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The Not-So-Great Birthday PartyLoading...
Samuel Hall
Peter, a very laid-back and intelligent man, had big plans for his 50th birthday. He rented a yacht with his wife, his son, his best friend and his neighbour. One day, they all gathered on the ship and headed off. Peter dropped anchor in a calm part of the lake and joined his guests for dinner. Suddenly, while they were eating some cake, the power went out. Everything was dark. After the short confusion and panic, the lights came back on. To everyone’s surprise, Peter’s wife and son were sitting in their chairs, lifeless. They had been stabbed numerous times. He tried to save them but to no avail. Peter looked over at his best friend and his neighbour, wanting to understand what had just happened. He was trying to bring his son and wife back to life. Jason, his best friend, told him it was no use, that they were gone. Being the only five people on the boat, he quickly realized that the killer was one of his two remaining guests. He then stared Jason straight in the eye, like a snake eyeing his prey, and asked him if he had done this. Jason, appalled, said no, and Peter took his best friend’s word for it. Both of them charged at Peter’s neighbour, Joe, tied his hands and sat him in the chair. Peter interrogated his neighbour while Jason went to call the police. After some minutes of intense and very emotional questioning, Joe still claimed to be innocent. When Jason came back, he suggested that they keep Joe in a room until the police arrived. Both men dragged their neighbour toward the nearest closet and threw him in, locking the door behind them. Peter sat against the wall, weeping. “Why would he do such a despicable thing?”, he asked. His best friend sat down right next to him and tried to console him. “I don’t know, but it’s a good thing he’s locked up!” When Peter raised his head from between his knees, he noticed some blood on Jason’s shirt. He wondered where this blood had come from. He looked him in the eye once more, this time with utter disbelief and confusion, and asked if he had killed his wife and son. Jason was silent. “Oh, you expect me to believe that you’re innocent?”, frantically asked Peter. He suddenly burst into tears, confessing to the murders. He claimed to be jealous of their “perfect family”. Peter, now furious, dragged him into the same room as Joe and locked him up while freeing his neighbour. He apologized for having wrongly accused him and they both waited for the authorities to arrive. He felt foolish that he almost immediately assumed Jason wasn’t the murderer simply based on blind faith and friendship.