Polaroid

Chapter 4: Strange Letter #1

The mysterious envelope was an off-white color. It looked as though it has been collecting dust for centuries. There was no address on the envelope. It was completely blank. As I carefully opened the envelope, I could see a piece of parchment paper peeking out. I opened up the letter written in red ink. Could this strange letter be written in blood? I thought to myself. I quickly shook that thought from my head as I shivered. It was written in cursive, so I struggled to read it. The letter read:

Melodie Rivers,

This tragedy occurred at exactly 11:08 PM on this very day. Your mother, Karlene Rivers, was driving home in the storm from her shift at Cumberland Farms. She was supposed to get out of work at 10:30 PM, but had run into an old friend. That caused her to finally get out of work 30 minutes after her shift had ended. Your mother finally had gotten out of work at 11:02 PM. A weather report came onto your mother's radio. As she sat in the parking lot of Cumberland Farms, she listened to the forecast. "The winds are reaching up to 100 mph. These are hurricane-strength winds, and there has been a state of emergency telling everyone to stay indoors. The rain is coming down so hard, that you can barely see an inch in front of you if you are driving. There is now a tornado watch in your area. Everyone must stay indoors, and away from any windows. The watch is in effect until 12:26 AM. Hail the size of softballs is expected to come down soon. The lightning count is so ridiculous, that it is too high to count. Everybody stay safe. Stay indoors at least until the tornado watch has been lifted from your area. If you are on the roads, drive safely," reported the reporter from your area's local weather channel. Anyways, after your mother finished listening to the forecast, she pulled out of the parking lot. She could barely see anything, and was sure that she was going to die. It is now 11:07 PM. Your mother stops at a red light, and out of nowhere her future cause of death swirls right above her car. A category 5 tornado effortlessly sweeps up your mother and her car at exactly 11:08 PM. Any evidence of your mother or her car was destroyed by the massive tornado. It's almost as if she and her car have just disappeared off the face of the earth. I'm very sorry to say that your mother has been killed by a category 5 tornado. Your mother is dead.

I put the letter down softly on my thigh, as a wave of confusion hit me. It's not even 4:00 yet, and this letter is talking about tonight. It's like I am reading the future. My mother is downstairs watching tv. She's not dead. Who even wrote this letter anyways? It has no evidence of who it is from. This must just be a cruel prank from Eli, I thought to myself. I came to a conclusion that Eli was just trying to mess with me. The thought of my mother dying by being swept up by a tornado still gave me chills. I decided to not even mention anything to Eli about discovering his little, sick prank. It still boggled my mind how Eli could even make up such a horrible story about our mother.