Dear Diary
Part 1
Need to specifically state that this is a work of fiction. I have had issues with people thinking that my first-person writing was a personal account at first. Anyway, please enjoy the first installment of… whatever this is!
Dear Diary,
Last week, I killed a man.
Don’t worry, the body is long gone. I’m not some silly amateur leaving evidence scattered about the place, blood spatters on the walls, and CCTV footage of me carrying the body. I am an amateur that left no evidence scattered about the place, no blood spatters on the walls - or floors, or ceiling - and only one short clip of CCTV footage of me throwing a shoe off a bridge in the middle of the day.
I said that it was my ex boyfriend’s shoe. It was a ritual to help me get over our recent breakup.
Luckily, he played along beautifully when the police came round to question him.
‘Oh, yes officer. We had a very messy split. I ended things because I no longer had feelings for her, it’s all my fault, really! No, officer, she was with me that night. We were deciding who would take what from the flat. As you can see,’ he said, waving his arms around the room, ‘she took most of the stuff. But she paid for it, so I don’t mind.’
He always had been a good actor. Shame he’s a loose end. I’ll have to tie him up eventually.
In the mean time, I have other work to do. There is a girl - Beth - a neighbour of the man, that I would like to frame first. To do that, I need to get the details right. Bloody coppers need everything spelled out for them. She saw me visit the man once, and she was very rude in the staircase. Looked me up and down and snorted. Little bitch won’t know what’s hit her. Sadly, it won’t be my fist.
I know that Beth didn’t like the man - Derek - much. Most people didn’t, which is making this game very easy. Beth is young, turning 23 next week. She has that effortlessly flawless skin, stretched across a perfectly euro-centric facial structure with filled lips and extended lashes. Sure, she’s pretty. But she’s also a rotted prick.
I left the chef’s knife with traces of Derek’s blood in her cutlery drawer. Even washed part of it with the same toilet bleach she uses at her cleaning job for extra brownie points. After leaving one of her bras under Derek’s bed - which was filthy by the way. The space under his bed, not the bra.
Anyway, after leaving one of her bras under Derek’s bed, and waiting two days for the bastard pigs to find it, I watched how they marched her out of her second job at the corner shop across from her flat. Served her right for being so rude to me. Would it really have hurt so much to just smile at me in that dim staircase? Karma’s a bitch, but I’m worse. I can still picture how she was almost pissing herself in fear.
Well, that was yesterday. We shall see what happens next, I guess. Regardless, I’m not finished with this game. I’m only getting started.
Night x
Dear Diary,
They let her out! The bloody bastards let her out after 12 hours! Apparently there was insufficient evidence or some other bullshit. You’re telling me the knife and the bra weren’t enough for even 24 hours? Half a bloody day is all she lost, and they released her with no bloody suspicion of her involvement. Either these police officers are very good at their jobs, or very bad. Probably the second one, they tend to keep the very good ones for the headline stories, right?
Today, I visited Dylan, my ex. I was concerned about how I would manage to see him without being seen myself, but he decided to visit his parents out in the country. His mum is one of those weird off-the-grid no-wifi hippies who never really aged out of the 70s. No need to worry about being spotted out in the middle of the woods. They barely have hot water there, let alone a doorbell camera.
There is talk of reintroducing lynx and wolves to this area one day. Honestly, they would have made sorting out Dylan and his parents so much easier. Animal attacks like that would be difficult to disprove under the right circumstances, especially when no one other than Dylan ever visits his parents. Just some flower power warriors and their adult kid caught in a run-in with a pack of hungry canids.
That could have been a good option for Derek too. But nowhere near as fun as what we ended up doing.
After I had joined them for a surprise lunch, I had been stood washing my dishes in the sink. Bringing along the bottle of bleach from Beth’s flat had been a fun touch. Maybe it would through them off the scent a little, or maybe it could just be a fun easter egg for some true-crime fans one day.
I had always admired how good Dylan’s mother had been at mushroom picking. Shame that some of them look so similar.
There is a lovely evening walk near those woods. Perfect to watch the sunset.
Night x
Dear Diary,
I think I cocked something up. They found partial prints on the knife I hid in Beth’s cutlery drawer. They’ve said that they have identified the suspect and are looking for information on the whereabouts of... Dylan!
Did you really think I’d have messed up that badly? Please! I just thought I’d surprise you with a fun plot twist. What? You didn’t enjoy it? Spoilsport! It’s not like Dylan is going to be stressing over this, now is her?
I took today to rest. I think all that socialising and walking really tuckered me out. I was the same after Derek, but I still had to go out and show my face. Lots of cameras around here. There is a lovely little café near my flat that does a really good chai latte. Two of those with an almond croissant is the best way to spend a lazy morning. I had a cinnamon swirl this morning, though. Needed something to overpower the taste of that horrible stew Dylan’s mother insisted on serving.
I came across an old copy of Murder at the Vicarage while I was browsing a lovely bookshop this afternoon. My father always liked Miss Marple stories, so I thought I would give it a read. That snooping old lady is really some piece of work, don’t you think?
The rest of my evening will be spent reading about how she ruins someone’s masterplan. And if I spot any old women lurking nearby...
Night x
Author’s Note:
Thank you for reading! Kept this short, just to start with. I normally share much longer pieces, but I hope this will let me serialise this a little more easily. Let me know what you thought. I haven’t done a diary entry style story in years, and have been thinking about this one for a while!
You can read some of my essays here.
You can read some of my short fiction here.
If you would like to buy me a coffee, you can do that here.
Until the next short story <3
adore this!!!!!!!!!!!!
making sure everyone knows it’s fictional followed by “I killed a man” was so funny to me. thank you for the story!!