© Fran C 2008

A bright, almost white sun shines down on a sea of houses. A gentle breeze blows a full line of lavender scented laundry. Speckled starlings bathe in the pool of water collected on the shed roof, while a lone seagull soars overhead. White clouds like cotton balls gently slide across a deep blue sky. The sun beats down, warming the flagstones that last night suffered frost. Cream coloured vertical blinds shield the sun and prying eyes from what goes on within the four walls.

Inside the room is quiet for some. A boy sits, watching the 15 inch monitor intensely. A smile plays across his lips as he slashes yet another monster, and defies death itself once again. Black headphones shut out the world and the screams from the other side of the room. He glances up, wonders just what his mother is doing, but his interest is short-lived.

Focus is shifted to the other half of the room. A vampire seeks his next victim, whilst an innocent bystander screams in horror at the carnage before him. Is he so innocent? A woman sits on the edge of the sofa, and absentmindedly sips from her cup of Earl Grey, hot; just like Captain Picard. In her left hand is a black-handled steel. In front of her, arrayed in a row, are her knives; the longest of which is 8 inches. She handles each knife in turn, her thumb testing its sharpness. She chooses the 8 inch blade first, smiles when the hero hammers a sharpened wooden stake through the vampire, and then begins to sharpen her knives; slicing the shining blade across the steel slowly, almost sensually.

One by one they are tested for sharpness, wiped clean, and then lovingly replaced in the kitchen draw as the vampire utters his last breath. I hate a blunt knife… don’t you?