The Husband - Short Story

 The Husband...

Nancy woke up at 4 A.M. , with her heart racing heavily and startled by the shower turning on suddenly. Her husband Steve was not right next to her which was odd. It was Saturday and he usually slept in during the weekends. Plus he always showered in the evenings so this was a bit strange. It was still pitch dark outside.  None of his belongings were packed so it did not seem like he was ready to take off and leave her in the middle of the night without telling her where he was going. 

"Honey??", Nancy called..

No answer...

"Honey??", she called a little louder for the second time..

Still no answer..

She walks over to the bathroom door and knocks. Finally the shower stops.  Steve walks out. 

"What are you doing taking a shower at this time honey"?, she asks her husband.

Steve does not answer nor does he make any eye contact with his wife. He walks right by her.  For a moment, Nancy did not even recognize her own husband. She was still feeling apprehensive.

"Come to bed babe", Steve tells her. And she does..

Nancy once again wakes up startled by the sound of the shower. She frantically looks at the time on her cell phone. It is 4 A.M.  Steve was not in bed with her. This was beginning to get really weird. She was feeling apprehensive and now starting to sweat a little. Was this a prolonged strange dream?, she wondered. She calls out for her husband.

No answer...

She does it again louder. But still no answer.

She walks over to the bathroom and knocks on the door. The shower stops. The door opens but it wasn't her husband who walked out. It was Johnny, the man she was having an affair with. Johnny walks right past her without making any eye contact and goes over to the bed.

"Come to bed babe", he tells her. And so she does.

Nancy wakes up startled at the sudden sound of the shower turning on. Her alarm goes off. It was 4 A.M. However, she does not remember setting her alarm at that time. She looked beside her but nobody was there. She is now not sure weather or not she is actually still stuck in her strange dream or if she is awake. Is she just confused? Or is she beginning to lose her mind? She calls out her husband's name.

No answer.

She calls out Steve's name again.

No answer.

She walks over to the bathroom door and knocks. The shower stops and the door opens. It wasn't Steve nor Johnny who walks out of the shower. It was Mark. Mark is Steve's best friend who has always been insanely obsessed with Nancy since she married Steve. He threatened to expose her affair with Johnny if she did not sleep with him too. 

He walks by Nancy without even glancing at her and gets into the bed.

"Come to bed babe", he tells her. So she does.

Nancy wakes up with a loud shriek at the sudden sound of the shower turning on. The alarm went off once again at 4 A.M. "Whoever or whatever is doing this, please STOP! This joke is not funny anymore"! She looks beside her and Steve is right next to her. Nancy breaths a sigh of relief. It was just a dream. A crazy prolonged dream she thought and smiled. She goes over to hug her husband and turns him over and screams...

Steve is laying in bed dead beside her. He had been stabbed to death multiple times...

Fictional Story Written By Zainab Ali..