Three Last Days - an emotional short story about Depression

Day One - Rain

"I was quiet, but I was not blind"

-Jane Austen

Tears are like rain. They drip onto our skin, our cheeks, they soak through our clothes and seep into the ground. While the wind continued to tug at Aurora's clothes and she dejectedly watched Josephine smoking, Romy also stood up and began to clear all the plates.

"Thank you, dinner was still good," she lied, her plate had not even been touched. "I think I'll leave today," Aurora immediately changed the subject, not beating around the bush. Romy looked at her sadly. "What? No, please don't! Stay a little longer," she tried to persuade her friend. "Give me one good reason why I should stay here. Josephine doesn't want to talk to me, I'm not welcome here," Aurora replied coolly. She grabbed her jacket and wondered whether she would even be able to get a train to leave this island in the middle of the night. Outside, the storm was getting hectic, the rain was starting to drip onto the beach house.

The drumming of the water sounded like a rhythm, like a quiet symphony that one could dance to, but none of the three women was in the mood to dance. To them, the rain sounded like thunder, a threat, an oppressive voice. "You can't get out of here at this time of day, there's no train, you don't have a car. And it's raining," Josephine murmured emotionlessly. Aurora paused, she didn't want to stay. She found it uncomfortable to spend another few minutes here, no, even seconds. But another part of her wanted to stay, to stay and find out what had happened to her daughter Kara. It was as if she were torn between two worlds, as if her mind was fighting against her heart. While her mind was screaming for her to go, her heart demanded that Aurora stay. For Kara. For her daughter.

"Then I'll leave tomorrow, I don't want to take you any further-" but Romy wasn't satisfied. "No, you can't just leave again and wrap yourself in your loneliness," she put her hands on her hips. "I thought you didn't want any contact," Aurora replied sharply and shook her head. "I thought so. You never got in touch!" Romy sighed. Aurora bit her lip and thought about what to say. She was sure that it wasn't a misunderstanding or a miscommunication.

"I never had the strength to get in touch with you, I always thought that-" a sudden flash of lightning followed by thunder interrupted the conversation. Suddenly the light went out, darkness enveloped the three women. It was as if the darkness was pushing its way into the small beach house and trying to swallow them. Aurora stumbled and hit her head, because without the bright light she had no bearings. What had happened?

"What happened?" Romy backed away in shock. "Don't worry, there are often power outages here," said Josephine and hurried through the beach house. The elegantly dressed woman turned on her small flashlight, which was lying on the kitchen counter, and walked purposefully towards the storage room, where the small power distribution box was probably. Aurora shivered; the thought of being alone, shrouded in loneliness and darkness again, frightened her. Especially if this happened more often, the woman did not want to stay in this haunted house any longer.

As the rain poured down on the house more and more heavily, a strange noise was heard at the door. It sounded like a scratching or knocking, as if someone was trying to get into the house. Romy froze in shock and watched the shadow in front of the front door. "Josephine? Josi! There's something or someone here!?" Romy called, but she received no answer. "It's probably just the wind," she thought.

Romy and Aurora exchanged a look and then carefully opened the front door. At that very moment the light came on again. It was as if lightning had struck and thrown the light into the room. The two women were startled once again and flinched. It was still pouring down outside, but this time something else was posing in front of the front door.Aurora saw a small box with photos and a note. What did all this mean? Who on earth would put a box in front of the front door in this weather? Aurora noticed blurry footprints in the dirt, but her fear drew her back into the house.

"Someone knocked on the door," Romy looked around confused, but couldn't see anyone. Was it really just the wind? Aurora lifted the box and put it on the table. Whatever was in here, there had to be a reason why this box was here. A message, a sign, something with a greater meaning. The women carefully opened the box and froze, perplexed. What they found each other again took their breath away.

"What do you have there?" Josephine joined Romy and Aurora. "The power should be working again," she explained, but noticed that their attention was focused on something else entirely. "These are photos. Of you and Kara," Aurora murmured, shocked. She felt herself getting sick again and gasping for air.They were photos of her daughter. Of Kara.When she looked at the small piece of paper next to the photos, she noticed a threat in red. Big, red letters formed dangerous, yet so simple words:You have three days.Reveal the truth about Kara.The truth about her death.Otherwise your life will fade into a nightmare and you will never be able to live in peace again.Aurora shook her head. She had known it. Romy and Josephine knew something about Kara's death...And apparently someone else did too...