The Last Day Read online

  THE LAST DAY

  By

  A.B. Turner

  Contents

  Copyright

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and places are products of the author’s imagination and as such, are not to be misconstrued as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Text copyright © 2019 A.B. Turner All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written consent from the publisher, except in the instance of quotes for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet without the publisher’s permission and is a violation of the International copyright law, which subjects the violator to severe fines and imprisonment. This book is licensed for personal enjoyment. Ebook copies may not be resold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  PROLOGUE

  It had been late afternoon when I’d driven into the city, even though the roads were jammed as always, I hadn’t cared because everywhere I looked was bathed in that special kind of light. I somehow remembered, someone once told me, photographers called this time of day the golden hour. As my car inched along, I looked out of the window at the tree-lined streets and it felt like every single leaf had a glow about it, like the sun was trying to show me, there was still some genuine beauty in the world. As I got nearer to the city centre, the trees were fewer and now the pavements were crowded with countless chairs and tables outside the cafes and bars, either side of the road. Any other time, I might have stopped, but not today. Traffic was heavier now, so I had more than enough time to watch the people rapidly gathering at the once empty tables, I could see their smiles, hear their laughter, watch them squeal with delight as they met friends. I had once known what that was like, that life. The excitement of getting ready to go out, the butterfly in the stomach feeling, as you anticipated who might be there or, even who you might go home with at the end of the evening. It didn’t feel as if that had been a long time ago at all, yet here I was alone, and I couldn’t really remember how that had happened.

  When I’d finally made it into the city, the sun was starting to set but I could still feel it’ s warmth on my arm which rested on the window sill. I had been lucky to find somewhere to park and after the long drive, it felt so good just to be able to switch off the ignition and rest my head back on the seat. I closed my eyes, the feeling of the sun on my face and the gentle breeze, suddenly took my mind back to the farm. All those long, hot, endless Summer days, Cal and I had played out in the fields, too many times, I was sure I’d lost him in the long grass and I’d start to panic, only to find him watching a line of ants walking along the path, or sprawled out on his back, staring up at the sky. I remembered lying next to him and together we gazed up and waited for a rare cloud to pass,

  “What does that one look like?” I had asked him, glancing across at his little round face, which would be all screwed up with thought.

  “A turtle,” he answered solemnly, I groaned with dismay,

  “That looks nothing like a turtle, how can you even say that?”

  I heard him chuckle,

  “Because it looks like you.”

  I flipped over but he was already standing up,

  “Come on turtle, see if you can catch me,” he yelled as he set off across the field. I leapt up and chased after him, the long blades of grass almost stinging my bare legs, but I didn’t care, even then, I had loved the feeling of just running. On that particular afternoon, I had found him by the high fence, he was standing on the bottom rung and staring at the large bull who lived in that field. Mum had told us a thousand times not to go near it,

  “He’s got a temper that one, so don’t either of you ever go in there with him, do you hear me?”

  We always nodded, I couldn’t speak for Cal, but whenever we reached the fence, I had a real temptation to hop over and see if I could get from one side to the other. I couldn’t explain why I felt this way, but as we stood there, on that afternoon, I began trying to work out how far it was to the other side of his field.

  “He looks mean,” said Cal, I could tell Mum’s warning was high up in his young mind, just from the tone of his little voice, “I wonder if anyone gets to go near him.”

  “Uncle Jim does, Cal, you know that, he looks after all the animals here,” I replied, I heard him sigh,

  “Uncle Jim is a big man, I don’t think he’s scared of anything, certainly not a mean old bull.”

  For a few minutes, we watched the bull munching on the grass, it didn’t seem to have even noticed we were there, but I guessed we were just two small kids, so hardly no reason to get excited. Cal turned to me,

  “Are you scared?”

  I shook my head,

  “No way,” I answered firmly, Cal cocked his head to one side and looked at me quizzically,

  “Really? Not even a little bit?”

  “Not even the tiniest bit..in fact, I might go into his field right now and tell him I’m not scared.”

  Cal grabbed my arm, his large blue eyes now filled with concern,

  “No! You mustn’t, you know what Mum says.”

  To this day, I don’t know what came over me, it was some kind of rush to my head, a flood of a boldness I had always known was there and yet, in that moment, took me over. Before even I knew what was happening, I was on the top rung of the fence and climbing over it, I glanced down at Cal,

  “Watch me, Cal, I will show you I am braver than anyone, even Mum..even Uncle Jim.”

  I could see he wanted to speak, he wanted to stop me but it was too late, I was now on the wrong side of that fence and it was just me and the bull. I paused briefly, he had looked big from a distance but now there was nothing between us, he looked enormous but even though I could feel a tiny knot of fear in the pit of my stomach, I couldn’t turn back. I gingerly climbed down the last rung and landed softly on the ground, the bull still didn’t obviously acknowledge me, his huge head was deep into the long grass. I could feel my heart starting to pound in my chest as I looked across the field to the iron gate on the far side,

  “It’s not that far,” I whispered to myself, I looked back at Cal and grinned with a bravado I wasn’t really feeling,

  “Let’s see who the turtle is now,” I said, he didn’t answer, I don’t think he knew what to say.

  I took a deep breath and then took off across the field, I was running so fast it felt like I was flying, the heady mixture of blind fear and total exhilaration made me feel almost invincible. As the gate got nearer, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the joy of knowing I was going to make it and before that stupid old bull had even moved. I looked back to wave to Cal, it was then I realised the animal had noticed me, it was staring straight at me and starting to walk. I quickly turned back to the gate and ran faster, but it was behind me now, the ground seemed to shake as it thundered behind me, I was sure I could feel it’ s hot
breath on my back,

  “He’s gonna get you,” Cal screamed.

  I could feel my legs starting to tire, it was harder to breathe, and my heart was about to leap out of my chest, but I couldn’t stop running. I only had a little way to go now, I could almost touch the gate but then, I tripped, Cal screamed again. As I fell, it was like everything was happening in slow motion, the hulking bull was just about to stamp on me, when I suddenly felt a strong arm around my waist, scooping me up and almost flinging me over the gate.

  “What the hell were you doing?” said a voice I instantly recognised even though I felt dazed, I opened my eyes and there was Uncle Jim. Even though he sounded angry, I could see nothing but concern in his dark brown eyes,

  “I wanted to see if I could outrun the bull,” I replied weakly.

  His worried expression instantly turned to a broad smile, his tanned face wrinkled as he shook his head,

  “Well, do you know now?” he asked gently, helping me to my feet and then pushing my hair out of my face, I nodded,

  “Do you have to tell Mum about this?” I asked, Jim pushed his battered hat to the back of his head,

  “Nah, no harm done, anyway, I think you’ve had enough drama for one day, don’t you? Now let’s get back to that brother yours, eh?” But maybe we will go around the field this time…”

  I nodded again,

  “Thank you for saving me, Uncle Jim.”

  He took my hand in his, I suddenly felt very small,

  “I’ll always save you, Chicky.”

  When this memory hit, I felt an almost overwhelming sense of loss, to have ever been that innocent and trusting seemed like a lifetime ago Always seemed to be a word too easy to say, but impossible to mean, after all, I’d heard that same promise from too many other people and their words had mostly turned out to be worse than meaningless in the end. I wiped an unwanted tear away and looked out at the cityscape before me, the sun had gone, and I watched the lights in the tower blocks start to come on. I couldn’t help but wonder how that brave little girl who was ready to take on a fearsome bull, had got here, sitting alone in a car, waiting and hoping, she still had some courage left.

  I knew why I’d driven to the city, I had a plan. My whole life had been out of control for months, with unopened bills piling up and no obvious future. But then, that was because Life had always had one more, fateful card to deal in this rigged game we’d been playing for so long, which forced me to have a kind of moment, an epiphany even, when I knew-without question- money was not really the problem at all. There was no denying, it had been the root of some bad decisions, but it turned out there had always been something more, an unseen malignant presence, like a cancer, a godawful darkness which had silently grown so large and so destructive, it demanded all my attention, consumed every last thought in my head. I hadn’t even known it was there until recently, at least that’s what I told myself, perhaps there had been signs and I’d somehow missed them, been too wrapped up in pointless dramas. But once we’d finally faced each other, I had absolutely no doubt at all what had to be done and that was thanks to Cal, I could only wish, somehow, he would know.

  It had sounded easier in my head, but now, parked in this side street, it felt almost impossible. The golden glow of before was long gone, now there was just the pale yellow of the single streetlight at the end of the road, showing me where I needed to be, but I wasn’t ready, not yet. I closed my eyes again and thought of Cal, he had always seemed so small to me, even when we had started to grow up. Whenever he was in trouble, he came to me, when bigger boys at school had picked on him, I’d waded in and pushed two of them over,

  “You mess with my brother and you mess with me,” I snarled, before taking his hand and walking home. He used to look at me in awe sometimes, like there was nobody braver than me and I loved him so much, that’s why I saved him all the time. Even when we were older, it was me he called when he was in trouble, never Mum, we were both wary of telling her anything. Not that she was cruel or even mean, she just worked all the time and when she wasn’t, she seemed to have no real idea how to be a parent at all. A few times I had tried to talk to her about things that bothered me, but she would always be quick to dismiss my worries, it felt like she never really listened. Cal and I had both grown up, pretty much convinced, she didn’t know us at all. But as those thoughts occurred to me, I quickly pushed them away, as after all, there was no denying, perhaps we hadn’t tried hard enough to get to know her.

  But things changed, nothing sudden or dramatic, but in a silent, almost stealthy way, it was as if I woke up one morning and my Cal had gone, to be replaced by someone who still looked like him but wasn’t him at all. For as long as I could remember, he’d always been the one who’d never wanted to hurt anything, he’d even walk around that line of ants out of fear of treading on one. But then, almost overnight, he became distant, almost uncaring at times and he certainly stopped looking up to me, I ended up feeling like I’d become nothing more to him, than a kind of minor irritation. But Mum seem to indulge every whim and every thought that ever entered his head, when, out of some kind of deeply-felt, but, perhaps unreasonable frustration, I would ask her why, she would say the same thing,

  “I wasn’t there enough, when he was little, I need to make that up to him.”

  “But what about me, Mum?” I asked, wishing I didn’t sound quite as desperate for her as I was, she looked steadily at me,

  “You were always okay,” she said simply before turning away from me.

  At the time, I had wanted to say something more, or more truthfully, wanted to scream at her, I needed her too but, when I looked in her eyes, there was nothing there. It was true she hadn’t really known me when I was growing up, only having a kind of vague idea of me and maybe that was enough for her, she probably wouldn’t have liked the reality much any way. It was also true, the way things had turned out, I was almost glad now Cal had everything although, looking back, there were way too many wasted years when I had a very different take on it all. It truly was a wonderful thing – that whole hindsight thing.

  I opened my eyes again, the streetlight flickered, as if it was impatient with my indecision, it was time, I took a deep breath as I quickly checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. I opened the car door and strode along the path, I was almost at the light when fear seemed to take hold of my whole body and I could feel myself shaking. I spun on my heel and walked quickly back to the safety of the car, it was only once I was back in the drivers’ seat, I allowed myself to breathe again.

  “Not yet, there’s still plenty of time,” I said reassuringly, thankful my heart was beating slightly slower again, “It’s early.”

  I flipped open the glove compartment and was relieved to find the half bottle of Jack Daniels I had bought earlier. I took a long drink, as the warm liquid trickled down my throat, I felt myself relax again. Perhaps it was a lie alcohol gave you courage, but there was no doubt, it could make you care less and that’s what I needed. I didn’t want those long held inhibitions and hang ups to get in the way, they’d had their time, what I needed now, was to be free of them otherwise, what was to come - my grand plan- was never going to happen. After another long drink, I screwed the top back on the bottle and placed it on the seat next to me,

  “Guess I’m not alone after all, Jack,” I said ruefully, “Just us now.”

  I lazed back on my seat and looked out at the city again, it looked beautiful, thousands of lights everywhere, and way above the tops of the skyscrapers, an equal number of stars scattered across the dark blue, velvet sky. Through my open window, I could just hear the distant sound of music coming from a bar somewhere and the muffled sounds of people talking and laughing. As I looked up, I could see the tiny blinking lights of a plane, high up in the sky and for a moment, I wished I was up there too. But that would be just another way of running and, sitting in my car, I knew, I just didn’t have it in me to do that anymore.

  FIRST DAYS

  Chapt
er One

  The icy wind whipped my school skirt against my skinny bare legs, I could feel my lungs struggle to even breathe, as each gust hit me. Standing at the school gate, I cursed anything and everything I could think of at the time, from the bitterly cold weather, my ridiculous school uniform which offered no protection from the elements at all, but mostly, at that moment, my stupid mother. Why was I even standing here waiting for Cal to come out? She was his mother, why couldn’t she be here in her nice warm car, like all the other parents? The tiny ball of rage that lived in my stomach did what it always did when I was stuck, it grew, fuelled by, some might say, selfish resentment. But even though my anger briefly stopped me focusing on the cold, one glance at the playground clock, made me turn my attention to Cal. Where the hell was he? If he didn’t hurry up, we would miss the bus and then it would be the long walk home, with him whining about being tired after five minutes and me having to carry him all the way. I glanced up at the sky, dark grey clouds seemed to be closing in overhead,

  “Oh fantastic, now it’s going to rain,” I muttered angrily. I moved closer to the gate so I could see down towards his classroom door, as I craned my neck, there didn’t seem to be any signs of life at all. I looked behind me, the carpark was empty, everyone else had obviously gone home. Despite my frustration, a tiny fleck of panic gripped my mind, had I somehow missed him? Had I been late and now he was wandering down the road somewhere, trying to find his way home? Could he really have forgotten all those times I’d told him to not move until I got there and to never ever go with anyone else? I shook my head to get rid of the dark thoughts which were threatening to possess my mind, images of Cal being dragged into a car or, worse still, him lying in the road hurt or even…I shook my head harder,

  “He wouldn’t forget,” I assured myself, talking out loud but not really caring if anyone heard me. I looked back at the door and suddenly it swung open, there he was, carefully carrying a large cardboard box. At first, I couldn’t see his face at all, just his two tiny legs, as always, with his grey socks around his ankles. In a heartbeat, the inner panic disappeared, but not the frustration, oh no, now I could see he was safe, I could suddenly feel the biting wind again and the looming prospect of a long walk home. I was just about to yell at him, when I saw his teacher appear at the door, she looked over to me and smiled, I waved as cheerily as I could manage and then called to him,