The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Seeds 
by Lisa McClinsey 

“Bloom where you’re planted,” said the proverb, but Jeanie Monroe fought her way out of the shallow grave her ex-boyfriend dug in the middle of the forest and crawled through dead leaves, sticks, and tree limbs for two tenths of a mile to a small clearing in the center of a ring of tall oak trees. Spent and struggling to breathe, she lay on her side, methodically raking her fingernails through the dirt, determined to finish one last task. 

He’d laughed while he was killing her, telling her all about his iron-clad alibi. He was never here, he said. There were three of his friends who’d swear he was with them. There would be nothing to tie him to the scene. A long time ago, in another life, he said, he used to work in forensics. He knew how to cover his tracks.

Another proverb said the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. She only had the next few minutes. She wouldn’t be around to see the results of her work in an hour, let alone twenty years. As she bled out, her vision faded into darkness, but she continued to dig until the hole felt big enough.

In the hole, she planted his cell phone. What she never told him was, a long time ago, in another life, she used to be a pick-pocket. She knew how to cover her bases.

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Fiction © Copyright Lisa McClinsey
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com