crowd where she could feel more confident in probing thoughts and memories out of them all in order to get to know Joseph a little better.   ‘So easy.’   She decided.

   But at the moment, at this very point in time, she reluctantly reminded herself that she had no idea at all how she would explain her reason for being in Trenthamville, never mind her interest in the farm and their involvement with it.   She could have created a plan the night before, she admitted to herself – ‘Should have’, but the adrenaline that had rushed through her body at what she had overheard at the hotel, along with the imaginary thoughts of what the following day would bring, had entered her blood stream … and any thoughts of an actual plan had never entered her mind at the time.   She had been far too excited simply being involved in what appeared to be a grand, but safe adventure.   All she could think about had been the need to get some sleep so she could guarantee to be on full alert the next morning. 

   And though sleep was not what she had got, she had been ready when Martin had arrived to collect Joseph.   And, at that point, in her mind at least, the game was afoot, as Sherlock would say, the minute she pressed her foot on the accelerator and began the trip to Trenthamville.   But now the adventure was beginning to turn into a nightmare and she was having second thoughts regarding her involvement.   Mary decided on the spot that a talk with Johann P Biggs was totally in order when she got back to London.

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   As the miles disappeared beneath the wheels of the little green Mini, and the farm became closer and closer, her mood settled down and elements of the adrenaline began to re-emerge once again.   She knew she was running out of time and began forcing her mind to come up with at least a partially feasible reason for her arriving at the farm, and also forced it to help her be prepared to fake a ‘surprised’ look for when she ‘unexpectedly’ runs into co-worker, Joseph.

   “Oh, so many plans to work out, so many lies to think up, so many things to do … and I’m not ready for any of them.”  Mary complained to herself as her mind began to accept the predicament fate had created for her.  

   Earlier that day at the garage, first Frank’s tales of witches, and strange and weird happenings at the farm that she was on her way to visit – and then the arrival of the nightmare that threatened to kill her, had already sent Mary spiralling into a different world.   Such an intrusion into her mind had dismissed not only the thoughts of what she needed to do to prepare herself for all she had to do, but the time in which to do it.   Now, as she drew closer to the next step in what would become the greatest adventure she would ever stumble into, or the most frightening nightmare her mind ever had to deal with, ‘which’ became the burning question in her thoughts.    Then the realisation of just how close she was to the farm entered her already over-crowded mind, and the extreme urgency of the need for a reasonable plan suddenly struck her … and all thoughts of deserting her post disappeared from her mind forever.

   Mary began straining her mind almost to the point of forgetting to concentrate on the well worn road she was currently traversing.   Forcing something deep inside to come up with a story she could relate to, and be able to remember if she was questioned about it at a later stage.   She knew to retain her cover she would have to be able to reply to the question without hesitation or error, even if only in vague terms.  

    She hoped against hope to have a finalised plan by the time she arrived at the entrance to the farm, but if nothing had finalised itself inside her mind by that stage – she would have to hide somewhere on the farm until it did.   Though she knew that also may not be possible as she had no idea of the layout of the farm.   And if she couldn’t hide – she would just have to play it by ear when she arrived there.

   As she drove in the peaceful serenity of the country attempting to create her story, Mary relaxed, unconsciously humming the tune of a popular song as thoughts whizzed in and out of the ‘imagination’ section of her brain.   Relaxed, in both mind and body, Mary, subconsciously, began to take in the pleasantness of the day.   To feel it on her face and let it blow through her long blonde hair.

   The sky a beautiful shade of blue, the sun now providing warmth in the air, Mary almost began to forget the reason for her being in Trenthamville and the task she was undertaking.   Her eyes began closing, but she simply reopened them without giving the action any thought.

   A second later her eyes began to close again, and again she simply repeated the reopening of them without question, all the time mesmerised by the beauty and peacefulness of her surroundings.   For a third time her eyes threatened to close, but again her eyes automatically reopened, then a fourth time, then a fifth time … and then, on the sixth occasion, they failed to reopen – and the car alone was now in control of both their destinies.

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Go to Episode 28 pt 2