Minutes Of Mayhem

By M.T. O'Neil

Only a few minutes to spend reading? Let a short story take your mind off the present, before you get back to chores or work. Here is a new collection of seventeen stories in the mystery and horror genre to entertain you.

Do yourself a favor, though - don't read them right before bedtime. You might have trouble sleeping.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.T. O'Neil
• Release date: Jun 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476483573

M.T. O'Neil

Many things to many people, but always true to myself. Eternal optimist.

Book preview

MINUTES

OF

MAYHEM

by

M.T. O'Neil

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Published by

M.T. O'Neil on Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

The contents of this book is fictional. Names, incidents,and characters are all fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or incidents, living or dead, is pure coincidence.

Copyright 2012 by M.T. O'Neil

Also by M.T. O'Neil:

Break Room Anthology: Mystery And Horror Stories

Moments Of Mystery, Hints Of Horror

Appleseed Of Doubt

Cafeteria Collection: Mystery & Horror Stories

For Danny and Margie,

who have always been

my inspiration to

be a better person.

You make me

very proud

everyday.

Thank you both

for being so

great.

Thank you, Aidan

for giving me

my special

nickname.

I love all of you

VERY MUCH!

CONTENTS

DRIVE HOME

LONELY SOULS

SIX YEARS OLD

THERAPIST FRED

THALIDOMIDE MEMORIES

MILKSHAKE

FOREST STROLL

IT'S VERY IMPORTANT

THE CLOWN

ELOQUENCE

RESTRAINING ORDER

SAFETY FEATURE

CORPORATE AUDITOR

PROPERTY VALUE

THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT

CAREER CHOICE

MOVING DAY

DRIVE HOME

The backside of a female bicyclist distracted Doug's focus on the traffic as soon as he noticed her. She was a block ahead, riding along the sidewalk with a kiddie trailer attached. Switching his gaze back and forth quickly from the car ahead of him and the lovely vision further on, he didn't feel he was in danger of causing an accident. Frankly, the traffic was going so slow, he didn't think anyone was capable of doing much damage if anyone had one.

He was nearing her, close enough to see a bit of skin between the back of her shorts and the clingy t-shirt that had inched up her back. Her tanned, fine legs were steadily pedaling, and it was clear she must get a lot of exercise. He was too busy watching her to really notice the kiddie trailer, to see if he could see the child inside. All too quickly his car had passed by, and his sole focus was again on the cars ahead and alongside of him.

Fairview Blvd. was a nightmare at five o'clock, primarily because it was the only way to get to the freeway. It also went past the university, which added to the volume of traffic. In spite of the fact that the boulevard had been widened twice in the last decade, there still wasn't enough road for all the cars desperately trying to reach the freeway and head home. The numerous signal lights didn't help much either, he groused as all the cars began to slow down.

The red lights were long, too, and he first strummed his fingers and then hit the steering wheel with his fist. Reaching to turn on the radio, he figured it would be at least three minutes before they were moving again . . . moving onto the next red light.

He glanced up at his rear view mirror, and could see the bicyclist closing in, still on the sidewalk. Acknowledging the child she was chauffeuring, he could certainly understand her doing so. He doubted the little trailer would have fit in the bicycle lane, and it wouldn't be a chance anyone would want to take with someone they loved.

It was too bad Nancy had never been interested in bicycling. It might have helped her lose the extra weight she'd gained with each of their children. The lovely front of the female bicyclist was nearing, and he breathed a sigh of admiration. That young woman had definitely reclaimed her shape!

He almost held his breath watching her as she pedaled by, not even noticing the line of cars had begun to move again. It wasn't until she had gone past that he realized the cars were moving away from him. He pressed harder than necessary on the gas pedal, mentally noting that no one had beeped at him. He grinned, realizing that most of the drivers heading home must be appreciative men like himself.

He loved Nancy, but he did long sometimes for the days when she'd made an effort to appear sexy for him. They'd both gotten lazy, he supposed. He seemed to remember his grandmother once comparing marriage to shoes. A husband of many years is like an old shoe, she'd said, worn and comfortable. New shoes pinch. He laughed, remembering.

New shoes are sexy, Grandma! he proclaimed aloud, as he drove past the bicyclist. She was wearing white running shoes, which accented the tanned muscular legs.

He thought about stopping for a small flower bouquet at the grocery store, once he was off the freeway and closer to home. Assuming it didn't take an hour to get to the freeway. Nancy would be amazed, since there was no special occasion for such a gesture.

She may have long lost her figure, but Nancy was a devoted mother to their boys. Doug was actually in awe of how smoothly she kept the household running. She had always made sure to keep the boys busy with trips to the park, visits to the library for Story Time, play dates, and even playing school at home so Alex wouldn't feel left out once Tony had begun kindergarten. If she was too busy to cook at dinnertime, she planned ahead and had a meal waiting in the crock pot. He knew he was pretty lucky, because he was constantly hearing about the fast-food meals his coworkers sat down to because it was easier on their wives.

Yes, he was definitely going to stop for the flowers.

He eased his foot onto the brake, the cars slowing again for the next light. These had to be the longest red lights in the city!

He'd almost forgotten about the female cyclist until she passed by the stopped traffic again. This time, though, his eyes were on the kiddie trailer she was pulling. The window screens had shades pulled down, so he couldn't see inside. Given the hot sun today, that was probably the smart thing to do. No telling how long she'd been out bicycling with him or her. A young toddler would easily get sunburned otherwise.

Alex and Tony were likely too big, now, for such a trailer. In any case, there would have been only a short time that Nancy would have been able to pull Tony in one, before the younger boy came along. He wondered if he would have enjoyed it, if she had. Probably so, he commented aloud, imagining the wonderment on the face of the child inside. How much more exciting to see the world from a fast moving, comfortable kiddie trailer, than from a slow and rigid stroller. He pictured a look of wonderment on the lady cyclist's little passenger.

As he watched them moving away, he again found himself admiring not only the view, but also the dedication to get out and exercise with a young one in tow. No excuses. That was how people stayed young and healthy.

This red light seemed to be taking a little longer, he thought after awhile. He glanced up, seeing that the light in the distance had turned green, but no one seemed to be moving.

He wanted to blare his horn, but it wasn't the guy in front of him who was at fault.

Come ON! he yelled, to no one in particular. It's not going to get any greener!! By the time he was able to press on the gas pedal, the light up ahead had turned red again.

Fairview Blvd. was a long street, and he envied anyone who worked at the end nearest the freeway entrance. He estimated they probably got home at least twenty minutes sooner, if not more.

He wondered how much gas he burned sitting at red lights everyday. He studied the bumper stickers on the car ahead of him, deciding its driver must be a major redneck. He pressed various buttons on the radio, trying to find a song he liked. The wait for the cars to start moving again seemed longer at each light.

Finally! They were moving again, actually moving at a reasonable speed.

The female bicyclist and her kiddie trailer came into view again. Keeping his eyes mostly on the car in front of him, he stole frequent glances their way. He was more curious now about her little passenger.

The little toddler, boy or girl, was enjoying the simplest time of his or her life, he thought. No worries. Total innocence. It all began to change once they started school. Doug could see it with Tony, already beginning to worry about what his classmates thought of him.

Why was it so instinctive to succumb to peer pressure? The toddler in the kiddie trailer ruled the world right now, capable of enjoying life's simplest pleasures, no questions asked. Somehow that ability was lost with age, and never completely recovered, no matter how hard you tried.

The traffic had slowed again, but it was the last red light before the freeway entrance. He breathed a sigh of relief, the earlier moments of road rage forgotten.

His car came to a stop in front of the driveway entrance to a strip mall.

Looking in his side mirror he could see the mother cyclist with the trailer passing the cars in back of him. She must have grown tired of sitting, and was peddling from a stand up position.

She rode past quickly, but perhaps because of her stance and her speed, the balance between bike and kiddie trailer was off. As Doug watched her pedal past the driveway, the kiddie trailer drifted slightly to the left, its wheel hitting the bump of the driveway entrance.

The trailer bounced off the bump of the driveway, becoming airborne just before flipping askew and landing on its right side on the cement.

The trailer's anchor effect immediately halted the bike, the mother stepping down and looking back in horror.

Doug slammed the car into park and jumped out, running toward the crumpled kiddie trailer. He heard someone yelling they'd call 911.

The young woman seemed stunned and frozen in place; she hadn't yet dismounted the bike.

He'll be okay, Doug assured her, praying he was right as he bent down to the kiddie trailer.

There was only silence coming from the trailer, when there should have been crying. Doug resisted the urge to set it upright, unzipping the cover and dreading to see how badly hurt the child might be.

The flap open, he carefully reached in to move aside the towels in view, just as the woman called out.

Hey, thanks, if you could just set it back onto its wheels. SO glad the laundry didn't spill out! I hate biking all the way to the laundromat, but the laundry machines in the dorm are always broken or in use!

Doug smiled.

He was definitely stopping for roses for Nancy, as well as something special for the boys.

LONELY SOULS

You can't believe how hard it is to concentrate when you have a roommate who listens at the wall, or stands outside your bedroom door at night. When I had decided to go back to college, in my thirties, I knew I'd need help with the rent. There was no way for me to work full-time and still carry a full load of classes.

I'm like a lot of other people, I'm sure. You start off, fresh out of high school, go to live in a dormitory at college, and just don't take that first year very seriously. It's just such a high, to finally be out of the house and on your own! No curfews, no real rules, no risk of getting grounded. I know I wasn't the only freshman who ended up with more party invitations than passing grades. At the time, I wasn't too concerned when Mom and Dad told me they were done paying for my education. And I can't say I blame them, really. I needed to grow up. I needed to see what it was like, to truly be on my own, instead of thinking dormitory life