"Once upon a midnight dreary, As I pondered, weak and weary..."

Jennifer put down her copy of Edgar Allen Poe's poem, The Raven, and snuggled into her favorite chair. Her chair, which she called Spottie, was green with several red splotches all over it. Now, she didn't go around telling people, "Spottie and I snuggled all morning." No, she wasn't nuts. Just a little bit...juvenile.

She was a small girl, hardly four foot six. Her hair was a beautiful blonde, falling in several gold ringlets onto her shoulders and back. Her eyes were a dainty blue, with a sparkle in them that outshone the stars. Her figure was frail but shaped, like a tiny fashion model. The only problem was that with her characteristics, she looked like a 10 year-old. For a junior, this is a problem.
Her room was a light of pink, with flowered wallpaper. Her bedspread, her sheets, even her carpet, they were all pink. Except the chair, Spottie. Its green and red clashed with the rest of the room, making it stand out immensely.

Reaching down to the floor, Jennifer picked up her new spiral bound notebook. She had bought it just the night before, so it hadn't been written in. It had shimmery silver and gold designs on the cover. She took the neon pink pencil from the spiral and flipped open the notebook.

The blank piece of paper stared up at Jennifer, like an artist's blank canvas. She needed to write something, anything, just to pass the time. Chewing on the pencil, she decided to write a mystery. A murder mystery, she thought. Now that has potential.
Putting the pencil to the paper, Jennifer began to write.

It was a dark and stormy night.

"No, that's too used," complained Jennifer. She vigorously erased her writing and started again.

Sarah leaned back into her chair. The green velvet flowed over her, enveloping her in a sea of shimmery green. The chair groaned from her weight, but held up yet another time. The chair, being generations old, had survived many jumps and tortures. Yet, it still held its current owner.

Sarah looked out the window next to her. The storm was raging now, like a baby who had dropped his bottle. The lightning crashed, the thunder boomed, and Sarah put her hands over her ears and shut her eyes.

Suddenly, the lights in her southern mansion went out completely. The darkness was silencing and frightening, but Sarah didn't know. When the lights finally came back on, Sarah had been stabbed to death in the back.

"Now that works," said Jennifer. She set her notebook and pen down. Snuggling into her chair even more, she dozed off into a short nap.

When she awoke ten minutes later, she picked up her notebook to read over what she had written. She doodled in the margins for a bit, and then started writing again.

Sarah's body lay in the chair for an hour. At that point, her maid, Elizabeth, entered the room with her mistress' evening tea. The tea ended up on the floor when she saw the lifeless and bloody body of her mistress.

Crying for help, she ran to the telephone to call the doctor for help. Afterwards she ran to Sarah's bed and hid under it with an umbrella for protection.

The doctor rang the bell, but when nobody answered, he forced the door open and rushed into the parlor. There, before him, lay the dead, battered corpse. He promptly lost his lunch somewhere on the floor.

The maid, hearing the doctor heaving downstairs, went down to greet him. "Hello," she said. "And how are you today, Dr. Glockenshimer?" He looked at her, his face very white and sickly looking.

Jennifer got up to go to the bathroom. When she returned, she flopped down on her bed to continue writing. She flipped to the back of her notebook and wrote at the top: "Characters." She set to thinking about the characters so far. She wrote down: "Sarah Smith, Elizabeth Nasar, Dr. Griffin Glockenshimer..."

Jennifer thought. She needed a villain or villainess, and a whole bunch of suspects. She jotted down a list of possible characters: "Megan Harrodey, Darren Mitscher, Stefany Delany, Melissa Farinas, Kerri Liffe, Jonathan Carrusso." After thinking for another second, she added the name: "Jennifer Evans."

Two days later, 8 people were gathered in the deceased Sarah Smith's bedroom. Darren Mitscher and Kerri Liffe were cuddling in the corner, Elizabeth Nasar was pacing in front of the bed, Dr. Griffin Glockenshimer was closing the red flowered curtains, and Stefany Delany was walking in circles behind her French poodle, Wiggles. Melissa Farinas was trying to find a way out of the room besides the door, since it had been locked shut. Jonathan Carrusso was standing by the giant marble fireplace, trying to get Jennifer Evans to go out with him that Saturday night. Each time he hit on her, she slapped him and walked to another part of the room.

The grandfather clock in the hallway struck 8, making everyone in the room jump in surprise. All of a sudden the playful mood of the room died, and everybody took on a new, serious feeling.

Elizabeth stepped into the center of the room, and all eyes were on her. She should have been scared, since she was in a room with a murderer. But somehow she overcame her fear and spoke.

"We are here today to find out the murderer of Sarah Smith, my late employer. Someone in this room-" Elizabeth stopped for a dramatic pause. "--killed Sarah," Elizabeth said with obvious triumph in her voice.

It was as if the room itself gasped, but it was the seven other people assembled there that actually made the sound. Everyone looked shocked, and Elizabeth thought for a moment that maybe she had brought the wrong people. But that was impossible-she had checked her mistress' records and notes, and these were the only people Sarah had ever really known.

Jennifer stepped towards the frightened Elizabeth. "But if one of us is a murderer, then why are we here with him? Or her," she added to be politically correct.

Jennifer smiled. She like the way she was putting her character, the villainess, into the plot. Maybe this will work, she thought to herself. Maybe it will. She turned back to the notebook and continued writing.

Cries of agreement rose up from the patchwork of people gathered in the room. Elizabeth took a breath to steady herself and her nerves, then explained.

"You see," she said, "with everyone Sarah ever knew all together, we can find out who murdered her, and for what reason. Together, Dr. Glockenshimer and I have found out things about you and Sarah the would drive each and every one of you to murder."

Jennifer, along with the other guests, turned as white as a ghost. Elizabeth knew that she had hit a nerve in each of their hearts. And she had figured out things; things bad, and things awful. And some things that were as bad as or worse than murder itself.

Regaining his composure, Jonathan's voice rang out. "And how are you going to figure it out, huh? Gonna torture us with our crimes until one of us confesses? Well, we're not!!" Jonathan screamed at the top of his lungs. His face was no longer white, but blood red with rage and fury.

Jennifer chewed on her pencil as she racked her brain for a good crime. Or, she thought, why does it have to be good? It could be awful, or silly... She removed the pencil from her mouth and started to write again.

Elizabeth advanced on the unsuspecting Jonathan. "Well, Jonny-boy, would you want everybody in this room to find out about your little bill-skip two years ago?" Jonathan's face turned pale again, but, despite his protests and apologies, she continued. "Yes! Of course you would. You remember, right? You were on parole, and one more crime would send you to jail for an additional 2 years after your original 15. But, you made one little mistake. You tried to skip out on your restaurant bill. If it wasn't for Sarah, you'd still be out on the town. But good, kindly Sarah saw you sneaking out, and spoke up. You just got out last week, right?"

Jonathan nodded miserably, remembering the torture and monotony of prison.

"And your life was wrecked all because of THIS!" Elizabeth yelled in a voice she didn't recognize. She held up a small, white piece of paper with purple typing on it. It was a restaurant receipt in the amount of $23.71. Jonathan shrunk back, trying to hide from all the people looking and staring at him in shock.

"SO WHAT if I tried to skip out on the check? It cost me my job, my family...Sarah Smith WRECKED MY LIFE!" he screamed. Panting heavily, he lowered his voice. "But even so, I didn't kill her. I've never, ever killed a person. Never. But I might if someone doesn't release me from this hellhole..." Jonathan shrank back and hid in the ashes in front of the fireplace. He looked like a rabid dog that had just bee whipped and tamed. He sat there, fuming, but too embarrassed to get up and leave.

Jennifer beamed at her work so far. It's so descriptive, so awesome, so...so real! She thought. She chewed on her pencil again. The pink flecks of paint began to come off and stick to her lips and teeth. She sputtered, trying to spit out the pencil paint. Jennifer got up and poured herself a glass of water. She drank it as she wrote.

Elizabeth looked up at everyone else in the large room. "Anyone else want to try to state their innocence? Jonathan here," she said, pointing to him, "has been reduced from a brave criminal to a sniveling ex-con. Any others want to join him?" Elizabeth almost fainted from the sound of her voice. It was so determined, so bossy, so...so cruel. She was frightened even more now by the sound of her own voice.

Everybody in the room grew tremendously quiet, all shaking their heads. Nobody wanted anyone else to know of their crimes, and Elizabeth had the power to let the world know. Their futures were in Elizabeth's hands, and they weren't going to let her drop them.

Suddenly Dr. Glockenshimer started yelling something. "A clue! A clue! Elizabeth, come here! I found a clue!" He was hysterical. He had been searching the room also, to find a way out, and he had found something. He brought it up to Elizabeth to see.

It was a woman's white glove; at least, it used to be white. It was now stained with patches of red and crimson blood. There was a small hole in the tip of one of the fingers, outlined with rust. Elizabeth took one look at the lady's glove and looked away in disgust. She turned back to the people in the room. The were once again milling about, talking and laughing. But the room was filled with intensity, everyone's mind connected with everyone else's, thinking and feeling the nervousness and fear of the rest.

Jennifer thought for a second, then turned to the back of her notebook. On the page before the characters page, she wrote "PLOT" in big letters. On the first line, she started writing.

Plot: Sarah Smith is murdered. Elizabeth (the maid) gathers the people who knew her mistress and accuses each of a crime. Eventually, the murderer goes insane and confesses, but by then the others (except Elizabeth and the doctor) have killed themselves.

Used, but it'll do, thought Jennifer. She doodles a bit more in the margins of the page, and then turned back to the page she last stopped writing on. She paused for a moment, and then counted how many pages were written. 7 pages! she thought. That sure is a lot. She resumed writing.

Darren and Kerri emerged from their dark corner. Darren had a look of annoyance on his face as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Now see here, Miss Nasar, Kerri and I haven't done anything, and yet we're stuck here with these criminals. May we please GO?!?" He tried his best to keep his temper and remain polite, but he found that infuriating. He let loose his frustration at the end of the question, spitting out the word savagely.

Elizabeth smiled cunningly and advanced towards Darren. "Now, now, Darren dear," she said. "Everyone in this room has a secret...even you." She stopped walking and stared directly at him. "You don't want your precious Kerri to know what you did, though, do you?" she said with mockery and evil in her voice. "What you did...to her former lover!"

Darren gulped and tried his best to avoid Elizabeth's cold eyes. "Miss Nasar, I...I...ha-ha-have n-no id-d-dea what y-you are...are talking about," he stuttered. Elizabeth kept her eyes on him, making him shrink. Kerri, who had been standing behind Darren, stepped out and meekly tried to get her boyfriend to speak.

"Darling...dearest...please get up. Get up and tell me what this is all about! What lover? What did you do? Oh, Sweetiepie..." Kerri pleaded. But all Darren did was babble incoherently.

Darn! Thought Jennifer. Fine mess you've gotten yourself into. She hopped off her bed and back into Spottie's green and red arms. She placed the notebook back onto the bed and snuggled into Spottie's elegant upholstery.

The mess she had gotten herself into was the next crime. As she had written, Darren did something to Kerri's former lover. But what? she thought.

She picked up her copy of The Raven and picked up where she had left off. Her weekend assignment was to memorize the first verse, and she was getting nowhere fast.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, As I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a volume of quaint and forgotten lore..."
Jennifer sat up. "That's it!" she exclaimed. Bouncing back onto her bed, she picked up her pencil. Lore as in folklore...rivers in folklore...swamps and rivers...swamps have...frogs!

"Ohhh, he can't tell you anything, Kerri. At least he can't tell the truth!" Elizabeth declared. She was getting more and more harsh, more and more unlike herself every minute. "But I can!"

"Elizabeth...what are you talking about? I've never had a boyfriend before Darren...never had another love, really..." Kerri stopped. Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth mimicked her eyes. She let go of Darren, and slumped to the floor.

"Yes, that's right, Kerri," said Elizabeth. "Your so-called lover KILLED YOUR FROG!" Elizabeth spat the words out.

Jennifer burst out laughing. The whole idea-the frog, the babbling boyfriend, the changing Elizabeth-it was hilarious! Jennifer knew right away that her story was going to be a hit.

Half an hour later, things had changed drastically. Darren was dead, killed by his own girlfriend for the murder of her favorite pet frog. Darren had wanted to kill Sarah because she knew of the 'frog incident' and had threatened to tell Kerri.

Jonathan was found in the chimney, choked to death by the soot and the ashes. Kerri had somehow broken the window to get out, but instead fell three floors to her death. Her crime: a bank robbery, witnesses only by Sarah Smith.

Elizabeth paced around the room, followed by Dr. Glockenshimer. The rest of the room's occupants-Stefany, Melissa, and Jennifer-were each in different corners of the room.

Stefany patted Wiggles nervously. She knew that it was stupid to speak up, because Elizabeth would reveal her crime to the rest of the people. But she was fed up with all the deaths, the crimes, and most of all, the suspense and accusations going 'round. She stood up.

"Elizabeth!" she cried. Elizabeth whipped around to face Stefany. "I want...no, I DEMAND out of this room. This is horrible, inhuman of any OBJECT found in this galaxy. Bringing innocent people here, and having them KILL themselves. I don't care if I have to BREAK DOWN THE DOOR! I AM LEAVING!!!" Her voice echoed around the large room. A faint clapping came from Jennifer's corner-Melissa was scared stiff, knowing what would come next.

"So...the little THEIF wants out, eh? Well, she won't make it." Elizabeth once again started her description of a crime. "You...you, of all people, stole something. No, it wasn't money...but still-kind, gentle, honest, upstanding Stefany Delany stole Wiggles."

A small gasp escaped from Melissa's mouth. Stefany's gasp sounded more like a want of air.

"You visited Perrie's Pets, a local pet store. And while SARAH SMITH was working, you stole your $1500 poodle, WIGGLES!"

At the sound of Elizabeth's frantic voice, Wiggles the poodle ran towards the window. Ignoring Stefany's cries for him to stop, he jumped out the broken window in order to escape. Stefany cried out "NO! WIGGLES!" and followed her puppy dog as the two of them joined Kerri-dead, at the bottom.

Ick, thought Jennifer. This starting to get weird. She flopped over and brainstormed. Kerri jumped, Jonathan choked, Darren was murdered, and Stefany jumped after her dog. This was starting to get gruesome. Jennifer brought her notebook in front of her face and continued writing.

Elizabeth stomped over to the corner that Jennifer and Melissa were cowering in. "Humph! Cowering in the corner, and one if you is a murderer!!! Hmmm...I wonder which one it is. Could it be...MELISSA?"

Melissa crept even further into the dark corner. Elizabeth scared her. Even after the challenges and troubles she and Elizabeth had gone through, Elizabeth was going to expose her, ruin her, and probably kill her.

Elizabeth began. "Melissa Farinas was walking down the street one summer morning. Walking with her best friend's employer, hoping for a job. As they parted from their walk, Melissa turned the corner and immediately a man's wallet out of his back pocket. Pick-pocketed it, that is. She turned around, and who should she see, but Sarah Smith." Elizabeth smiled a sinister smile.

Melissa cowered. She knew there was no way out. It was die or die. No way could she run, no one to run to. She would have run to trusty Dr. Glockenshimer, but he was on Elizabeth's side.

She promptly strangled herself with her belt.

Jennifer shivered. Now this was getting scary. But the murderess was now found, and the murder would be admitted by Jennifer herself.

Jennifer rose up from the dark corner into the harsh sunlight. Her features stood out well, despite her weak conscience.

Elizabeth said, "So...this is the murderer. Or should I say murderess? Jennifer, tell the good doctor and me how you did it."

Jennifer took a deep breath and started her confession. "I had no grudge against Sarah except for the fact that she was rich, and always despised her younger sister. ME! While my sister prospered in her mansion, having to do nothing at all to get by, I was working night shifts at McDonald's just to pay the rent. When I married, my life didn't get much better. My husband beat me, but he worked, and paid for food and housing. I haven't left him yet. Eventually I got so fed up with being poor that I visited my sister. She let me in, but when I asked for a loan she threw me out. I was angry; too angry, I suppose. For when I got outside, I noticed a bent nail lying on the porch. Taking it, I snuck back before the storm got too bad. When the lights went out, I used the bent nail to kill my sister."

Elizabeth looked shocked at the confession. Sure, she knew that Sarah and Jennifer were sisters, but Sarah had always said that Jennifer said that she was fine. As Elizabeth thought this, the realization came to her that she was turning into Sarah-cruel, and unforgiving. She broke down and cried.

When she looked up, she saw Dr. Glockenshimer kneeling over Jennifer. He looked up at Elizabeth and said, "She's dead. She stabbed herself with this." He held up a bloody, rusty bent nail. He put it with the stained glove, and the size of the hole matched the size of the nail. Jennifer had been wearing the glove that night.

Elizabeth and Dr. Glockenshimer left the mansion, never to return.

Jennifer closed her notebook with emphasis. "Yes!" she said. "Finally, a story worth writing." She hopped off her bed and ran to show her mom.
 

CandyCaneCar
March 1997
 

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