The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

As Do We All 
by Jaime Johnesee 

“Honey, can you hand me those lighted wicker ball things you bought?” Rob called out to his wife, Sandra.

After getting no response he sighed, climbed down the ladder, and stopped decorating the Christmas tree.

“Hon?” he yelled as he walked the hallway to the master suite.

Again, no response.

He pushed open the bedroom door to find his cat circling his wife who was lying unresponsive on the carpet of their living room.

“Oh, God, Sandy!” He ran to her and cradled her in his arms while fumbling for his cellphone.

“911, what is your emergency?” Came the operator’s calming voice.

“My wife, she’s not breathing. I found her on our floor. Please send an ambulance. Hurry!” He was barely understandable.

“What’s the address, sir?”

“5250 Wakefield Lane. Please hurry, oh, god, oh Sandy!” he wailed into the phone as he clutched and shook his wife, trying to wake her.

“Sir, can you tell me what happened?”

“I was trimming the tree and she was telling me what decorations to put on them. I asked for the next thing she wanted me to put up and she wasn’t there. I found her on the bedroom floor, oh, God! Why?” he sobbed uncontrollably.

“Sir, I need you to open the door for the EMS to come in. Can you meet them out front?” The operator’s voice stayed calm and collected.

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“It’ll just be for a few moments, EMS is on their way and should be there in less than two minutes.”

“I, oh, God, I guess I have to,” his voice trembled.

“Stay on the phone with me until they get there okay?” The operator tried to keep him calm.

“What if she needs me?”

“You’ll be back to her soon, with people who can help her. I’m told they’re on your street now.”

“Yes, I see them! Thank you!” Rob flagged down the ambulance crew and rushed them into the bedroom.

“Please help her! Oh, God! Please help my Sandy!” He pointed to the ground and the two EMT’s stared at each other for a few moments before the older man pulled Rob into the living room.

“My partner will, uh, work on your wife, why don’t you come with me and tell me a little more. Do you have some shoes to put on, and maybe a jacket? You’ll be riding with us to the hospital.” The EMT had kept his voice calm and tried to maneuver Rob out into the ambulance. “Here, come sit up front with me.”

“Okay.” Rob climbed into the back of the ambulance.

“Do you have someone who can take care of your cat?” The man asked Rob.

“Yeah, I’ll text my neighbor.” He did so.

Inside, the EMT’s younger female partner, picked Sandy’s urn up off the floor and placed it onto what appeared to be a shrine to his late wife. Once the urn was safely back where it belonged, the woman shut the front door, and moved to the ambulance.

They took Rob to the asylum so he could finally deal with the unexpected passing of his wife earlier that month.

Not wanting to believe she was dead, Rob’s mind had allowed her to live on. Now, after his cat knocked her urn off the table, he would have to face reality, face his grief and find a way to keep going. As do we all, eventually.

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Fiction © Copyright Jaime Johnesee
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Jaime Johnesee:

Shifters: A Samantha Reece Mystery

When a serial killer begins leaving remains of victims in hotel bathtubs all over town FBI Agent Samantha Reece makes it her business to stop him.

This detective’s got an ace up her sleeve in the form of her ability to shift into the guise of a were panther. As she tracks down the cold-hearted murderer she also has to contend with an anti-shifter group determined to destroy her.

Not to mention the black jaguar who turned her decides to come sauntering back into her life.

Available on Amazon!