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Mystery Thriller

Have you ever felt pain? I don't know you, but I do know pain, and my best guess is that you haven't. Consider yourself blessed by all the gods in heaven and hell if you die without ever experiencing pain. Pain isn't cool, or anything that you can boast about. It's not like breaking a leg, and being able to say "Yo, look at me! I'm SO cool, I broke a leg!" Pain is an evil king. The ruler of the worst dystopian place that exists. The face of your worst nightmares. 

What's the one thing those scenarios I listed above have in common? You simply cannot run away from them. There is no rebelling. He will catch you if it takes him a trillion years. And when he does, he's going to dunk your head in water colder than ice, giving you a sick smile as the last of your breath fades away under his claws. Then spit in your face after you're a lifeless dead nymph. It's an all-consuming, endless vortex that spirals out of existence and has only one-way tickets to hell. 

  Maybe even pain isn't strong enough to describe what I felt when I lost my poor little Asher. A normal January 27th - a cold, miserable, lifeless, unexciting winter morning. I still regret to this day not dropping Ash at school myself. A selfish little high schooler, couldn't think of putting a toe outside, even for her little brother's life. I had a cold, at that time, and was lounging on the sofa, holding a mug of steaming hot chocolate. I remember idly staring with a small smile on my face at the frosted vehicles passing our French windows. "Too bad having to be out in this weather!" I thought. I wish I could slap the smug smile off the face of 16-year-old me, but, too late. There was nothing to do, other than to make myself another cup, lounge, scroll through social media aimlessly for a while, watch the snowflakes cover the winter-wonderland street, and repeat.  

 That oh-so-beautiful utopia of teenage laziness was broken forever when Officer Darlson came a-knocking on our door. My world fell head-over-heels, The guy simply came to our door and said "Miss and Mrs.Winston, I'm very sorry. There's no right way to say this, but, Asher is gone. This is all there is left." And he handed us Ashy's water bottle. Ashy had drowned. He'd run off in the playground, gotten stuck on thin ice, fallen through, and drowned.

Oh, Ashy, oh Ashy! His hazel eyes plagued me, day and night. So, I put up a picture of his eyes on my door, so it would be the first thing I saw when I woke up in the morning. His unique, special, hazel, impossible eyes. If you can't overcome something, play along with it. Since I couldn't forget those ocean eyes of his, I played along and made myself see his eyes, to remember. My therapist, Dr. Awlen, said it was a good technique. It hurt for a while, but, soon you'll see it brings back happy memories and not bad ones. 

  Asher was an 8-year-old, happy-go-lucky sort. But, time heals the deepest wounds, and soon, Asher's stab healed. I could never forget my little boy, but the immediate, overcoming pain faded. I didn't have nightmares about him anymore. I started to slowly become a civilized being again, able to graduate and get a job, to care for myself independently.

 Flashforward 8 years into the future! I'm 24 now, settled in my old nest with a loving Ma and Papa. There's Mia, Ameira, Kim and Peyton, my girls, and my darling Justin. Today, I'm off to buy a bouquet for Mia, who's just had her baby girl. But, I stop dead in my tracks. There's a boy. He's got Ashy's lush and thick scarlet waves. The scar on his eyebrows that he got when he cut himself with scissors as a baby. The Roman nose that contrasts perfectly with his thin lips. And… that smile… Ashy's grin, gosh, I could never forget that smirk-like, innocent grin. And he looks 16. This boy looks just what Ashy would look like if he was 16.

 There he is, leaning against Mrs.Emelle's flower stand like it's the most normal and usual thing for him to do. Grinning. Gosh, is he teasing me, playing hard-to-get? All I want to do is throw my arms around his neck, ruffle his hair, and kiss him on that little nose for all the times I've missed. Ashy! My Ashy's back! There's simply no way to describe this feeling of ecstasy. 

 Where have you been? What happened when you fell through the ice? Who found you? Were you treated well? Did they hurt you? Oh no, please don't say they were evil! Did they love and care for you? Could-could you eat pizza, celebrate your birthday? W-w-wait, it's been 6 years, do you even recognize me? Do you remember Mum, Dad, and me? Did the ice water do something and give you amnesia?! A million questions run through my head. One by one. 

` My boy came up to me and stuck out his hand. Ever the gentleman! Same lad as 8 years ago! These things you don't grow out of!

 "Hi! I'm new to town. It's Connor Woodrow, your new neighbor. You must be Ms.Winston, I've seen you sitting on your porch. Do I look like someone else to you? This stare is the one Mum gave when she saw my twin brother. I hear your family's lost a young lad, right? 8 years ago? Must be some sort of coincidence, Ms.Winston. 8 years ago, we found my brother, half-dead. Slipped under the ice. Mum nearly had a heart attack when she saw the lad. Knew it was her boy when she saw him. He was kidnapped when he was a baby.  Fiddlesticks, speak of the devil! Meet my twin brother, Asher! The twin brother we found under the ice? Yes, this is him, come meet Ms.Winston, Ashy!"

 And a second Connor Woodrow appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.

July 28, 2020 12:14

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15 comments

Batool Hussain
09:45 Aug 01, 2020

Wow! You've done an equally good job, Isla. This is amazing. The tale keeps flowing smoothly without any bumps. You've got a gift for making the reader hooked, up until the end. This was a very intriguing story and I've got to give five 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 to you;)) Looking forward to reading more of your works;)

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10:07 Aug 01, 2020

Wow! Thank you very much for your compliment! I'm glad you think so, I was hoping it was smooth! And, oh, I'm so honored to hook up a reader till the end! Thank you so very much, I hope that the rest of my works are just as good, too! :D

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11:00 Dec 14, 2020

...wow. That was an amazing story! The ending at first had me a little confused, but once I understood it was a brilliant plot twist ending to the story. Time for feedback: I agree with Laura (down in the comments) that when listing the relationships it was a little confusing, but still understandable. The other thing I'd say too is that when doing large time jumps in the story, it's better to do both in the present tense with a "Six years later..." kind of subtitle (rather than a sentence as part of the paragraph) or do the first pa...

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14:37 Dec 14, 2020

Hi Zoe! thanks a lot for your feedback, means so much to me! Happy you got it :D And yes, that point is acknowledged too... 👉👈 Okie, got that. Though I must admit, I haven't read this one in so long, I don't really remember how I did it, but yeah, I'll remember that uwu Haha, yes! I actually thought you might have confused the ending up because I FORGOT the ending to my own story (world's leading authority on remembering) ... But yes, I'm a huge fan of plot twists in the end. Thanks a again for your feedback, Zoe! Sythe

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00:58 Dec 15, 2020

Ofc! Anytime Sythe :)

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01:49 Dec 15, 2020

also I followed u on insta from my art acc :)

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09:14 Aug 07, 2020

Congrats.. This story is very exciting, can't stop reading to the end.. In a way its forcing me want to know what's gonna happen next. Keep up the good work

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03:46 Aug 08, 2020

Thank you, Elizabeth! I'm very glad you've liked it! :D

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Elle Clark
22:33 Aug 05, 2020

Hiya, here as part of the critique circle! Hopefully you’ll have time to look at mine and comment too. This is a fun story with lots of twists and turns. Her guilt over ignoring her brother and it leading to his death is very clearly put across. I was a bit confused about the relationships. At times it sounds like she’s talking about her son, even though you’ve made it clear she’s talking about her brother. Also, when she lists the people, including Mia, it sounds like she’s listing her children and partner but then Mia has her own c...

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05:26 Aug 06, 2020

Hi Laura! I'll go check your stories right after this! Thank you for encouragement. I appreciate this alot! Once again, thank you for letting me know what the problems were. I hoped it would come across as her loving him like a son though he's her little brother. Mia was supposed to be her best friend, I think I deleted it by accident. I'll be sure to proofread again next time! And Justin is actually her boyfriend. Thank you for complementing the end! Neither did I see that twist, I only thoight of a reversal, and it just came ...

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Avery G.
20:32 Aug 02, 2020

Oh my gosh. This was a beautiful story! It just flows so smoothly! I couldn't stop reading! This is amazing for your first story! I can't wait to read more of your stories! Great job!

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04:25 Aug 03, 2020

Thank you! I thought it was kind of bumpy, but your words put me at ease! I'm glad you've liked it! :D ~Isla

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Avery G.
16:42 Aug 03, 2020

You're welcome!

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09:57 Aug 02, 2020

This is one of the best stories I've read in a while. It's engaging and perfect. This is one beautiful story to have as your first on reedsy and yes, I marvel. Good job

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10:08 Aug 02, 2020

Aww, thank you, Abigail! Your kind words made my day!

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