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The Concealed Culture Deep Within (part two.)

Nothing was identified as being maybe 'out of the ordinary' or sinister here. There was a loud succession of knocks on the front door. The police...

By Jonathan TownendPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 8 min read
4
The Concealed Culture Deep Within (part two.)
Photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash

The knocking at the front door persisted through the next minute or two.

Josie trotted into the kitchen, which was situated toward the far end of the apartment where she lived alone with her mum. Her mum was standing next to the sink, her eyes fixed on the back yard which overlooked the forest area which encroached upon many of the buildings within the small village of Stumpton. It provided her with a warm sense of calmness, a type of natural visual serenity, one which Josie's mum regularly found solace in when the need arose for her.

Nobody ever really frequented her home, not since that day long ago, on the ill-fated day the local constabulary turned up on the doorstep, with the grim news of the death of her husband, killed on impact during a six-car pile-up on the motorway on his journey home from work, one cold and miserable foggy night six years previous.

The ever-so-quiet moment that shrouded Josie's mum's memory of trauma, was broken suddenly by her young daughter's shrill words,

"mum, someone's banging on the door."

Just as quickly as a horse bolting out of an open stable door alight in that very moment, her mum swung her body around to face her daughter, for those initial few seconds of time, appearing as if she was a small rabbit dazzled by approaching headlights from an approaching car.

 "mum... the door!" 

Broken from her memory, she spoke,

Wrenched away from her private memories, she spoke, "sorry Josie, let me see who it is at this hour," as she walked cautiously through the kitchen, making her way toward the front door. But before doing so, she pulled Josie close to her, kissing her forehead whilst running her hand through her little daughter's long hair, telling her, "why don't you take yourself off to get your nighttime bath, and then I will come up to read you a bedtime story after, go on, upstairs there's my favorite little girl now."

Oddly enough, there was no usual nighttime drama of protests, as Josie answered, "yes mum," then making her way to the bathroom without any attempts at recourse, Gathering her emotions together, and attempting to refocus on the unknown visitor who was at the door, she called out to the night-time visitor. She recoiled slightly as the caller announced his presence to her.

"Hello, I am sorry to disturb you ma'am, but this is Constable Halling, Stumpton Police here, can I come in to talk with you..."

"Erm, just a minute officer," as she attempted to peer through the windows within her front door, to see who it was out there in the darkness of late evening. She reached the door and called out to the night-time visitor.

By Nathalie Hurova on Unsplash

As Josie's mum fumbled with disengaging the locks consisting of a deadlock, and two bolts, followed by attaching the mid-door safety awning chain her facial features displayed a puzzled, fearful, & apprehensive fixed gaze at the frame; almost as if she were looking through the thick wooden front door as easily as slicing through butter with a knife was. As she cautiously began opening the front aperture she could now easily view the identification card & badge, clearing showing:

Constable Halling 🚨 Stumption Village Police Collar no: 785902-7

The police officer spoke first.

"Good evening ma'am, sorry to disturb you, may I ask, are you Mrs. Crevin, a Mrs. Lucy Crevin?"

Josie's mum did not say anything. She opened her mouth as if to speak but nothing but silence came out, rather she simply stared wide-eyed straight at the police officer standing there. Instantly all she could find herself doing was to stand there not thinking, or even able to answer with any words...

Lucy Crevin stood in the presence of the attending officer with a look of fear & apprehension written all across her face. It had been many years gone by since the police had ever stood at her door, the only time this had ever occurred was in the early hours of that fateful Wednesday morning when two female officers had turned up to give her the terrible news that her husband had been killed outright. When the vehicle he had been driving, had skidded out of the driving lane eastbound on the motorway and had steam-rolled straight into the opposite lanes of traffic colliding with a heavy goods vehicle coming from the other direction traveling westbound.

Making an attempt at breaking up the awkward silence. Constable Halling spoke again.

"Lucy Crevin?" but this time in a much louder and firmer voice.

Josie's mum finally summed up the courage to finally find her voice.

" Erm, sorry yes, please come in," her hands reaching for the mid-door safety chain and unlatching it to allow the door to be opened fully, to let the police officer in her house.

The Constable thanked her by nodding his head at her and smiling at her.

Lucy gestured with her left arm pointed toward the inner lounge door for Halling to enter. He entered, standing in the room as she followed him through.

"So wh..what can I d..do for you?" she stammered, still feeling somewhat tense and nervous by this unexpected visit at such a late hour.

Constable Hallling pulled out his black pocketbook from within his black & yellow striped jacket, flicking through a few pages which had numerous notes within.

"The station has had a witness report from a person that has earlier today, filed a report of overhearing a young child, fitting your child's description," he paused for a minute or two awaiting a response from Lucy, then without waiting any further he continued, "the person reporting the incident wishes to remain anonymous at this time."

Lucy's stoic demeanor shown up until now, suddenly began to crack, as her face began displaying signs of a grin, her outward cold behavior up until that moment, had remained so but now, she attempted to stifle a laugh as her eyes opened wide, with a bemused expression replacing the previously stoic stance.

"Ah forgive me Constable but, how is a young child talking and playing make-believe games a crime worthy of police attention?" uttered Lucy seeing an unbelievably comical side to the need for a police visit of such a ridiculous nature.

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed the next couple of minutes as they both stood facing one another in the lounge room. But with a well-composed response from PC Halling, he continued with his reason for visiting her tonight.

"Well, Mrs Crevin, your young daughter matches the description given by this anonymous reporter, as simply disappearing as if in a flash of blinding bright white light for nearly six minutes, only to return again in the same position as she had been seen before bu the witness."

PC Halling stopped to catch his breath for a moment, his heading dropping to the notebook in his left hand, scanning further notes with his eyes before making an effort to continue speaking.

"When your little girl returned, she had an angry expression on her face and then made an attempt to eat the outlying grass & leaves around her."

Lucy Crevin made an effort to compose her demeanor before choosing to reply with, "well granted that is a bit weird but, does it really warrant a visit a call-out by the police?"

PC Halling straightened himself upright as he had suddenly noticed that he had been slouching, "I believe it would be best if you would make an appointment for tomorrow to take your daughter to see your local Doctor... just to be on the safe side... I cannot tell you any more details..."

At that point he bid Lucy farewell, ending with, "I'll see myself out, thanks for your time tonight, do sleep well."

By Tonik on Unsplash

How the hell was she supposed to get any sleep after that strange police visit. Just what the hell was really going on...

****************

If you had not had the opportunity to read the first part of this short story, then I have provided the link to this first one below:

Part One.

Stay tuned to read my 3rd next installment on 'The Concealed Culture Deep Within.'

********

If you liked this story then please let me know by giving me a heart. Tips are always optional but, they keep allowing me to push my creativity forward too, and keep the lights running into the wee small hours of the night, with a steaming mug of coffee...

I love writing articles & fictional stories. They give me scope to express myself and free my mind. After working as a mental health nurse for 30 years, writing allows an effective emotional release, one which I hope you will join me on.

Follow me here on Vocal here and subscribe here too, so you can follow what I write here.

You can also follow me on Twitter.

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✨I can't wait to hear from you soon... Jonathan💕.

Series
4

About the Creator

Jonathan Townend

I love writing articles & fictional stories. They give me scope to express myself and free my mind. After working as a mental health nurse for 30 years, writing allows an effective emotional release, one which I hope you will join me on.

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