Bloody Shovel

Why did I touch the shovel? WHY DID I TOUCH IT? My family never bothered, neither did anyone in this town. WHY DID I? The doctors here called it "natural curiosity that lead to insanity". The shovel has ruined my life. I live in an asylum, and the only connection to the outside world for me is my small laptop computer, which surprisingly the doctors allow here. I need to tell people my story.

My name is Brian, I am 19, and I WAS living in an apartment in one of the many suburban towns near Seattle. It rains a lot in my town, so I don't exactly get out much. I was working as a programmer for a company that made virus scanners and I made a decent amount of money. Sadly, my sister wasn't doing so well. She lived in Seattle at that moment, and she wasn't doing so well. Her income was running low, and she apparently had gotten involved in a driving accident. She called me and told me she needed a place to stay so she could get back on her feet. I agreed to let her have my guest bedroom, and I drove over to Seattle. And yes, it was raining.

I had to weave through the small streets before I got to the main highway that led to the city. While I was driving on an old bumpy road that led out of the town, something on the side of the road caught my eye. I stopped the car and glanced my head around to look at the object. It was metal and thin, but I needed to get closer to get a better look. I opened the car door and stepped out into the freezing rain. I started to wonder why I was getting out of the car to go look at some random object, but my programming career had left me cooped up in the house for a few days, and I was curious.

I walked across the dirt road and into the field where the metal object was. Now, I could see what it was. It was a shovel. I got closer to take a look at it. It was very rusty and it looked like it had been there for a very long time. The shovel was stuck upright in the dirt, like it was used to bury something...or someone. I got a chill in my skin when I thought of the latter.

The town cemetery was close to here, so I don't know why someone would choose to bury someone here instead of there. As I looked even closer at the shovel, I saw something red at the end. I was mixed in with the rust and it was faint, but it was definitely there. "Is that..blood?" I thought. I reached out and..(WHY DID I DO THIS?) touched it. The red stuff felt very crusty, which meant it was probably blood. Immediately after touching it, I felt a chill, but I just dismissed it as a product of the cold rain. I got back in my car, and drove towards Seattle. On the way there, I swore I hold clanging noises that were coming from the trunk, but I took no notice. i arrived in Seattle and picked up my sister, and nothing strange happened until that night, although she did say