7: Dead Cowboy (4)
467 Words
"Irene, do I have any other appointments today?" Simon asked.
She checked her calendar. "Nope, you're free for the afternoon.”
"Thanks, Irene." Simon turned to walk back into his office.
"Hey, Doc?”
Simon turned around.
"Martha called. She said something about a check.”
"Oh, right." He patted his coat pockets.
"She didn't sound happy.”
"She usually isn't." He knew he forgot something. Shaking his head, he walked back to his office.
He sat down and looked at all the clutter on the walls, forgetting all about the check. Jewel was right. There was no open space. Well, he was going to fix that. Right now.
He walked over to the wall directly in front of his desk, and started pulling every other picture or horseshoe or dreamcatcher or Indian headdress from its nail. He did the same to the wall behind his desk. He had forgotten that the walls were grey.
There, that was better. The room felt lighter, brighter. He could breathe deeper.
Wait a minute, he wasn't breathing deeper, he was hyperventilating. He replaced some of the pictures and horseshoes and dreamcatchers and Indian headdresses. Just a few. No reason to do everything at once.
The more items he replaced, the slower he breathed. Finally, his breathing returned to normal. So did his walls.
Simon poked his head out his office door. Joe and Tom hadn't returned. With nothing left to do, Simon decided to go home.
As he drove, Simon convinced himself that open space had nothing to do with wall space. Open space was a state of mind. As he put the key in his front door lock, he decided to go horseback riding this coming weekend just to prove that he could handle horses and real open space.
Funny, the front door was unlocked. Maybe he forgot to lock it this morning when he left for work. That wouldn't be unusual. But even if anybody broke in, he wouldn't be able to figure out what was stolen. He shrugged his shoulders and walked in.
He walked into his bedroom to change into some after-work clothes. When he opened his closet, he realized all his after-work clothes were at the dry cleaners. He knew he forgot to do something on his way home. Since he left work early, he could go now. And why not put on that cowboy hat?
He lifted the cowboy hat off the hook and put it on his head. But was it straight? He'd better check. He went into the bathroom. The medicine cabinet door had swung open again. He had to remember to fix that. Simon pushed the door shut with one hand.
Simon gasped. Behind him and his hat was Martha.
She had a gun.
That was the last thing he remembered.
- Writer
