Secret Admirer - Revised

         Richard stared feverishly at the shattered picture frame within his hands, his apprehension growing with every agonizing breath. He genuinely wondered if the glass shards were actually fangs that had been awaiting his discovery; the glimmering protectors of a mocking prose, a series of scribbled lines scrawled carefully upon the folded leaf secreted within its ceramic cage. He'd purchased the frame forty years ago to the day, bought it without a hint of the anxiety he now felt resonating throughout his body, his wrinkled hands shivering with dread. With a pleading gaze he stared down at Julia, his love, his life, as she stared devotedly back at him through time from a porch swing long ago gone. Her crooked smile and sun brushed olive eyes encompassing all of the beautiful serenity her soul possessed when he'd knelt before her one cool evening in the Arizona desert so long ago. But now ...

         Was that ...a shadow behind her?

         Was it there all along?

         Watching...waiting?

         No, it must be some kind of sick joke.

         They'd had so much grace together; so many happy loving years sprinkled with a variety of setbacks and misgivings, but always landing on their feet, always able to dance the night away into the next. If he just hadn't considered it so important to clean the cupboard today, he may have never found the note, but he was meeting his grandchildren Tommy and Maureen for the first time tonight and there were things that needed to be done. The picture frame had simply been knocked to the floor, shattering the glass within. Fragmenting his soul.

         "For services rendered..." the terrible note began, "...my grandchildren are yours to have, and I shall deliver them unto you my sweet Satan."

         As he stared helplessly out the window he watched the love of his life aim her rifle at their grandchildren. He thought their young eyes seemed more curious than afraid. He realized they'd never know the difference.