Katie brushed her thin locks of blonde hair back behind her right ear and shifted her position slightly so she was sitting up straight and appeared attentive. She kept her eyes on the teleprompter as she waited for the words to begin scrolling across the screen. She had done this thousands of times before in her life, everything was routine, and everything seemed natural. As soon as they were live, she gave the camera her award winning smile and began.
“Hello, I’m Katie Hart with the morning news,” she allowed the smile to fade as she began to recite the words that were being streamed through the teleprompter. “We have breaking news for you this morning. At approximately 6:23 a.m. in New York City a bomb went off at a local Day Care. The Day Care was open at the time, with 63 children and 10 adults inside. The entire building erupted in flames before collapsing. Officials are still estimating the number of casualties but they believe the number will reach as many as fifty, the majority of which being children.”
She paused for a heartbeat, watching herself on the television screen in the corner as pictures of weeping parents and smoldering rubble flashed across the screen. Some parents were breaking down on the scene, on their knees and sobbing. There were a few hopeful pictures thrown in there, of children who had survived reuniting with their parents, but the vast majority of it was tragic. When it was cued for her to begin speaking again, she continued.
“The suspect was arrested at the scene. Police have released the suspect’s age and name as eighteen year old Josh Slater. Aside from the bombing, Slater is wanted by police for the murder of six people, and is the suspected perpetrator of a few other missing persons cases. He is said to have surrendered without conflict and has been taken to the local jail for holding until his trial.” She took a breath, allowing just the right amount of sympathy and disgust to pass across her features. It should have been hard reading the story, and truly she was horrified by the events, but it wasn’t an anchor’s place to get emotional or offer their own opinion, so she kept her feelings in check. “Our hearts go out to the friends and families affected by this tragedy. The chief of police had made a statement, saying that that justice will be delivered for this atrocious act. We will give you more on this horrible story as the news comes out.”
“In other news-,” When the teleprompter changed so did her thoughts, and so did her mindset. The murdered children were lost to her subconscious and she continued to give a report on tax increases, as though absolutely nothing was wrong.
YOU ARE READING
Diary of a Teenage Stalker
Mystery / Thriller"The only thing I felt the need to prove to him, was that a human being could stare him in the eyes as he begged for help, and feel absolutely nothing at all." When Josh’s extreme obsession with the love of his life pushes him over the edge and int...
