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He was going to say something but I did not let him. I spun on my heels and flung my pen knife at him.
The sharp tip lodged straight into his chest.
He gasped.
It was unexpected. His eyes widened in shock as blood smeared the tip area of the knife within seconds and quickly spread all over the left side of his chest.
Shame and an inexplicable emotion covered his face when he glimpsed the design of the bald eagle engraved on the bolster of the pen knife.
Adam knew that I'd finally uncovered his secret.
He tried to speak again but blood bubbled up from his mouth instead.
He slowly went down on one knee and clutched the pen knife.
The soft glow of the sun and the scent of blooming flowers compensated for the morning heat.
I set my cup of coffee on the kitchen counter, sat on a stool and pulled the box delivered by my grandfather's solicitor closer to me.
There was a small, brown envelope firmly glued to the box with fat cello tape. The messy cursive handwriting on it was familiar: "To my angel. Let your adventures begin…"
I shook my head with a smile and detached the envelope from the box. Why the use of ellipsis? Grandfather had always been a very secretive person.
I tore open the envelope and found grandfather's pen knife inside.
It was an antique silver pen knife and grandfather had it with him everywhere he went. It was unique because of the engraving of a bald eagle on the bolster.
I'd asked him once what the engraving meant when I was a teenager and he evaded my question. Now I had the pen knife. This changed my thoughts about my grandfather, perhaps I mean more to him than I realised.
I inserted the blade of the knife between the edges of the box and neatly tore it open. Inside was a black leather-bound book. I opened the first page and read:
I did not commit suicide. I was silenced.
Just then a bullet tore through the window shattering my cup of coffee into pieces.
I jumped off the stool, with the penknife in my grip, and hid behind a cupboard.
I might have just opened Pandora's box!
To be continued….
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. This freewrite is inspired by the prompt "pen knife". Join the Freewriters community to receive daily prompts, hosted by @mariannewest.
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