Linda was thinking about her town and her friends. She is about to open the mysterious invitation.
The grassy park was bordered on one end by the beach’s
walkway and on the opposite end by Edward and Tom’s hardware store.
The next store was Oasis Rentals, where Shirley conducted her business while
delving into everyone’s personal life. Her neighbor was Louise’s Dress Up,
which offered an extensive line of lingerie, hats, shoes, bags, and anything
else the wealthy woman might require. Louise catered to the elite of Oasis, but
had never been asked to socialize with them. That had to be the reason for all
the jealousy that she’d been exhibiting toward Todd.
Her mind drifted to her
other friends in town. She thought about David and Mike. Their relationship was strange—a kind of love-hate relationship. Their antique store fronted
Main Street with two wide picture windows. Their unique shop, called Artsy, was
loaded with furniture, lamps, and art. Most of their business was procured from
the new artists that they searched out and discovered in the local area.
Next door to Artsy was
Linda’s shop. Her corner store provided her with ample views of the walkway, beach, and ocean. She was also afforded close-up views of Todd’s building across
the narrow street. The only other store on the side street was Nirvana, Shana’s
horoscope reading, incense, and novelty shop. Shana floated around her store as
light as air…wearing her long flowing skirts…with her ready smile and bright
laughter.
Linda shook her head and
scolded herself for analyzing everyone and everything in town, when what she
needed to be doing was preparing for that evening’s barbeque. She walked into
her bright yellow kitchen, where her two cats were waiting to be fed. Gypsy was
black and white with short, thick fur, while Pepper was a Maine Coon with grey and white long fur and a huge fluffy tail.
After feeding them, she
checked the living room to see if her cats had messed anything up. She found everything in its proper
place. This made her feel safe and secure, even though it was getting harder to
feel safe in a town where dark figures roamed the streets at night, residents
hid in their homes during the daylight, and people disappeared from sight never
to be seen or heard from again. But this was her Oasis, with all its
quirkiness.
She loved the layout of
her apartment, where the downstairs rooms wrapped around a central staircase.
The dining room and the living room offered unobstructed views of the beach
through floor-to-ceiling windows, while the cheerful kitchen in the back offered
a panoramic view of the heavily wooded hill.
Upstairs, her bedroom’s
sliding doors opened to a balcony, overlooking the beach and ocean. Each
morning she woke up to brilliant sunshine and calming breezes, while at night
she drew the blinds tight against the dark that brought with it creeping
shadows.
Returning to the front
hall, she picked up the mysterious black envelope. She drew out a thick piece
of black paper. Large bold words were written in white upon the black background.
It read,
“You are Cordially Invited
to
An Evening of Intrigue
Mysteries to Solve and
Games to Play
10:00 pm Sharp
Friday the 13th
End House at Oasis”
NO RSVP REQUIRED
JUST BRING YOURSELF
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