A character study of a town that resists change and growth.
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"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."
― Sun tzu, The Art of War
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
SUBJECT: Mr. Lance Aldridge
CASE: Mary-Lou
DATE: October 13, 1937
LOCATION: Thistlewood
CONDUCTED BY: Ms. Anne Whitaker
MS. WHITAKER: The following is the transcription for my interview with Mr. Lance Aldridge on the Mary-Lou case. A citizen of Thistlewood, and the principal Lighthouse Keeper. Mr. Aldridges lighthouse has two windows. The first is a 7th floor window facing central street with clear view of both the fronts of Mary-Lou, and Walter's houses. The second is a first floor window in the back of the lighthouse facing the pond.
MR. ALDRIDGE: I never knew Walter. Not really, not like that anyways. What I can attest to is that he was one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met. They guy never did bother anyone, never asked for anything, and never complained. All he did was think, and walk, and think some more. Always fixated on that black board. That, and his muse Mary-Lou.
MS. WHITAKER: And when did you notice changes in this behavior?
MR. ALDRIDGE: October 8th, that was the first day. Walter usually has his coffee around 7am. Says it's prime time for his mental faculties or something. He was ahh. A very particular type of person. One of them people that worked with strange routines. Hell im not sure if Mary-Lou paying a visit could change that boys routine. So imagine to what surpise I was met when by 8:45am, Walter's lights were still out.
MS. WHITAKER: And what of Mary-Lou?
MR. ALDRIDGE: (cough cough). She followed her normal activities. Woke up around 8, and had breakfast out back. Around 1pm when I had looked back out she was on the balcony with her typewriter. I don't presume she could've done much else in that time. Maybe some cleaning.
MS. WHITAKER: Go on.
MR. ALDRIDGE: Yes, yes. On the second day their wasn't much. I had came down with the Flu, and lay inflicted in my bed. It rained all day basically. No movement outside the house. Just shadows in the windows from the both of them. It was on the 3rd day he arrived.
MS. WHITAKER: The boyfriend? What time did he arrive? What did he look like?
MR. ALDRIDGE: I had my afternoon tea around 6pm. That's when I saw him. I could see Walter's side stand light on. No doubt he saw as well. The guy was large, if I had to give my best guess I'd say 6'6 250. Made Mary-Lou look like Doll. Couldn't image what was going through walter's head.
MS. WHITAKER: What else?
MR. ALDRIDGE: Well late that night I could see shadows on the wall. Looked like the both of them were bickering about something. Seemed serious. It calmed down after a bit. Then Mary-Lou came to the window and shut the curtains. Couldn't see much else after that. The next mornings when I woke up to a ruckus. Quite a few town folk outside gathered on the street. I grabbed my jacket and ran out.
MS. WHITAKER: What time did you run out into the street?
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Yotam, Kris. (Jun 2025). On the Fifth Day. krisyotam.com. https://krisyotam.com/fiction/flash-fiction/on-the-fifth-day
@article{yotam2025on-the-fifth-day,
title = "On the Fifth Day",
author = "Yotam, Kris",
journal = "krisyotam.com",
year = "2025",
month = "Jun",
url = "https://krisyotam.com/fiction/flash-fiction/on-the-fifth-day"
}