2544. A quiet retirement
© Bruce Goodman 14 October 2022


Ethan lived a quiet life. He was retired now, but had worked as a grocery deliverer for the last eight years of his working life. It was for a huge grocery chain. People would place their orders online, and Ethan would take the orders, wheel a trolley around the shop gathering what had been ordered, and then drive with the goods to the buyer’s place for delivery and payment.

The job had suited Ethan down to the ground. He wasn’t the gregarious type, but a few cheerful words when delivering the goods was all he needed to brighten his day.

These days he potters in his garden and does some water colour painting. Enthusiasm rather than talent might be the better word to use for his painting skills. He continued to live his quiet life and then suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there was a murder in the street. His very street! It wasn’t an ordinary murder; the victim had been hacked to pieces by some sharp object – a knife perhaps or a machete. It was enough to make ones hair stand on end. Ethan didn’t know what to do. He went back to his gardening to take his mind off things.

But first he cleaned the sickle and put it back on its shelf.

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