From Her Window - Part 1

Maxine loved her indoor plants. Watering each of her indoor plants with the correct amount of water satisfied her immensely.

“So much of life can be related to plants and their needs.”

Smiling at a hanging plant with twine attached on a hook in the ceiling, she felt good just by admiring the plants.

Maxine tried desperately to never have to leave her house. Being highly introverted and highly germ-conscious, she hated the rare occasions she had to leave the house. Doctor appointments were her main need to leave the house in the past. However, more and more she was able to get telehealth appointments with some of her doctors. People from the outside world meant too many variables! There were just too many germs. She couldn’t risk leaving too much. Her groceries were delivered to her house and she ordered everything else online through Amazon.

Remote working made her heart glad because she couldn’t stand people and their odd idiocies and most importantly their germs!

Looking out the window, she saw the mailman reach out the window to put her mail into her mailbox. Before he could close her mailbox, a car drove by, a shot was fired and hit the mailman in the neck. Blood splattered all over the vehicle and the mail. The car sped off before she could see anyone in the vehicle.

Maxine was frozen in shock. She held a spray bottle in her hand and swallowed back a frightening feeling that almost escaped as a scream from her throat.

She ran to the kitchen, fumbling for her phone, she dialed 911.

“Is this a medical emergency?”

She pushed air out of her chest, and answered the question.

“I’m reporting a recent murder… the mailman was just shot…”

“Okay. Where is your location?”

“3678 Baldwin Court…”

The next thing Maxine heard was sirens. She sat on her front doorstep in shock. Everything felt traumatic. Her body felt stiff as a cold marble statue. Why would the mailman be shot? Who would have it out for him and why? She wracked her mind wondering why the universe would make it to where she’d have to see something so horrific.

A policeman came up to her porch and started asking her questions. She just stared at him. His questions were not fully computing or she couldn’t seem to force her mouth to open in order to answer him.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

She just stared at him.

He answered his own question.

“You're in shock... Ma’am, I think you may need to be assessed by a mental health professional.”

The next thing she knew she was in an ambulance being taken to a nearby psychiatric hospital. Her body felt frozen and her mind couldn't seem to process anything at all.

"Do you have an emergency contact ma'am?"

The EMT on the ambulance had asked her the question, although the question didn't compute in her mind at all but rather it just bounced off the echoes of imagery in her mind. She sat stiff as a statue, staring at the corner of the vehicle. Her skin was ashen and a bluish tinge showed on her lips. Suddenly, she shook her head and it made her pass out in the stretcher.

Flashbacks of the murdered mailman made her head swim as she felt like she was drowning in her own thoughts.

"How could this happen? Why was I the one to see...?"

She asked herself in her nightmarish flashbacks.

The next thing she knew she awoke to the gentle eyes of a nurse in a hospital bed.

To read Part 2 written by Sibley Shamra, follow the link below: