Overview
From the Marker:
Gene started to ask another question but she stopped him, not with a word or a whisper, but with a look. Her eyes flickered down to the checkered floor beneath the table and then back up to his.
“Tell me,” Gene said simply putting his hand on her forearm.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“You will think I am nuts,” she said as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Gene stayed silent. He had learned over the years how to be a good listener. He knew when to speak, when to console, when to ask questions, and most importantly when to listen. Listening, his father had taught him, was an art, a skill to be honed, refined, and practiced on a daily basis. Gene considered himself a master listener. The content of conversations, not just the words, but the texture, the flavor of sentences, the nuances of body language, the pitch, the tone, the stops and starts were all a part of the deeper meaning. As a funeral operator he earned his paycheck on the silences.
“When I was fourteen I saw one of my best friends die in front of me,” Laurie began and took a deep breath. “She got hit by a school bus crossing a street.”
“How did you cope with your friend’s death?”
“Not well… but there’s something else… on the day she died we had gym class together. When we dressed down I noticed something on her right arm. She had written the days date on her forearm with a sharpie, in big black letters. I will never forget it…. 4/25/10… the day she died. When I asked her about it she looked at me like I was crazy. I thought maybe she was trying to remember something like a quiz or an assignment or something.” Laurie paused for a moment fading and then snapped back, “When the accident happened I don’t know why but the first thing I looked at was at her arm. The date was gone.”
If you are looking for a short story that will keep you riveted to each page, with a character driven plot, dark turns, and a shocking ending read – The Marker. Honoring such horror masters as Stephen King and Dean Koontz this fast paced short story will give you a white knuckled ride into the darkest corners of your imagination.
