Smoking newspaper in the grate awoke her. Sitting up, disoriented, she gazed at the glowing coals. The room, dark panelled and dimly lit, was silent save for the tick of the grandfather clock and the quiet hiss of a solitary gas lamp. Thomas the black cat lay asleep before the fire.
Reaching down, she retrieved the paper, smouldering where an ember had fallen. Yesterday’s headline – ‘Woman Raped and Murdered!’ Aghast, she recognized the face on the cover. It was her own.
Confused now, she noticed she could see through Thomas to the carpet beneath.
A rap came at the door.
A rap came at the door.
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Featured in the book, To Cut a Short Story Short: 111 Little Stories
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