Morning all. Deep breath in, deep breath out. We have made it to the last writing prompt of the year. Are you ready? Okay then for the last time in 2025, timers set for fifteen minutes and let’s write.
Oh somehow I think the knife cut might have been the luckiest part of her day. I kind of like the thought of a small accident saving her from a bigger calamity.
Wednesday, December 31st: The knife slipped.
The knife slipped. Kali saw it and had an instant to think ‘Oh no,’ before the knife bit into her hand. She dropped the blade and reached for the cloth. Already the blood was welling to the surface. She wrapped her hand, feeling it throb in time with her heart.
It was bad, She knew as the blood seeped through the cloth. She wrapped the towel tightly and left everything where it was. She made certain the oven was off, grabbed her purse, made sure she had her keys and wallet and then headed out the back door.
She knew she could have driven, but her house backed up to the walking trail. The concrete paths winding through the woods also bordered the hospital parking lot. Given traffic and the rules of the road, it would take less time to walk. She marched through the back yard, through the gate and onto the trail. She hurried her steps not wanting to tarry. The cut was beginning to hurt now.
The fact that it hadn’t hurt before worried her. Usually cuts that hurt immediately weren’t as bad as the ones that didn’t. “Don’t think about it,” she told herself.
Kali kept walking holding her injured hand up. The towel was keeping the blood from flowing but she could see red spots on the cloth. “Don’t think about it,” she reminded herself shifting her gaze away from the cloth.
She speed walked and when the bend in the path took her near the hospital she left the path Stepping over the divide from the park to the parking lot. She crossed the lot and walked in through the emergency room doors. The nurse behind the counter took her information and even helped get the necessary cards out of her wallet.
Luckily the ER was not busy and soon enough she was being shown into an examination room. When the doctor unwound the towel from her hands she sucked in air at the pain. She looked away as he instructed the nurse to inject her with something. She felt the needle go in and seconds later the pain was less. She felt as though the end of her arm somehow floated off.
She still didn’t look. Kali felt something cold and wet. She felt pokes and tugs. Eventually, it was all wrapped up and she looked. Her hand was twice the size it normally was. She wasn’t certain if it was swelling or simply bandages.
‘Probably a bit of both.’
She took in the news. It was overall good. The cut was deep but had not hit anything vital. No mobility was compromised. The stitches would dissolve. She was told to keep it clean and shower with a glove on for a bit. She was given a prescription and soon found herself signing out. The towel she left behind.
Her purse she slung over her shoulder and she headed back home. Shadows lengthened as she spent time getting stitched up and this time Kali hurried her steps because she didn’t like walking alone in the dark. In warmer months there were runners who used the path after and before work. Now with the air numbingly chill and the wind smelling of ice, kali was alone.
She was also cold. The sweatshirt she had on in the kitchen wasn’t enough to cut the freezing wind. Somehow the cut in her hand, even with the bandages on it felt the cold more keenly than the rest of her. She hurried home. It was only when she reached the fence in her back yard that she stopped. Something was wrong. At first, she couldn’t tell what. Then she saw it.
Ten til Midnight 