The Letter

Maverick closed his robe on the way to the mailbox. Never enthusiastic about the bills, he dreaded making the walk. He always hated the bad news that the mail carrier delivered. Stretching in the freshness of the sun made him feel exhilarated. Taking a deep breath, made him appreciate nature more since he had fewer opportunities to visit. An avid outdoors person, he was distraught when he had to move closer to the city to find work.

The company he worked for multiple years had filed for bankruptcy. He knew eventually it would happen. The business had struggled for years. At some point, it couldn’t hold on any more. Maverick didn’t like living in the city, so he found a home that was far enough away he didn’t have to endure the noise, but close enough that his commute was still fairly short.

Walking to the mailbox, he stuck his hands in the pockets of his robe as he sauntered down the sidewalk. Noticing his elderly neighbor trying to take the garbage to the curb, he rushed over to help.

“Hey, Robert. Let me get that for you.”

Robert stopped where he stood and waited for Maverick.

“Thank you, young man.”

My kids didn’t come home this month. They’re usually the ones that help me with this.”

“It’s not a problem. You know what? Let me give you my number and if you ever need help, you can call us.”

“That’s so kind of you. How’s Mae doing?”

“We’re expecting.”

“That’s wonderful. A little one. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. We’ve been here for six months and you’ve never formally met my wife.”

“It’s quite alright. She seems like a lovely woman. Every morning when I’m sitting on the porch drinking my coffee, she smiles and waves.”

“She is. Thank you.”

“Cherish your little one. Spend as much time as you can. They grow up too fast.”

“Thank you. Do you need anything else?”

“You’ve done enough.”

Maverick turned to retrieve the mail and when his back was turned Robert smiled the most devious smile. Maverick noticed his wife was standing at the door. He reached into the mailbox and grabbed the mail before returning to the house. Sifting through the stack of letters he noticed an unmarked envelope. Pausing part of the way up the walk, he looked at it with confusion.

“Babe? What is it?”

“We have an unaddressed letter.”

“Maybe it’s from my mom or something and we weren’t home so she stuffed it in the box.”

“Come inside we’ll open it together.”

Glancing over Maverick’s shoulder, she saw the smirk form on Robert’s face.

Mae grabbed the envelope and opened it. The letter was written in a sort of code. Written in letters that made no sense to her. Not wanting to share the letter with her husband, she hid it in her pocket.

“The letter was just a blank sheet of paper.”

“That’s odd.”

“It is. I threw it in the trash.”

Maverick didn’t ask any questions. He had no reasons to disbelieve her. She’s never given him a reason to. Mae made an excuse to leave and snuck up to the nursery. She knew he wouldn’t bother her there. She had been spending most of her free time in it with anticipation. She walked to the rocking chair and slowly sat down. Extracting the letter from her pocket and unfolding it slowly to prolong the excitement. After a few minutes the letters became readable.

“Honey?”

As Mae heard her husband approaching, she watched the letters on the paper disappear and breathed a sigh of relief. Never before has she ever been so concerned with her husband catching her doing something. She hated hiding anything from him, but felt that this needed to be. Cramming the letter back into her pocket at the exact moment Maverick approached the door almost caused her to falter. With her hand stuffed inside her robe pocket, she clenched her fist around the piece of paper as if Maverick could extract it with his eyes.

“Have you seen my blue shirt?”

“It’s hanging in the laundry room.”

“I looked there. Are you sure you didn’t put it somewhere else and forget about it?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“It’s not there.”

“Give me a moment.’

Maverick backed out of the nursery and walked back downstairs. When she knew it was safe to take the letter out, she folded it and looked for a hiding place. She knew that she would spend more time there than her husband would, but still wanted to make sure it was undetectable. Spotting a baby pillow she had placed on the changing table, she waddled over to it, opened the sham and pressed the letter against the pillow replacing everything the way it was. When she was certain that it was safe to proceed, she straightened her clothes before joining Maverick in the laundry room.

When Mae approached the door to the laundry room she could hear Maverick already on the phone with a business call. Wondering what was so important that they had to call him at home, she waited to not interrupt. Attempting to eavesdrop through the crack in the door, but was unable to detect anything. After several minutes with her ear pressed against it, she heard the beep that indicated he ended the call. Backing away from the door far enough to give the appearance that she had just arrived downstairs.

“Hey, honey. I’ll just wear my red one. I have to go in early. They’re talking about lay-offs.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I’ll see you when I get home. Be careful today. Don’t overdo it.”

“I’ll rest. Be careful on your way to work.”

They kissed and Maverick went to change for work. Mae entered the laundry room to look for the shirt Maverick couldn’t locate and was slightly taken aback when it was indeed not where she placed it. Searching behind both machines because she thought maybe it had fallen, she was frozen in place when she saw mysterious writing on the wall opposite the door. Moving closer to get a better look, she was shocked when it shot across the wall like a laser and disappeared behind the washing machine. A gasp escaped her as Maverick approached from the bottom of the stairs.

“Everything all right?”

“I thought I saw a mouse?”

“Let’s hope not. But...if you do...call the exterminator immediately. We can’t have an infestation. Especially since we’re about to have a little one.”

“I will. Have a good day.”

They said good-bye and parted ways. Mae watched her husband leave from the window and when she was certain that he wasn’t going to return any time soon she rushed back up the stairs to retrieve the letter.

Putting her hand inside the pillowcase, she felt for the letter she stashed. Taking her a few moments to find it, she felt a thundering beat reverberated through her body. Finally, finding it, she clutched it in her fist and took a seat in the rocking chair. Slowly unfolding it she saw something zoom across the wall. Looking at the wall to try and figure out what it was, she watched the wall as the words shot across the floor up her torso and onto the paper. Staring agape, she wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen next. Still staring at the sheet of paper as the words moved around as if they were trying to place themselves in the correct order. She quietly watched the letters scramble into place. Once they stopped moving, Mae was appalled by the message in front of her. Crying almost instantly, she couldn’t believe the words on the paper.

Maverick, on the way to his vehicle noticed the neighbor was standing by his mailbox. He waved, but was disappointed when it wasn’t reciprocated.

“Hello, Robert.”

“Did you read the letter?”

Pausing with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he wondered how his neighbor knew about the letter.

“She threw it in the trash.”

“Uh. Probably for the best.”

Maverick looked at Robert with a curiosity he had never had before. Dread filled him as he thought about the conversation. Apprehension at its best, led him to the car in a surreal state. Reaching for the door handle he looked back across the street and wasn’t surprised that Robert was nowhere in sight. A sense of foreboding overwhelmed him causing him to think twice about leaving his wife home alone. As if reading his mind, she responded in a queue startling him causing him to drop his keys.

“I’ll be fine.”

Eyeing her suspiciously, until she retreated back into the house, he relaxed again once he heard the door close. Nearly passing out retrieving his keys, he had to calm himself down before pulling away.

As she hid the letter on her person she contemplated what was written in it. Not able to stop thinking about it, she had to make sure she acted normal around her husband. She knew she would never be able to tell him about the events. He would never believe her. He would endlessly try to convince her that she was only nervous about the delivery. Mae decided it was best to keep it to herself.

As her delivery date got closer, she found herself starting to think about the letter more and more. It got so extreme that her husband was starting to catch on that something was concerning her, but she played it off as nerves.

“Sweetheart. I know you're nervous about delivering this baby, but it’ll be fine. You’ll do fine.”

“You’re right.”

Maverick left her to stew on the words they exchanged. Mae couldn’t help, but doubt him. She believed every part of the message that was sent to her. The part that concerned her the most was that she didn’t know what to do with the information.

The day came when her expected delivery was supposed to take her to the hospital. Maverick checked on her well-being before leaving for work.

“I will call you.”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?”

“If anything happens, I will call you.”

“You sure you feel fine?”

“Positive. Now go to work.”

Maverick gave Mae one last smile before leaving. Mae didn’t want to tell him that she had been having minor contractions all morning.

She didn’t want him to worry about her and she certainly didn’t want to go to the hospital to give birth. The original plan had changed. Now that she knew her baby was different she didn’t want to birth it in front of other people. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she would rather endure it alone.

On her way up the stairs she decided it would be best to give birth on the bed. She walked into the bathroom to retrieve as many towels as she could carry then arranged them on the bed before sitting herself in the position. Then she leaned against the headboard and waited for the proper moment.

When the time was right she started to push and within minutes the baby was free. Taking a few seconds to relax, she rested her head against the wall. All the while, the baby rolled onto all fours and crawled across Mae’s torso and met her eye to eye. As she stared breathlessly at what was supposed to be her newborn, the creature rested its head on her chest. Before she realized what was happening, she felt a sudden pain in her chest and tried desperately to detach it from her body, feeling her strength dissolve as well. Losing the fight, she relaxed her body and waited for whatever was to come.

Arriving home, Maverick found it odd that his wife didn’t greet him when he entered. Calling out to her he felt something bizarre in the atmosphere and started to search the house. Following the sensation upstairs, he got a feeling of dread as he walked down the hallway. Pausing in front of the bedroom door, he felt his entire body tense as he placed his hand on the doorknob. Closing his eyes and holding his breath as he entered the room, he had an instant breakdown upon the sight.

Crawling toward the bed, he attempted to understand the situation. Climbing to his feet, he noticed the bed covered in blood and knew that meant she gave birth. Finding a pillow placed over the infant, he panicked when he saw that the baby wasn’t moving and clutched it to his chest trying to revive it. He did everything he could think of to make the baby cry, but gave up after several attempts. Through his despair, he noticed a note lying next to his wife on the bed. The note was addressed to his wife from their neighbor. He had informed Mae that their baby was a demon. Maverick assessed that was the reason it had been covered by a pillow. She suffocated it.

“Why would you do this?” Maverick shouted at her dead body.

He fell to his knees in anguish. Without understanding why she would believe a letter from a stranger he continued to agonize over his loss.