Day 15 – April 15 – NaShoStoMo Challenge – How To Hide a Corpse

Day 15 – April 15 – NaShoStoMo Challenge – How To Hide a Corpse

I wished it was a dark and stormy night. It would be a lot easier to hide a body on a dark and stormy night. Rather it was the middle of the day and the sun was shining all bright and merrily. At least on a stormy night the ground would be soaked and I would have been able to dig the grave quicker. Now the sweat was plastering my hair to my head, sticking my shirt to my back and burning my eyes. I plunged the shovel into the ground again and had to climb on top, kind of jumping up and down to get the blade to sink into the ground. Then climb back down, bend my aching back and heave-ho until I broke off another piece of the reddish clay earth. I have watched enough crime shows to know that you don’t just dig a shallow grave. And you didn’t wrap the body in plastic bags or a sheet or anything that could be traced back to you. Not that I searched for a gravesite too long – I don’t think I have the time to meticulously search out the best place. Lucky for me I live next to a graveyard – the sound of digging is not strange. And we have the Jo’burg patented 10 foot tall suburban wall, equipped with razor wire, an electrical fence and CCTV cameras. Of course, I had turned those off. I will delete everything when I’m done here. And, if someone happens to see me digging a large hole, I can just tell them we’re getting a Koi pond. And I’m digging the hole because I need the exercise. Sure.

I climb onto the spade again and jump up and down as best I can. Almost there now. For a moment I glance over at the bundled body next to the wall. It’s still in a sitting position in the corner, but I had closed his eyes and threw a tarp over him so I wouldn’t look at him the whole time. I never thought I’d be so calm if I had a body on my hands I needed to dispose of. I look at my watch. I still had about an hour and a half before my parents would return from work. Thank goodness for peak time traffic jams. There, that should do it. And then I can just put the grass over again and pat it down. This may just work.

I drag the body over to the grave and struggle to get him inside. He’s still wearing the bloodied clothes, but he’s far too thin to fit into anything we have, so that will have to do. I lay him on his back and fold his hands on his chest. It looks most proper. As I cross his hands, I think how wonderfully he would have been able to play piano with those hands if he had lived. Then, in a moment of soppy weakness, I go to the rose bush and pick a couple of blooms to throw into the grave. I also say a few words. You know, earth to earth, dust to dust. Then I sing “Nearer My God to Thee” and start shoveling the dirt back into the grave. Sooner than I expected, I’m finished. I look at my handiwork and smile. No one would ever guess someone is buried here, just in the back of our garden. I dust my hands on my grimy cargo pants and go to put the shovel away. I need to get cleaned up fast.

I had thought that a lot of men in suits would show up as soon as the poor guy in the grave hit the ground bleeding. What had happened to him, I don’t know. All I could figure was that he was hurt on his way somewhere, was attacked and then decided my garden was the best place to hide in. Well, what was I going to do? Go to the police? Then I’ll end up in some loony bin – or to jail because they would think that I killed him.

I look towards the cemetery, to the slight distortion in the air above the graves. You had to look really carefully to see it, so perhaps they would never find it. I hope it works with solar power. I will never be able to explain away an alien spaceship. The Men in Black would be on me in seconds.