Red

RED

It drips down the stairs and onto the floor. A man lies at the top of the stairs. Not moving. Not making a sound. His wife keeps screaming his name.

Nick and his wife Samantha just moved into a house in west Somerville. Samantha is eight and a half months pregnant. Nick drives down to the nearest hardware store to buy some tools and a few other items. When he gets home he carries a box upstairs and leaves it beside the staircase. He takes out the tools he bought and carries them into the bedroom. He puts them down beside the parts for a baby's crib. He sits down and starts putting the pieces together. Just as he starts building the crib Samantha starts screaming.

Nick jumps up off the floor and runs into the hall. Samantha is standing at the other end of the hall. She is standing in a puddle of water. Her water broke. Nick starts running down the hall to her. He forgot where he put the box and trips over it. He knocks a can of paint onto the ground and the lid pops off. Red paint drips down the stairs and onto the floor. Nick, who hit his head off the railing, lies unconscious at the top of the stairs. Not moving. Not making a sound. Samantha stands in the hall screaming Nicks name as she goes into labour.