Friday, August 28, 2009

Koala Killer Twenty-second Installment


Chapter 6


When Cass returned, he had Jorge in tow.

"Let me see, Manny," Jorge said in a grim voice. He always grieved when one of their animals died, right down to the smallest bird. It was one of the things that Mari liked about him. As he looked at the soiled and lifeless marsupial, he said, "We'll get one of the Southwest Animal vets to do the autopsy."

"The police may require it," Manny said, "and probably pay for it as well," he added slightly more cheerfully.

Suddenly Mari was tired. She couldn't even sit up straight in the wheelchair. She wanted to go home and sleep, if possible. The last five days had been nightmarish for her. Too much violence and death for a person who seldom read the news and never watched it on TV.

"Please take me home, Cass. I'm so tired I ...," then the worst happened; she started weeping. "I hate when this happens."

Thankfully, the three men didn't try to soothe her. They just looked down at the ground and waited.

"We'll take care of the police and get this poor animal checked out Mari," Jorge said.

"Take care of yourself chicadee," Manny added.

"Please let me know what the autopsy tells us, Jorge. Manny. " She called to them over her shoulder as Cass pushed her wheelchair back along the paths to the parking lot.

Cass was quiet in the process of getting them back to his car and on the road back to her apartment. As soon as he got her settled on the couch for the sleep she had longed for back in the elephants' enclosure, she knew she wouldn't be able to just fall into dreamland, because every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the limp body of the poor little Koala. Cass was making a pot of herb tea in the kitchen.

"Could you bring me some aspirin with the tea, please Cass."

"Sure thing, Marigolden."

The tea was perfect. Just what she needed. She started to relax.

He smiled, "So much for lunch plans. I'd better call Shirley. We'll set it for tomorrow, shall we?"

"Yes."

She put her cup and saucer down and slumped down, shutting her eyes.


When she woke up, it was with relief from her dream of Koalas dying and their bodies trailing behind her and the feeling of no way out. She would be glad when things got back to normal and she could wake up from pleasant dreams again.
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Yikes. I should have looked ahead and seen that this is all I've written on this story. Well, almost all. I have four paragraphs on Carl in what was to be Part II.
Even if I don't develop that, it needs tying together, don't you think Mary? Advise sought.