The Spillway

“I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”

“This is bad. This is so very bad.”

“What’re we going to do?”

“We’ll be in so much trouble, forever.”

“We? You told him to! You said he was a pussy if he 

didn’t.”

“God, I wasn’t serious. I didn’t mean it.”

“There’s no way anyone could make that jump, Ash. Even 

an athlete would struggle.”

“His body, Ed…”

“I’m going to be sick.”

“His bones are sticking out.”

“Stop, please.”

“We need to do something.”

“Like what?”

“Stop crying. We need to get down there somehow.”

“No, please, I can’t look at him.”

“Well, I’m going down there. You’re a shitty person if you 

don’t because you have as much involvement as I have.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“Oh yeah? You’re an accomplice to murder.”

“No!”

“We’re both in this now, and we need to sort it out. We 

need to sort him out.”

“Ash.”

“Look, it was an accident, okay? He didn’t have to jump, 

yet he did. We have to get down there.”

“Okay.”

“Look, there’s a branch going down into the spillway.”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“I’m stronger than you, I’ll hold it still whilst you go 

down.”

“I don’t want to go down there.”

“Stop being a pussy and go down there.”

“What if I slip?”

“Fuck sake, you hold the branch then.”

“I’ll keep it as still as I can. How will we get him out?”

“It’s too steep here, we’ll drag him down the spillway to 

the water.”

“And then what?”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there, Ed. Just focus on 

holding on.”

“Be careful.”

“I’m almost at the bottom.”

“Oh God, Ash.”

“What?”

“Finn is still alive.”

“Shit.”

“Finn!”

“Shut up! Someone will hear us.”

“Good, we can save him.”

“It’s too late now.”

“What? He’s breathing, look!”

“He won’t make it, he’s dying.”

“Ash, we need to try.”

“I’ll have to pull him by the arms, his legs are hanging 

off.”

“Help…”

“He’s talking, Ash! What did he say?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“He did! He just mumbled something.”

“Ed, drop a rock down here.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, pussy.”

“What kind of rock?”

“Get the biggest one you can find.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Ash…”

“You could have made that jump easily, Finn. Now we’re 

all in trouble because of you!”

“I want to go home, Ash…”

“You need to lay as still as you can. You’ll be alright.”

“I don’t think I’m alright…”

“Hey, Ed. There you are.”

“Will this do?”

“That’s perfect, roll it down.”

“Okay. Why do you need a rock?”

“Because I’m going to throw it on his head.”

“What, why?”

“He knows that we’re the reason he’s down there. We 

made him into jump across the spillway, didn’t we? He’ll 

rat on us.”

“You’re sick.”

“It’s what needs to be done or we’ll get in serious trouble. 

Your dad will finally pop his clogs if he finds out.”

“Shut up, Ash. Just shut up.”

“Your mum will hit you again. You’ll never be loved by 

anyone, ever!”

“You’re… You’re evil.”

“Help me and we can put this all behind us. Just help me 

get rid of him.”

“What if someone sees us?”

“Keep crying like you are and we’ll pretend he just fell in.”

“Oh God.”

“No one needs to know anything; we can keep it a secret, 

just between us.”

“Okay.”

“This is bloody well heavy! Keep watch up there and let 

me know if you see anyone.”

“Alright.”

“I’m sorry, Finn.”

“What…”

“Bloody hell!”

“Oh God. Oh God, no.”

“His bloody head exploded!”

“What have you done, Ash?”

“Stop looking at his face then, if you don’t like it.”

“Pull him away, quickly!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“The blood, there’s so much.”

“He’s not that heavy actually.”

“What will we say when the village wonders where he is?”

“We’ll say that we were playing hide and seek near Hamp 

Hill Bridge, and we never found him.”

“Oh my God, Finn’s dead! Our friend is dead! What’re you 

doing now?”

“I’m putting it in his t-shirt to weigh him down to the 

bottom.”

“It’s too shallow, I can still see him.”

“It will work. It looks like he fell, hit his head, and 

drowned.”

“Let’s get out of here, quickly!”

“Okay, let me just wash my hands.”

“There’s so much blood, Ash.”

“Of course there bloody is, I cracked his egg.”

“This is crazy.”

“Hold the branch still, again.”

“I am.”

“Take my hand.”

“Okay, here you go.”

“Let’s get back to the village and go home.”

“What will I say to Mum?”

“Mention that you were playing with Finn and me. Then,

say that you think Finn got bored of hiding and went home, 

then we did the same shortly after.”

“Will she believe that?”

“You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

“Can we get walking now?”

“Yeah, let’s go back up and then across Henry’s land. 

There will be less people walking that way.”

“Okay… Ash?”

“What?”

“You wouldn’t have actually killed his cat, would you?”

“What, Finn’s cat? Nah.”

“You said it genuinely. It sounded so real.”

“I wouldn’t have killed his cat.”

“You don’t seem phased by anything that’s happened.”

“I don’t care. I’m no pussy.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep ever again.”

“Right, shut up now. Will you stop acting like a bloody 

girl?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Jesus Christ, stop being sorry. We did what was needed to 

be done and that makes us strong. You are stronger now.”

“Suppose I am…”

“I don’t want to hear anymore of it.”

“Why his cat, though?”

“You want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Because I’ve killed cats before, Ed. They’re so bloody 

easy to call over and hit with a stick.”

“That’s a horrible thing to do.”

“Sometimes I get really, really mad. I can’t help it.”

“Like that time your brother hurt you?”

“It’s not just one time, he always hurts me. Pins me 

down… He had it coming though. He kept pushing me and 

pushing me until I snapped his wrist. I showed him that I 

wasn’t a pussy anymore.”

“Would you kill your brother?”

“I hate him, don’t get me wrong, but he’s the only family I 

have. Without him around, you’d definitely see me on TV 

for all the wrong reasons.”

“Can I tell you something Ash?”

“Go on.”

“Please don’t get upset, but I’m really scared of you.”

“No, don’t be scared. I’d never do anything to you.”

“You killed Finn.”

“Forget about Finn. Forget about the whole thing. You 

have me now. I’m your best friend.”

“My parents always told me to not play out with you, but I 

had to.”

“They’re stupid.”

“I had to because I have no friends other than Finn. I

needed to get out of the house. Get away from him.”

“Is it your Dad?”

“Yeah, he’s dying. He doesn’t even look the same 

anymore.”

“Is his hair gone?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Because I saw people with cancer on TV, and they didn’t 

have any.”

“He doesn’t have long left, months at most.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Mum’s trying to carry on as if nothing is happening. She’s 

always working and trying to make him feel normal while 

he’s alive. I hate it. I hate pretending like there’s nothing 

wrong.”

“You have to pretend to carry on.”

“After what happened today, it’s yet another thing I need to 

block out to live a normal life. I don’t think I can take 

much more.”

“Just give it time, Ed. Finn’s family will call the police 

tonight when he doesn’t come home, they will find him in 

a few days to a week and then rule it out as an accident.”

“Are you sure?”

Yes, absolutely one-hundred-percent sure.”

“Okay. I trust you.”

“Ed, how did you feel when you saw Finn die?”

“I was scared.”

“Just scared?”

“Well, it looked different than how it does in the movies.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“His face collapsed like a flat basketball.”

“What else do you feel?”

“Powerful.”

“How so?”

“When I looked down at him in the spillway, he was

helpless and weak. It made me mad; I never want to be like 

that. I wish I could put my Dad out of his misery, like you did Finn.”

“You see now. You understand. Weak animals die.”

“I don’t care if I die though.”

“Me neither.”

“Death doesn’t seem too bad. Now that I’ve seen it up 

close, the lights simply just go out.”

“Like a switch.”

“Yeah, Finn will never get to grow up and have a family of 

his own, but he could have died tomorrow anyway.”

“Like that Molly girl in geography.”

“Oh yeah, the one in the car crash.”

“No one talks about her anymore. She was thirteen.”

“I don’t think anyone liked her anyway. We had that 

remembrance assembly and all.”

“I’ve got the perfect idea.”

“Yeah?”

“Perhaps we should have a back-up plan.”

“Like what?”

“You know Mr Dudley.”

“The caretaker at school?”

“Yeah, he’s a bit weird, isn’t he?”

“He smells too.”

“Tell them that you saw him in the forest, and he looked 

really angry.”

“Okay.”

“He doesn’t live with anyone I don’t think. Well, he did 

have a cat, but no other people to say he wasn’t in the 

forest.”

“We always joke that he’s a perv.”

“He’ll get done for killing Finn.”

“We won’t be in trouble anymore.”

“He’s the right person to fall for it, though. Serves him 

right for being a freak.”

“Yeah!”

“Alright, I’ll head home this way.”

“Sure.”

“Remember, we’re bound by this secret for life. We’ll live 

with it and die with it. It’s me and you versus the world 

now.”

“I promise to keep it no matter what. I’m no pussy.”

“With your loyalty and my strength, we make a good team. Let’s make a pact to never let anyone get in our way, ever.”

“Okay.”

“Good. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

“Oh, Ed. One last thing.”

“What’s up?”

“Can we find someone else to play out with tomorrow?”