Evergreen Lake by Bethan Rees (story reading .TXT) 📖

My name is Joshua. Well, it WAS Joshua, but I’ll tell you what happened later. I’m 22 years old.

On the 10th May, I moved into Evergreen Lake Estate. It’s not got a lake, but it’s got lots and lots of trees.

I signalled the moving truck to come over near my garage. They took the SOLD

sign, which made me feel happier. The biggest guy came up to me and said ‘Get your stuff out of the back, now.’ That’s the thing with cheap moving services. They don’t help.

I went to take a box. They weighed about a TON each. I couldn’t possibly had carried a box and my large suitcase alone!

‘Hey, let me help you with that!’ A voice said behind my back.
There was a tall, slender girl in front of me. Her sapphire-blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight, blinking with volumised lashes and purple eyelids. Her long, glossy hair was as black as coal. She was wearing a turquoise Hollister hooded jumper, which had a hole on her left elbow and a pair of skinny jeans with a white and blue studded belt.
On her left hand was a peace sign tattoo and a matching ring on her finger, which she reached out to grab my suitcase.
‘My name’s Katrina!’ She said as she started dragging my suitcase up the path.
Just then, a taxi drove near the neighbouring driveway. A girl with curly red hair came out of the back. Her arm was in plaster saying ‘TEMPORARY, DO NOT POKE’. She was holding a letter. It said:
Rosalie Smith is to be admitted to hospital due to large, serious cuts on left arm. Date: 12/5/2011
‘I DON’T WANNA GO, CHARLOTTE!’ She yelled. A girl with brown hair came out. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and blue shorts. Katrina whispered that the girl with brown hair is Charlotte, the girl with the red hair is Rosalie and they’re sisters.
‘Go where?’ Charlotte asked.
‘TO HOPSITAL!’ Rosalie yelled. They both sobbed and hugged.
To make matters stranger, a blonde curly-haired girl bounded up. She was running so fast that a car beeped her. I shrieked. Katrina stared.
‘DON’T KILL ME!’ I yelled. Katrina laughed.
‘I’m not intending to! No, I’m just coming to say that I cut trees for free. I’m Kiya. You’re… Joshua? Yeah, I heard about you. Listen, if you need any trees cut with my sawing thing – whatever you call them – give me a call! See you around.’ She explained, and then she went back to her house.
That day was so weird…

Weirder though, that night, I thought I saw slightly-tanned skin, a few strands of black through blonde, curly hair, the revving of something electric…

I woke up in hospital with Kiya and Katrina standing over me. I tried to get up, but my arm was throbbing with pain. I looked at Kiya. I looked at Katrina. Who did it?
It’s Kiya!

A voice screamed in my head.
It’s Katrina!

Another screamed.
I decided to take influence of one of these when a nurse asked who I think did it.
‘K…K…KIYA!’ I yelled. Kiya didn’t like that. She ran out. Two police officers standing by the ward door grasped hold of Kiya. ‘Joshua!’ She shrieked.
But, to make matters more painful, Charlotte came running out from the next ward. She was crying, bless her.
‘ROSALIE’S DEAD!’ Charlotte sobbed. I was shocked.

A few weeks later, I was discharged. I went to see Katrina. When I knocked, she opened within 10 seconds.
‘Hey! I’ve been expecting you, honey.’ She said and kissed me.
During my time in hospital, we’d become closer than ever, to the extent that we nearly put the curtain around us and kissed. We couldn’t go on dates, so Katrina was allowed to have dinner with me a few times. Not the most romantic atmosphere, I know, but it was good enough for us. We’d become boyfriend and girlfriend within a few weeks.

We walked into her living room. The living room was modern-looking, with an open-plan kitchen on the other side of the room. There was a laptop with a Facebook page loaded up on a desk near the drawer where her flat-screen TV was, playing the credits of a James Bond film. She switched it off and signalled for me to sit down on a burgundy leather sofa with lovely leopard-print cushions.
‘Shall I get you a coffee?’ She asked, smiling with her pearly-white teeth.
‘That would be nice. But, before that, I have something to tell you.’ I responded, remembering the smallish blue box in my pocket. It was starting to dig into my skin, but it was worth it, trust me.
I went on my knees and spoke.
‘Katrina, I want to tell you… that I love you with all my heart. Will you join me in joyful marriage?’
Her face lit up. She screamed. ‘YES! I WILL!’ She yelled. ‘But, I have something to tell you.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Kiya… was framed.’
I gasped. ‘By who?’
‘Well, I’ll tell you, as long as you PROMISE not to tell a SOUL, not even Rosalie.’
‘Rosalie?’ I was curious.
‘Rosalie? Charlotte? Oh, I don’t know. Anyway, DO YOU PROMISE?’ Katrina demanded.
‘Yes!’ I stammered.
Katrina went to the desk, updated her Facebook wall, switched off the laptop and reached for something in the drawer.
‘Well, if you say so, I’ll tell.’
She came closer.
‘The person who framed Kiya was… me.’ She spoke with a worried tone.
The pain of a stab went through me. I felt my life fade away.
I never got a wife, or that coffee.

Publication Date: 10-15-2012

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