By Linda Boulanger (Divorce/Ice Cream/Delightful)
The only thing that crept into Ashley Eades mind as she stared into the face of the dead woman was how she could be so calm after just running over someone – especially someone with such an uncanny resemblance to herself. She studied her likeness. They were around the same height as best she could tell and their builds seemed quite similar as well.
The woman’s lifeless eyes pulled her attention back to the face. How vacant they looked. Ashley thought they were, perhaps, a half shade darker than her own. She wasn’t quite sure. It could have been death, or even the cold. Either way, there wasn’t enough difference that anyone would notice – other than someone with the same eyes.
Ashley scrutinized her hair. It was a bit shorter than hers and she was fairly certain the woman maintained the golden coloring with the help of a bottle where her own curls were a delightful natural honey blonde. She rather liked the way this other woman’s curls shaped her face. A few careful snips with the small set of scissors she kept in her purse and Ashley Eades could easily pass for this woman.
A sucking breath accompanied the thought. Was that really where her mind was going? Had she been assessing this woman as a potential ticket to freedom; a way to divorce herself from the life she now lived?
“No, no, no,” she said to no one. Not like the dead woman could actually hear her. Still, she continued. “That’s crazy. You can’t just become someone else.” She couldn’t, could she?
She stared at the woman who could have passed as her twin. She was dead. Her life was over. Ashley’s life was a living hell. If she went back she’d spend her days wishing she was dead. But if she stayed, traded places…
Yes, it was a crazy thought. Nearly unfathomable. And yet … she felt the flutter of hope for the first time in a very long time. For a split second Ashley Eades tasted what it would feel like to be free.
* * * * *
Ashley wasn’t sure how she managed to get the woman down the hill and through the woods to the tiny cabin she’d seen through a clearing in the Winter-bare forest. She’d pulled her along, careful to keep the road within sight so she wouldn’t get lost. Wouldn’t that be something if someone found them both dead, side-by-side, twin corpses lost in the trees!
She pushed that thought from her mind as she deposited the body beside the make-shift porch and sat down on the wood planks to catch her breath. She wished she didn’t have to go back for the car but, if someone found it, they might become suspicious. She wondered how much damage she’d done when she hit the woman. It hadn’t seemed like much of a thump and, when she’d gotten out of the car, the poor dead squirrel nearby had seemed her obvious victim. That’s when she’d seen the body there beside the road.
Ashley began to laugh as she looked at the dead woman, lying beside her on the snow-covered ground, her lifeless eyes staring back, neither questioning or accusing. “I’m sorry I took your life,” she apologized anyway. “Maybe you were running too. I hope not. I’m believing your life is better than what I had.” She paused for several pensive minutes. “I’d better get moving if I’m going to get back here before nightfall.” She didn’t relish the thought of being outside alone. The thought of her plan was bad enough, but at least she’d be securely inside the cabin … if she hurried.
* * * * *
It took all of fifteen minutes to transform herself from Ashley Eades to the dead woman and dispose of the body in the well behind the cabin. The rocks she’d tossed in had made no splash though it sounded deep enough to conceal the body. Hopefully, nature would have taken its toll by the time the cabin owner returned. Initially, she’d planned to leave her for the wild animals to take care of but the thought of them feasting on her likeness turned her stomach. That’s when the well had presented itself. In many ways, Ashley felt as if fate was ordering her steps.
Replacing her jacket with the one she’d removed from the corpse, she threw her own down the well. Her shoes went next as she exchanged them for the more practical fur-lined boots with the fluffy tops that reminded her of ice cream sundaes. She was thankful they fit because she’d forgotten to check before disposing of her own. She might well have been in for a miserable walk.
* * * * *
It took less time to get back to the car, though maneuvering it to a semi-shielded position behind the cabin proved a bit harder than expected thanks to the powdery snow. It had to be done. Even a white car might catch someone’s attention before she was ready for it to be found. That little detail was one she had yet to figure out. Oddly enough, she’d found no damage to the car. She was thankful. That was another detail that could have changed everything.
One moment, she thought as she worked the boards on the cabin steps, finding a hidden key just as she had expected. She wandered into the cabin with nothing more than a cursory look at the well. That’s all it had taken - one moment for her attention to stray from the dark, snowy road - A moment that took one life and was about to completely alter another.
Fully clothed, she climbed into one of the beds and waited for exhaustion to overtake her. Thoughts of Hawk came unbidden.
“Only death can set you free,” he’d told her the only other time she’d tried to leave.
A tear trickled down her face. She wiped it away only to have it replaced by another. Replaced. Could that really be her answer? Would death, even if it was not her own, truly set her free?
Ashley drifted into a tormented sleep wondering who she would be when she awakened.
The only thing that crept into Ashley Eades mind as she stared into the face of the dead woman was how she could be so calm after just running over someone – especially someone with such an uncanny resemblance to herself. She studied her likeness. They were around the same height as best she could tell and their builds seemed quite similar as well.
The woman’s lifeless eyes pulled her attention back to the face. How vacant they looked. Ashley thought they were, perhaps, a half shade darker than her own. She wasn’t quite sure. It could have been death, or even the cold. Either way, there wasn’t enough difference that anyone would notice – other than someone with the same eyes.
Ashley scrutinized her hair. It was a bit shorter than hers and she was fairly certain the woman maintained the golden coloring with the help of a bottle where her own curls were a delightful natural honey blonde. She rather liked the way this other woman’s curls shaped her face. A few careful snips with the small set of scissors she kept in her purse and Ashley Eades could easily pass for this woman.
A sucking breath accompanied the thought. Was that really where her mind was going? Had she been assessing this woman as a potential ticket to freedom; a way to divorce herself from the life she now lived?
“No, no, no,” she said to no one. Not like the dead woman could actually hear her. Still, she continued. “That’s crazy. You can’t just become someone else.” She couldn’t, could she?
She stared at the woman who could have passed as her twin. She was dead. Her life was over. Ashley’s life was a living hell. If she went back she’d spend her days wishing she was dead. But if she stayed, traded places…
Yes, it was a crazy thought. Nearly unfathomable. And yet … she felt the flutter of hope for the first time in a very long time. For a split second Ashley Eades tasted what it would feel like to be free.
* * * * *
Ashley wasn’t sure how she managed to get the woman down the hill and through the woods to the tiny cabin she’d seen through a clearing in the Winter-bare forest. She’d pulled her along, careful to keep the road within sight so she wouldn’t get lost. Wouldn’t that be something if someone found them both dead, side-by-side, twin corpses lost in the trees!
She pushed that thought from her mind as she deposited the body beside the make-shift porch and sat down on the wood planks to catch her breath. She wished she didn’t have to go back for the car but, if someone found it, they might become suspicious. She wondered how much damage she’d done when she hit the woman. It hadn’t seemed like much of a thump and, when she’d gotten out of the car, the poor dead squirrel nearby had seemed her obvious victim. That’s when she’d seen the body there beside the road.
Ashley began to laugh as she looked at the dead woman, lying beside her on the snow-covered ground, her lifeless eyes staring back, neither questioning or accusing. “I’m sorry I took your life,” she apologized anyway. “Maybe you were running too. I hope not. I’m believing your life is better than what I had.” She paused for several pensive minutes. “I’d better get moving if I’m going to get back here before nightfall.” She didn’t relish the thought of being outside alone. The thought of her plan was bad enough, but at least she’d be securely inside the cabin … if she hurried.
* * * * *
It took all of fifteen minutes to transform herself from Ashley Eades to the dead woman and dispose of the body in the well behind the cabin. The rocks she’d tossed in had made no splash though it sounded deep enough to conceal the body. Hopefully, nature would have taken its toll by the time the cabin owner returned. Initially, she’d planned to leave her for the wild animals to take care of but the thought of them feasting on her likeness turned her stomach. That’s when the well had presented itself. In many ways, Ashley felt as if fate was ordering her steps.
Replacing her jacket with the one she’d removed from the corpse, she threw her own down the well. Her shoes went next as she exchanged them for the more practical fur-lined boots with the fluffy tops that reminded her of ice cream sundaes. She was thankful they fit because she’d forgotten to check before disposing of her own. She might well have been in for a miserable walk.
* * * * *
It took less time to get back to the car, though maneuvering it to a semi-shielded position behind the cabin proved a bit harder than expected thanks to the powdery snow. It had to be done. Even a white car might catch someone’s attention before she was ready for it to be found. That little detail was one she had yet to figure out. Oddly enough, she’d found no damage to the car. She was thankful. That was another detail that could have changed everything.
One moment, she thought as she worked the boards on the cabin steps, finding a hidden key just as she had expected. She wandered into the cabin with nothing more than a cursory look at the well. That’s all it had taken - one moment for her attention to stray from the dark, snowy road - A moment that took one life and was about to completely alter another.
Fully clothed, she climbed into one of the beds and waited for exhaustion to overtake her. Thoughts of Hawk came unbidden.
“Only death can set you free,” he’d told her the only other time she’d tried to leave.
A tear trickled down her face. She wiped it away only to have it replaced by another. Replaced. Could that really be her answer? Would death, even if it was not her own, truly set her free?
Ashley drifted into a tormented sleep wondering who she would be when she awakened.
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