Edward peered through the metal bars of his cell and all he saw was misery and disaster. It wasn’t his fault that he was accused of a murder he didn’t commit, but after spending a year in the same, rotting cell, all he wanted was revenge. He wanted to punish those who framed him. He still remembered the day, he was only twenty-nine, when the policemen barged into his house and aimed guns at him and accused him of the 50 year old billionaire’s murder.
One year ago, Jane Foster’s 50 year-old father had been stabbed in his apartment. She finally thought it was time once again to confront the assassin who had killed him. Though she knew this visit was going to be the same as all her other interactions.
At the jail cell she found the same man with mushed blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She picked up the telephone and couldn’t help but scream,
“ Why did you kill my father? What did you want from him?”
All eyes were on her, but she couldn’t care less. All Edward said was,
“It wasn’t me.”
Jane felt like breaking the glass between them and choking him. Though this time, instead of just going home with her relentless pain, she probed further,
“Why should I believe you?”
“ Because I know who killed him.”
Then he told Jane the way there was an ambush at her house and how they framed him because he refused to be a part of the plot.
“It was actually your dad’s best friend,” Edward told her.
Jane knew she shouldn’t trust the words of the man who had been convicted for murder, but after all these
days there was a deep sadness in his eyes that convinced her. She decided to investigate and hired a private detective.
Eventually the truth came to light about how Edward’s fingerprints had been placed at the scene of the crime.
Edward looked around the dark cell, in which he had spent the past year. Was he finally free? He heard light footsteps approaching him. With his heart pounding he received the news of his freedom and gave a sigh of relief. He opened the door and stepped into the sunlight.
thespace.ink has collaborated with ‘Word Munchers’, a creative writing platform that trains and encourages kids and youngsters to hone their creative writing skills. thespace.ink will be publishing two short essays by students of ‘Word Munchers’ every Saturday.
Devina is a student of grade VI of Singapore American School. She plays competitive chess and is a passionate gymnast.
