I shouldn’t have done it. Why did I do that? How could I be so stupid? I could lose everything, right when I almost have it all. But it’s my fault. All my fault…
That son of a b*tch. I gave him everything. I should have known better. I do know better. But I was blinded. I won’t be making that mistake again. I’ll make sure of it.
My guilt is eating me alive. I keep catching her staring at me. And I feel like she knows. Like she sees right through me to the truth. I’m looking at her now as she says something. Her eyes are alit and the corners of her mouth are upturned. Wow…I may officially be the worst person on the planet. She’s planned a weekend getaway to Yellowstone National Park, just the two of us. While I was cheating on her, she was planning a trip to my favorite park. Wow. I am the worst person on the planet.
What an idiot. Does he really think I would waste my time planning a vacation for him? Does he really think I’m that oblivious, that stupid? You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s so transparent. Anyone could smell his lie from a mile away. What an arrogant, selfish man. He’s not even a man, not to me anymore. His arms encircle me as he tells me how grateful and excited he is. I despise him.
The drive over is excruciating. 4 hours of silence. She only spoke to me when she handed me the map along with her printed instructions of how to get to our camp spot. The rest of the ride she had her head buried in a book. Something’s different. I can feel it. I just hope it’s not for the reasons I think it is. It can’t be.
This may be the best book I’ve ever read. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.
We’ve been driving in the park for over an hour and we still haven’t reached our campsite. Her eyelashes slowly flutter and her chest rises and falls with each breath. She’s so at peace. She has no idea of the betrayal I’ve committed against her.
Even though my eyes are closed, I can feel his burning holes into my skin. He’s suffocating me without even knowing. Or maybe he does know and just doesn’t care. I wouldn’t put it past him.
We finally arrive and I pitch our tent. It’s too late and dark to do anything so we agree to go to bed. I slide into my sleeping bag, happy to get away from the cold. She rolls her sleeping bag next to mine and gets in. Darkness surrounds us and the sound of crickets is the only indication of where we are. I listen to the evenness of her breath, the rustle of fabric as she shifts. I shut my eyelids, ready for sleep to consume me. My eyes are assaulted by a harsh light. She turned her flashlight on and is reading that book again. “You really like that book, huh?” Silence. “Thanks for booking this trip for us. I know we haven’t been able to spend that much time together lately. I’m sorry.” I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for cheating on you. I’m more sorry than you’ll ever know. “Where did you find this camp spot anyway? I know it was dark but I didn’t see any other camp spots or cabins nearby.” More silence. “Hey, do you mind turning your light off? It’s kinda hard to fall asleep with it on.”
The absolute audacity.“It’s kinda hard to read when you won’t shut up.”
“I’m sorry, I was just hoping we could get some sleep so we could wake up early and watch the sun rise.”
Now he wants to watch the sun rise? He makes me sick.
She lets out a scoff as she abruptly stands up and tosses the book at me. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she spat. Oh great, night one of our trip and we’re already fighting. My eyes shift to her book. The cover has torn in the process of sailing across the tent. One more thing she’ll probably blame me for. I pick it up, hoping it’s salvageable. It’s not. I remove the cover, noting its words. I look to the exposed book, reading the title. They’re not the same. Her book is titled The Perfect Crime yet the sleeve it was in did not say that. My eyebrows scrunch together as I turn to the title page within the book. The Perfect Crime. The wrinkles in my forehead deepen as I flip to the first page.
The Zone of Death. Yellowstone National Park is home to some of the US’ most beautiful forests and hot springs as well as the perfect location to commit the Perfect Crime. The unique location of this 50 sq. mile plot of land renders it nearly impossible to convict someone of a crime, even murder.
I don’t understand. Why would she be reading this? Why was she hiding the fact that she was reading it? It doesn’t make sense. She’s everything that’s good in the world. She’s kind and considerate and sweet. She’s selfless and giving. She loves with her whole heart, fiercely protecting those she loves. She’s good. Her feet crunch along the ground as she approaches the tent. Her shadow looms over the tent as she stands at the door. Her right arm reaches for the top, grasping the zipper and dragging it down. Zipppppppppppppp. I study her every move as she approaches me. I flinch as her left hand comes up and holds my face. Her thumb slides across my cheek, ever so tender. I peer into her eyes, looking for any indication of malice. Her long eyelashes caress her under eye as she blinks. The dim lighting reveals the pink blush of her cheeks. I feel her warm breath against my face. I lean in and look into her eyes, searching for a murderer, when all I see is the girl I fell in love with. She shifts slightly and our lips touch. I look down. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.
I despise him.
I hate him.
He makes me sick.
I despised him.
I hated him.
He made me sick.
I was suffocating, but now I am free.
Wikipedia Zone of Death (Yellowstone)
I would like to give credit to Anjana for helping me come up with this plot.
arramachandran
January 24, 2023 — 11:12 pm
Gabby, I know I read this right in front of you, but I should say again that I audibly gasped like 4 times while I read this – it was absolutely amazing! I love how the POV switches between the two characters, and even though there are only two voices, we get such a deep understanding of the past of their relationship. Your creativity and storytelling capacity really shined throughout this piece. The concept of committing a perfect murder, not one that is undetectable, but one that can’t be tried, is such a new angle to a murder mystery! I love how you took a classic trope like a woman getting revenge on her man for cheating, and twisted it in a way that we feel the woman’s anger right alongside with her, but also pity for her boyfriend when we see how genuine his remorse and sorrow are. I think it’s interesting how the reader is plunged into their world with no context, but still understands their character better than their own partner. Especially with the woman, the anger she is feeling is probably invisible at the surface, but we can see with her choppy sentences how eager she is to exact her revenge. I also want to say that the detail of the book cover tearing and revealing her plan is actually literary genius, and I would actually enjoy doing a right side and left side journal for this. I look forward to seeing this as a feature film one day!
efhuang
January 25, 2023 — 10:18 am
Hi Gabby!! Admittedly, when I first read the title of your blog, I thought it would be about you visiting a site-seeing place with a dramatic name. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the narrative style writing of this blog. I loved reading the switches in perspective, which show the nuances in people’s interpretation of others when they have the filter of their own experiences. (That was such a wordy sentence, I’m sorry haha). The difference in the way the guy perceived the girl and her actual inner thoughts really shows how well obsession or inner monologues can be disguised by the actions of others.
Your short story was such an interesting way to portray the “Zone of Death,” where you introduce it to the reader through a character’s thoughts and behavior instead of explicitly describing the place’s infamy. Despite the short length, the way you wrote the characters’ interactions allows us (the readers) to infer a rich amount of information about the characters’ relationship. The guy’s initial understanding of the girl as sweet and considerate makes me wonder if there were more instances in which the girl wasn’t completely honest about her feelings for the guy. It also makes it all the more chilling when his prior understanding of her is juxtaposed with her intentions.
Rin
January 26, 2023 — 10:34 am
Hi Gabby! I remember you telling me about this story in AP Chem so I’m excited to read it. I think it’s really interesting how there is this Zone of Death in the Yellowstone national park where you are legally allowed to commit crimes.
I like how you have parallel voices to each other, it really adds to the different perspectives in the story. Honestly it must be pretty lucky for her since his favorite place is the Yellowstone national park because if it were me, I would hate going places like that. I just really hate hiking in general though, my mom once tried taking me on a hiking trip when I was a kid and halfway through the hike I started crying so my mom let me go back down and wait for them.
I wonder if they’re talking to each other in the car that wasn’t included in the script since it seems they kind of know each other’s thoughts?
I like how she can’t stop thinking about how she hates him even while reading a book.
I like how he’s just so oblivious to her hate; I wonder if he confesses to her at the end?
It’s interesting that someone who is so kind would commit a crime especially murder, he must’ve hurt her really horribly.
I like how you never explicitly say that she killed him but rather used colors and then a monologue.