by Dirk Knight
“Yeah, Pumpkin, I’m alright…. I’m just glad you aren’t hurt…. You did a good job here, Honey. Daddy’s proud of you,” he lies. He is disgusted, but he suddenly realizes that Jayden is running the show; he doesn’t want this to be any more difficult than it already will be.
He imagines her as a baby… her first smiles, holding her little body against his chest as she slept. Helping her tie her shoes and teaching her to ride a bike. He was a good father to her. He remembers the day she was born. The exact moment she took her first breath. He begins to cry as she reaches out to hug him.
“I love you, J.J.”
“Love you, too, dad.”
He sinks the five-inch fillet knife into her back, fighting the urge to vomit as he feels the blade pierce her skin and take a slightly different angle after nicking one of her ribs. She tightens and tries to pull away, but the arm holding her (his only good arm) is the same arm holding the blade. Like a barb on a fishhook her struggles just sink the steel in deeper. She tries to fight; he can feel the resistance of the blade lessen as the blade enters her lung. He holds her as she takes her last breath.
He is sobbing deeply as he carries her body against his chest into the shed and places her on the riding lawnmower, lights a match, and takes a step back. He looks at Brenda’s ruined face before the flames become too thick, and he hates himself for letting her down. She was mine to protect, they both were, and I failed–he is now, indeed, in morbid reflection, but who wouldn’t be? He wonders how his sponsor would try to spin this one–watching his wife beaten to death by his dead son’s Little League bat and mortally stabbing his daughter–to make it seem like God’s will is good.
Screw Him, he thinks as he washes the rest of the bottle of Xanax down with Bourbon.
Dirk Knight
Authors Notes
Thank you for reading. This story was the first piece I completed after a long drought in confidence, sanity, and sobriety. It is short and to the point, and I hope you feel that it is worth the money you spent, and will continue to follow the work as I release new stories and compilations. As is the story with many part time authors and full time 9-5’ers, I hope to be able to gradually invest more time into my craft, and likewise grow in my base of readers. The best way to keep up with my new releases will be to subscribe to the blog. I will keep it updated and have a number of shorts coming out this year.
Gratefully Yours, Dirk Knight.
*“Jayden’s Revenge” is going to be re-released Un-Cut, with a follow up tale, “Jayden’s Return”.
http://dirkknight.com
https://www.facebook.com/AZDirkKnight
Dirk Knight
Authors Notes
Dirk Knight lives in Phoenix with his wife and daughters, and works in sales. Dirk is now devoting himself to his passion after having spent a great number of years in and out of recovery and addiction. Dirk studied English, journalism and creative writing in college, but never pursued his literary goals due to his addictions and other restrictions.
“I started writing for myself, to satisfy urges and entertain my curiosities. I wanted to know how many of us think the way I do. I have lived in the most depressing and joyful situations. I have starved and lived in cars, I have also had more money that I could spend and had gifts that brought me exquisite joy. From my vantage point, humans are the most unpredictable, astonishing, hateful and sacrificing creatures. I want to understand us (humanity) better and, for me, understanding of humanity comes from writing fiction, and examining what people might do when they feel no one is watching, what people are capable of (horrible and great), and imaging how seemingly normal people would react if they had exhausted the rational (and sometimes irrational) options. I hope you will join me in my quest to reveal the darkest and brightest aspects of human nature...what will we do when the lights are out?”
-Dirk Knight.
Dirk Knight
