The Reunion

It was time for the annual family reunion. Scarlett was not looking forward to it. Her parents insisted she go, and since she was only 16, she had no choice. She thought it was a boring gathering of a bunch of her older relatives and their spoiled and stuck-up children all stuffed in a McMansion in Maine. The house was actually very beautiful, she admitted to herself, and it was right by the ocean. She did have fond memories of swimming in the August heat with her cousins. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

Scarlett and her parents, Scott and Silvia, arrived at the home of Silvia’s mother, Edna. Several cars were already there. The butler let them in and took their bags. Silvia went to the living room to find Edna, Scott headed for the bar and Scarlett wandered into the large kitchen. The cook, Mary, exclaimed when she saw Scarlett.

“Scarlett, come here,” Mary held her arms open and they hugged. “How is it possible that you are the little girl that used to help me pick vegetables? You look grown, and so beautiful!”

“Thank you, Mary. And you haven’t changed a bit. It’s so good to see you.” Scarlett pulled a stool over and sat down. “Now you have to tell me who is coming this year, and any gossip you’ve heard.”

Mary poured them both a cup of coffee. “Okay, Edna’s children are all coming. So, your parents, your uncle Thomas and Ruth and their boys, Seth and Logan. Your aunt Christine and Bobby and their children Junior, Bristol and Valerie. And last, your uncle Charlie and Bonnie and their children Crystal and Sam. Their oldest, Ryan, isn’t coming this year. He’s with friends in California.”

“Oh, I hate that. Ryan was always entertaining. Well, sounds like the gang is all here. Any gossip?”

“Well, you didn’t hear this from me, but I heard that Charlie has been gambling and is in debt. Christine and Bobby are talking about a divorce. Thomas didn’t get the promotion he was counting on. Oh, and Seth got arrested for drunk driving a few months ago. Ruth was furious,” Mary smiled devilishly and Scarlett laughed. 

“Stay sharp, Mary. I’m going to go say hello to grandma.” As Scarlett walked to the living room, she heard shouting.

“That’s a helluva thing to say to our mother, Charlie!” yelled Christine. “You act like you want her in a nursing home.”

“Oh, shut up, Christine,” Charlie growled. “None of us dreamed Mom would live this long” he turned aside to his mother, saying, “No offense, Mother. I had counted on having my share of the inheritance by now.”

“Well, that’s your problem, Charlie,” Edna said in a surprisingly strong voice. “I’m sorry my living is such an inconvenience to you. I offered to let you borrow some money against your inheritance, but that didn’t suit you.”

More words were exchanged, and Scarlett was shocked at her family’s greed. It seemed they all wished Grandma Edna dead, or at least to get their hands on her money. Now she was glad she had come. She moved beside Edna’s chair. “Can I escort you into the dining room for dinner?” she asked Edna. Like she was psychic, the butler appeared and announced dinner was ready.

Dinner was more civilized, although all the adults drank quite a bit. They all reminisced about the past summers, sharing funny memories and laughing. Soon each family was retiring to their separate suites to ready for bed.

The night was quiet, and Scarlett slept well. Sometime near dawn, everyone heard screaming from downstairs and rushed down to see what was the matter.

Mary was hysterical, crying and saying, “The door and windows were locked from the inside, but there’s a body on the lawn below. Look, there,” Mary gestured and they all gathered around the large front windows.

Scott burst out the door and kneeled beside the body, which was face down on the ground. He gently turned it over, and it was as he had feared. Edna was dead. He realized that Edna couldn’t have wandered out because all the doors were locked from the inside. Someone must have killed Edna, then carried her outside, locking the door behind them as they went back in the house. The killer was in the house.

This is written in response to Fandango’s Story Starter

It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.

This week’s Story Starter teaser is:

The door and windows were locked from the inside, yet the body lay cold on the lawn below.

#FSS

Fandango’s Story Starter #201