i have one day

[Yugi]

This is a creative writing assignment that's due on Tuesday, please critique it, and tell me what you think!

i have one day

By Jeremy MacRae.

Note. This story goes through the eyes of two protagonists, each indicated by a different font.

The Ghost is Verdana.
Flannery is Comic Sans.

                                                      ---------
Where am I?

Why am I here?

What... is this?

I was floating in a void, with many different items floating around me, I recognised them, and they were items dear to me, my wedding ring, a grandfather clock that had stopped years ago, a key and several other items as I was flying past them.

After a while, the items disappeared, and I hit a surface.

I got up; looking at my surroundings, there was nothing, simply blackness. I stayed in one spot for many hours, wondering why I was here. I started to get bored, why am I here? Then

"1 dAy tO PrOVe".

I jumped back in surprise, looking around and trying to find the person who said that, "Who's there?!" I shouted.

"i aM what yOU would call, the gRiM rEaPer".

"Why are you here!?" I asked frantically.

"aT 11pM last NighT, yOu committed WhaT You would CalL SuiCIDE".

"What!?"

"Or aT least, thAt's what Was iMplIeD, iTS eNtIreLy pOssiBle for iT to bE a mUrDer, buT tHeRe is noT anY prooF of the LatTer."

"So I'm going to stay in here?" I questioned.

"poSSiblY, i WiLL put yoU INTO the MorTal WorlD for 3 houRs, if you can proVe that it was not a SuiCIde in ThaT time, you can MOVe to A BeTTer Place".

"3 hours, from when?" I asked.

"nOw."

I saw a speck of light in front of me, "walk tOwarDs it, yoU don'T wAnt to waste your 3 HourS don'T you?" The Reaper advised.

I took his advice and started walking towards it, starting to run as the darkness was fading from around me.
                                                           -----------

I was standing in a bedroom, to the right of me; there was a grandfather clock, which had seemingly stopped, and a picture of a family (wife, husband, and two kids). To the left of me was a chest of drawers with a ring on it, and several items of clothing.

To the front of me, there was a dead body.

"Sir, is this a suicide?" My assistant asked. It was a reasonable question, the knife was in his hand, and his body had landed in a somewhat suggestive pose. Something was fishy though, this was way too cliché to be true.

"No, it's a murder." I replied, I explained to him my thoughts on this, and why this was too good to be true. "One of us in the hotel is a murderer."

I sighed, I had come to the motel for my work holiday, but it seemed that my job had followed me. "Oh well, no rest for the wicked it seems".
                                                               ------------

I woke up.

Everything was fine. It was just a dream. I was not dead. I had not really met the Grim Reaper. But something was odd, there were two people standing at the end of my room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted at them. They ignored me and continued talking. I got annoyed and got out of my bed and shouted "I CAN SUE YOU FOR BEING IN HERE." But still they ignored me. I walked right up to one of them and grabbed him.

My hand just went straight through.

I felt queasy and collapsed on the floor. "It wasn't a dream." I realised.
"Sir, is this a suicide?" I heard from one of the two people, realising that I was doomed, I started slamming my head through the wall, I was going back to that dark place, and staying there forever. Then...

"No, it's a murder."

I stopped and lifted my head. I had hope, if I was around this man if - when he found the murderer, I could go on to the afterlife. I stood up. The man was explaining how it was a murder to his assistant, I decided then that I was going to help this man find the murderer in whatever way I could.

                                                  -------------
"Robert, could you please get all of the people here, and gather them into the centre of this place?" I asked him. "I'm going to investigate the body." Robert left, leaving me alone with the body.

I walked forward, bent down and looked at the body, there was a rather large gash room near the heart, which (I assumed) was the cause of death. There was a knife weakly placed in his hand, I decided to take it out. Looking around, I noticed that the pendulum on the grandfather clock was in an odd position, but I decided to ignore it. I had been in this room before, and it wasn't working then.

I walked out of the room, into the main hall. People were leaving the room, it seemed that Robert had told them the news. However, there was one man leaning against the wall with his arms folded. "Who are you?" I asked.

"John." He replied. "I'm the caretaker of this place."

"Did you murder the owner?"

He raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Do you know the person who committed the murder?"
"No."

"Where were you during the murder?"

"I don't like you." He said as he walked off. I noticed that Robert was behind me.

"Who was that guy?" I asked him.

"John, caretaker of the hotel and one of three without an alibi." He replied.

"Who are the other two?"

"A guy on the toilet, and a rather pretty lady called Lucinda."

I sighed. "I'll investigate both of them."
                                                                ---------------
While the two detectives were talking, I decided to follow my caretaker as he went into the corridor. He was going to go all the way to a room at the end.

Then out of nowhere a little girl ran into him.

He tripped over and hit the floor, the girl –almost hitting the wall- stopped, and helped him up. "Sorry." She said.

"It's Okay". He Replied. Silence, and then. "What's your name?"

"Lily."

He paused and then said. "Did your parents give you that name or something?"

"My Daddy gave me that name!"

He stepped back slightly, and raised his eyebrow, "How old are you?"

"Seven, Why?"

He paused for a moment, then said. "I'm going to tell him."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that man who asked about where you were a couple of hours ago?"

"Yeah, I told him that I was asleep!"

"I'm one of the three people that he has to question, as I don't have an alibi, I was watching the soccer in my room." "They annoy me, but I'm going to tell them."

                                               ---------------
Both of us were heading down the corridor, so we could interrogate people. We were turning left, towards the caretaker's room, when he suddenly walked up to us. "Is it okay if I tell you something?" He asked.

"What is it?" I replied.

"Why I wouldn't have committed the crime."

I was interested. "Okay then, tell me."

He started telling a story. "You see, a few years ago, I was wrongly accused and nearly convicted of murdering my wife, but the man who owned this hotel provided evidence that saved me." "I couldn't return home, and I had nowhere else to go. So I came here." He took a short breath, and then continued. "Ever since then, I helped take care of this place, and in return, he tried to help me get a new life." "If he died, I would have got nothing out of doing this."

"So in short, there was no reason for you to have committed the murder, you would only lose."

"Correct."

"Thank you for your co-operation." My assistant butted in. "We will reward you when this case is over."

"Thank you." He replied as he walked away.

"So who do we have next?"

"Um... Toilet Guy shared my alibi, soooo I think we go to Lucinda next."

"Okay then." I paused and then. "I'll do this by myself. You can go to bed if you like."

"Oh! Thanks!" He said as he walked off.

I walked up to Room 16, which was the room that Lucinda was staying in. I knocked. Silence, and then "Come in."

I walked into the room. Inside, a rather beautiful young women was sitting by herself. "Um... I am Inspector John Flannery, I came in here to question you."

She jumped back a bit after hearing my name. "Okay then...." She said cautiously. "What do you have to ask me?"

"Tonight, three people did not present an alibi, the first, John, had no reason to have performed the murder, as he would lose his shot at another life if anything happened to the owner. The Second, an man who's name I don't know, merely couldn't come to the meeting, and he shared the same alibi as my assistant, the third, Lucille, is you." I took a breath. "Did you commit the murder?"

There was a pause, and then. "Follow me." She got up, and walked out the room, cautiously, I followed her.

She went into the main hallway and took a turn right. I knew where she was heading, she was heading into the room where the murder took place.

She walked into the room, and stopped at the bed. "Let me tell you something."

"I guess you're confessing?"

"I am a police agent, sent to prove the rumour that John Flannery is a murderer, and if true, arrest him."
                                                     --------------------
I jumped back a bit, was this the truth? For a moment there was silence and then

"Yes. You are correct, I murdered him, I took this knife and stabbed him."

She stepped back, scared, she was reaching for the hand of my corpse, but to no avail.

"So... What are you going to do? It's clear that you have no weapon, otherwise you wouldn't have reached for the knife that I have in my hand." "What an Idiot, confronting a murderer without a weapon, and you call yourself a police agent!"

She was trembeling, clearly scared. She looked around, and then rushed towards the grandfather clock, quickly pulling out the pendulum.

"So that's how you're going to kill me, eh?" Flannery taunted.

"HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA." Lucille shouted as she rushed at Flannery with the pendulum. Then

BANG!

A small explosion filled my ears, and I felt part of my body go away, Flannery had shot Lucille in the Left arm, and she was reaching for the weapon that she dropped.

BANG!

BANG!

Flannery had shot Lucille again, she wasn't moving, then, Flannery kneeled down, and delivered the fin-

BANG!








































...
.......
.............................

Where am I?

I was standing in a peaceful green field, grass blowing in the wind.

"cOnGraDulaTionS"

I looked behind me, there was a rather handsome young man, with a scar across his right eye, he looked a lot like my caretaker.

"i Am DeATH, the OnE whO gAvE you that SecOnD chaNce in the firSt place. yOu WeRe able tO shOw us that It was not a suicide, and that JoHN FlaNNERY hAd MurDered you."

"I guess I should thank you?"

"nO, tHanK yourself for the DeeD." He said as he faded away.

I looked around, other than grass, there was nothing. Hoping that there would be something on the horizon. I started walking.








end