It was the hottest day of the year when Al Stanton stepped out of his terracotta suburban ranch home. He wiped the sweat off his brow as he walked toward his car for the approximate twenty minute drive to work. Thank God he’d have air conditioning for this trip. Just the short walk from the front door to the driveway was enough to bathe his heavy set body in sweat, and his synthetic grey suit wasn’t helping. Shit, he thought now. I shouldn’t have given Ann the garage. Ann was Al’s ex-wife who was staying the weekend…and with whom he was actually on decent terms, despite the affair he’d had. The one that had destroyed their marriage over five years ago.
Grasping the scorching metal handle of his ancient car’s door, Al threw it open and practically fell into the driver’s seat. “AC, do your thing,” he muttered, as he started up the engine, sweat dripping onto the heated upholstery.
* * * * * * * * *
Keri Ramsay was trying to perfect a cheer from the previous week’s camp she’d attended. Her expansive, emerald yard held plenty of space for her to practice, but the unbearable heat and humidity was proving any exercise nearly impossible. But Keri was determined to have all cheers down pat before the first day of her senior year of high school. She was captain of her varsity cheer squad, and a perfectionist to boot. She walked over to the thermometer outside the house to see it climbing close to 100 degrees. Maybe I can skip today, Keri thought now. School doesn’t start for nearly three weeks and even our practices are still a week away.
Deciding that resting inside the house was the way to go, Keri rounded the corner to her front door and began to turn the knob…only to find it locked.
* * * * * * * * *
Marjorie Donovan was visiting her daughter and grandchildren when she arrived at their small home on Maple Drive. Like its name suggested, many maple trees lined the quaint road, but on this sweltering day, no amount of shade would help cool anyone off. The ice cream she’d brought for the children had melted in the trunk. As Marjorie went to pick up the brown paper bags from the store, each one slowly ripped noiselessly as sweet, multi-colored liquids dripped into her trunk, onto the driveway and on Marjorie herself. “Damn!” she swore as five-year-old Ava approached her.
“Grandma?” Marjorie felt her cheeks grow hot as her granddaughter caught her cursing. “What did you say?”
Instead of answering that question, Marjorie wrapped Ava in a sweaty hug which the child quickly wriggled out of. “Yuck! Grandma, you’re all wet!”
Just then, Danny ran out asking for the chocolate ice cream. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. It’s so hot out that all of our ice cream melted, children!”
Danny looked angry and Ava started to cry. “No worries, kids. Grandma has her ways to make things right. How would you like some homemade treats today?” Ava cheered, but Danny didn’t look convinced that anything would eclipse his highly anticipated ice cream. One look at his sullen face showed Marjorie that she’d better think of something good.
* * * * * * * * *
“Come on!” Al leaned on his horn in a rage as he waited for the car in front of him to start moving for the newly green light. He was furious now, dripping in sweat and stuck in an unusually high volume of traffic. The air conditioner had kicked out without warning and his car thermometer was registering 104 degrees outside. Angrily Al wrestled off his coat, his white shirt almost transparent from perspiration as he yelled out the window, “Move it, Buddy! Some of us are dying here!”
A loud bang accompanied by a sudden thrust forward found Al momentarily bewildered.
“What the -!!!!” Al muttered a whole slew of curse words as he realized the car behind him slammed into him. “You son of a bitch, watch out!”
Getting out of his rusty brown car, Al saw an old fender folded like an accordion against the rear. It was impossible to see where one car started and the other ended. An elderly woman got out of the ugly, olive tinged car saying, “I’m okay, I’m okay, please don’t worry.”
The woman looked frail with her frizzy, white curls and translucent crepe skin. The only color that stood out was her bright red lipstick and vivid blue veins that peaked out from every exposed area of her body. Which was impressive considering how much of it was covered in modest clothing, even in this extreme heat. Although slightly bewildered, the elderly lady seemed surprisingly composed.
Swallowing his harsh words at the sight of this geriatric driver, Al tried to speak calmly. This proved too difficult and he ended up staring wordlessly, yet expectantly. The senior driver stared back.
“Well?” he finally broke his silence and felt his anger rising again.
“Yes, I’m Mary Quinn. I drive this route every day. But, oh my, this has never happened before,” she put her hand to her mouth as if to show surprise. The distant sound of blaring sirens intensified as emergency vehicles approached the scene.
“What happened here?” asked an Officer Ludwig, but before Al could speak, Mary Quinn’s feeble voice transformed into an accusatory shout, “This man stopped short, forcing my car into his!” The only shaking in her voice now was due to sheer spite.
* * * * * * * * *
Realizing that she’d left her purse in the house (and that she’d left her phone and keys in her purse), Keri felt slightly panicked. She was home alone for the day while her parents were at work. Their nearest neighbor was nearly a mile away. Checking the outdoor thermometer once more confirmed that the temperature had climbed even higher. Even her water bottle wasn’t a comforting sight because its contents had been all but emptied by now.
“Just remember that lots of people have walked in extreme heat before,” Keri told herself aloud in an attempt to calm down. “And a mile isn’t very far at all,” she continued her narration/pep talk. She touched her damp curls and tried to smile as she started the trek toward the closest neighbor’s house. But the trees seemed to be swaying back and forth. Soon, the driveway began to spin. Panic reached Keri right before her world went black.
* * * * * * * * *
As the day went on, Marjorie could barely believe that things had gotten so bad. Right as she’d engaged the children in her baking project, the electric mixer had abruptly stopped. Along with the air conditioner and the lights. Although it was early afternoon, storm clouds had rolled in and darkened the house to a nearly sinister level. Ava immediately started crying in fear while her brother found a flashlight.
“Shut up, you baby!” Danny yelled.
“Darling, do not tell your sister to shut up!” Marjorie scolded her grandson gently.
“You shut up too, Grandma!” At this point, Ava wasn’t the only one in tears. Marjorie felt for her kerchief and dabbed at her eyes quietly. Never in his seven years had Danny spoken to her that way before.
In the midst of the chaos, Marjorie’s daughter Janice walked into the kitchen. “Wow, kids! This is a pretty bad storm - good thing I’ve got our Cozy Candles!” Janice set down five brightly colored, wide, wax sticks in delicate glass trays and lit them one at a time.
“Red, blue, green, yellow, purple!” Ava had stopped crying and seemed enthralled by the cheerful glowing objects dancing before her.
“Ava,” Marjorie smiled, “Are these the Cozy Candles?” Ava suddenly frowned at her Grandma and told her she wasn’t a part of this. “Oh!” Marjorie blurted out, looking at her daughter for explanation.
“She’s just hot, Mother, and uncomfortable. We’re so happy you’re here.” But Janice’s voice held a contempt that Marjorie couldn’t comprehend. This was not at all the way Marjorie had expected her visit to go.
* * * * * * * * *
“Lady, you’re crazy! I was stopped at the red light and waiting for it to turn green when you slammed into me. End of story!” Al was so furious that his already sweaty face started dripping profusely.
Mary just stared at him unpleasantly as he added, “I’m just trying to get to work!”
Officer Ludwig interrupted, “You won’t be going to work today, Mr. Stanton! Follow me!” Any affability that he’d displayed earlier was now completely gone.
* * * * * * * * *
Keri Ramsay was slowly coming to, but was totally disoriented. Unsure of what had happened or where she was, Keri squinted her eyes toward the sun. It looked odd. The shape, the color, all of it looked somehow wrong. The longer she stared at it, the farther away it got, until it was no longer in her line of vision at all. Yet that didn’t stop the suffocating, scorching air from feeling even hotter than before. Keri tried to gather her thoughts. Where was she going again? Oh yes, to the neighbor’s. Forcing her wobbling legs to stand, she stumbled slightly and found the road. But she didn’t recognize her surroundings at all.
* * * * * * * * *
Marjorie felt that she didn’t even know her family. They were so unwelcoming, almost hostile towards her. Janice was giving her a searching look that was so ill-natured, that Marjorie started. Maybe she should head outside; but that would be crazy in a storm like this. Until she realized the rain had stopped as quickly as it had started. The clouds were breaking and the sun was once again making an appearance. The power was still out, but she might have been too hasty in her thoughts of leaving. Looking over at her grandchildren, Marjorie just wanted to hug them. So she headed towards the kids to do just that, when they both pushed their grandmother away. Janice stepped behind them. All three told her, “Grandma Marjorie, go out the door.” Their stony faces frightened her, but Marjorie tried to protest. Now the trio began to push Marjorie - hard. She stumbled to the door and opened it, trying to get away from the hostile environment inside the house.
Once outside, the temperature had climbed higher still. The air was hazy and she saw shadowy figures in the distance. Who were they? It was too difficult to walk in the humidity, too hot to take another step. As Marjorie fell, a police officer caught her. He kept her from face planting, but looked anything but friendly. There was an overweight, cantankerous man with him. And coming up in the distance was a young girl of no more than sixteen or seventeen. She was staggering towards them, looking lost and dazed.
It was then that Marjorie realized that this was not her daughter’s backyard. It was a mixture of sand and dirt; there was no sun and yet the heat was overpowering. “Do you know what you did?” It was Officer Ludwig who asked the question.
“I’m sorry. Are you talking to me?” asked a baffled Marjorie.
“Do you know how your treatment of your daughter affected her entire life?” Officer Ludwig continued without answering her question.
Fear gripped her very soul as Marjorie realized that Janice might have spoken of the abusive acts Marjorie had partaken in. It was so long ago that she hadn’t thought it really mattered; surely Janice would have forgotten all that. Realizing she hadn’t actually spoken yet, Marjorie asked weakly, “What do you mean?”
“I think you know,” Ludwig started to say as Keri walked up. “Remember your time in the hospital when your daughter and grandchildren didn’t come to visit?”
“Doesn’t that prove how much they love me?” asked Marjorie smugly. “They didn’t want to see me in that condition.”
“They wanted you to die alone. And you did.”
“I’m not dead. I’m here…” Marjorie stopped herself as she looked around at what “here” was.
“Young lady,” Ludwig’s attention was now on Keri, who wiped her dirt smudged face with a sweaty hand. “Why did you push your best friend out of the tree that day? I heard…somewhere…that she was going to be captain of your high school’s varsity cheerleading squad.”
Keri’s heated face went white. “I didn’t push…”
“Don’t bother,” Ludwig interrupted. “Lies don’t work here. Judy may be doing her studies remotely this year, but she’s doing better than you.”
Keri’s brow furrowed as she remembered the horse she’d been riding at her second summer camp. Harley was his name and he got spooked one day, sending her flying off toward the hardened ground. As if reading her mind, Ludwig told her, “You never woke up.”
He turned to Al Stanton. “And you. You know what you did to your wife. And not just the time she found out, either”
“Now wait a minute!” Al raised a fist, but Ludwig caught it midair.
“That was quite the accident. More than just the fender bender you thought it was. The impact killed you.”
“Okay, you three. The jig is up. Welcome to The Hottest Place there is. Call it what you want. Think of a good name for it. You’ll be here for a while.” With that final word, Ludwig vanished into the dust, leaving the trio alone in the molten, tortuous, vacuous dump for eternity.
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Such a great story, Jenny. This reminded me of some of Richard Matheson’s creepier stories. And you really caught me off guard with the hottest day ending. Nicely done, I hope you keep writing stories like these.
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Thank you, Kirk. It is my intention to continue to write material that causes the reader to stop and reflect. To think outside the box and to also truly have a moment to become lost in a story.
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