The Adventures of David (1)

David belongs to Ruth. Ruth belongs to anyone. How can this go on?

It’s Sunday morning and David wakes early. He dresses quickly and walks down to the petrol station on the corner of their street. He leaves Ruth sleeping peacefully in their bed.

He buys The Observer newspaper (Ruth especially likes the supplements) and a litre of white spirit. He enjoys a slow walk home, offering a clipped “good morning” to everyone he passes. It’s a bright day.

At home, he goes to the cupboard under the stairs and removes his toolbox. He chooses a long fat chisel and a rubber mallet. The mallet they’d bought specially for camping, though they’d never troubled the great outdoors.

He goes upstairs to the bedroom and sees Ruth still sleeping. He sits next to her, slips the chisel into her mouth, driving it home with the rubber mallet. The blade cuts easily through the gullet and lodges in the spine. A second blow from the mallet severs the bones.

Richard scatters pages from The Observer supplements around Ruth’s body and pours over the white spirit. He lights it with a box of matches Ruth keeps in a drawer next to the bed.

He takes the car out of the garage and drives away. Avalon is playing on the stereo.