her eye. At the end of the drive the arm of the mailbox had been lifted to signal the arrival of a new letter, which was strange since the mailman had already been and delivered the usual bundle of unwelcome bills. Frowning, Isla wandered down the driveway and opened the rusted front door of the mailbox and, sure enough, there was a single white envelope neatly placed inside. Reaching in, Isla picked it up and, turning it over in her hands, she was surprised to see that the front was blank, it wasn’t addressed to anyone specific.
Assuming it was junk mail, Isla was about to rip it in half when she instead tore the envelope open and removed the note from within. As she read it, she felt the air around her cool a few degrees and goose bumps broke out along her bare arms.
Within the envelope was a single piece of crisp white paper which when unfolded contained one single word. But instead of being written, the letters had been crudely cut from other sources and glued to the paper. Isla shivered as she read the word:
Leave.
It was a simple, succinct directive. Isla glanced around but the street was clear. Looking at the note in her hand she felt with the cold, distinct sense of dread that it was most definitely intended for her.
Isla refused to read the note again. With a shudder she promptly tore the piece of paper in half and shoved it into the garbage can before walking back in to the house.
*
Aiden still savoured his short commute home from work. The small town was the backdrop to his journey as he drove through the now-familiar streets. Traffic was always sparse, even at what would be considered peak times. He remembered all too well the complete gridlock which he encountered within the city on a daily basis and he didn’t miss it. There was something satisfying about being able to travel unhindered. It left him feeling less stressed when he walked through the door and greeted his family at the end of the day. There was no built-up tension souring his mood; he was a free man.
‘I’m home,’ Aiden called as he pushed open the door to his modest home with his free hand, his other clutching his briefcase.
The small house he had acquired for the move to Avalon was still in need of a complete overhaul. His wife, Isla, was supposed to be arranging things for the renovation but so far nothing had been done which did annoy Aiden, but he chose to not let any negative feelings taint his good mood.
‘I said, I’m home,’ he repeated his initial greeting when he was met with only silence. Stepping in to the kitchen he noticed how oddly quiet the house was. Tea was not simmering on the stove as it usually would have been, well in the early days at least. Recently Isla had taken a more relaxed approach to her traditional housewife duties.
‘Isla, hon?’ he called through the house, raising his voice so that he could be heard throughout the small structure.
‘We’re in the garden,’ came a faint reply, carried on the early evening breeze.
Aiden placed down his briefcase and loosened his tie before strolling through the house, out through the back patio doors and to the welcoming sight of his young daughter, Meegan, giggling merrily as she was pushed in a small swing.
‘Sorry, I know I’m running late,’ Isla immediately apologized from her position behind the swing. In between pushes she nudged a loose strand of hair back behind her ear, and with the dropping sun glowing behind her she looked stunning. Aiden was almost taken aback at just how beautiful his wife was.
‘Even after all these months I struggle to get used to you coming home at a reasonable hour,’ she explained, still pushing Meegan in the swing even though the little girl now had other ideas.
‘Daddy, Daddy!’ she cried joyfully when she saw Aiden come in to the garden, extending her miniature arms out towards him.
‘Hi, Princess!’ Aiden came and scooped her up out of her swing seat and lifted her into his arms, spinning her around as he did so, which made her sequel with delight.
‘Daddy!’ Meegan clapped her hands happily before planting a wet kiss on Aiden’s nose.
‘I missed you today,’ he confided in his daughter who looked up at him with big, open, innocent eyes.
‘I watched Princess and the Frog,’ Meegan whispered in response, almost shamefully as though she had been too busy having fun to miss her father.
‘Did you enjoy it?’ Aiden already knew the answer; she would have loved it, as she had done the dozen or so other times she had watched it. It was currently her favourite movie.
‘I wish she’d stop watching it,’ Isla sighed, heading towards the house. She was wearing short denim hot pants which showed off her long, lean legs.
‘Why?’ Aiden asked, surprised by his wife’s lack of enthusiasm for the movie.
‘Princess films just set girls up to have unrealistic expectations of life.’
‘Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine today?’ he joked.
‘I’m serious, Aid. I don’t want Meegan to grow up to be one of those girls who wastes their lives waiting for Prince Charming to show up.’
‘So you want her to be like you and just settle for the first hot guy who comes along?’ Aiden teased.
‘I didn’t mean that,’ Isla glanced at him sheepishly. ‘I’m just having a bad day,’ she admitted sadly.
They were now in the kitchen and Aiden settled at the table, placing Meegan within her high chair while Isla began boiling some pasta in a pan.
‘Can I help?’ he offered.
‘No, I’ve got it.’
‘So why the bad day?’ Aiden asked as he briefly went over to the fridge, retrieving not his usual sole beer, but also one for his wife. He handed it to her and she gratefully accepted it.
Isla considered mentioning the note but considered against it. It was probably nothing anyway.
‘I took Meegan to that toddlers’ group over at the church.’
‘Oh yeah, you mentioned you were going to try going there.’
‘But it was a complete joke,’ Isla said, shaking her head before taking a sip of beer.
‘Joke,’ Meegan echoed without any comprehension.
‘How so?’
‘Basically, everyone there still treats me as a pariah. After everything you’ve done for this God-awful town and still they cross the street to avoid me. It’s ridiculous.’
‘They just need time.’
‘Aid, I’ve given them time. And you’ve given them a crooked priest but still they want more! So I took Meegs to the stupid toddler group and everyone just ignored me. If she went over to play with their kids they picked their kids up and moved them. I swear to God, I almost slapped one of the stupid bitches!’
‘Language,’ Aiden berated his wife, but only lightly as he could see that she was pretty fired up about the situation.
‘I’m just sick of feeling like
