Serenity (Watty finalist 2013)

Brown Paper Packages

It still hurt. The pain had subsided but it still hurt.

Serenity applied another layer of salve to the slowly healing wound. The only way to see it was too set her chair in from of the full body mirror and keep her left shoulder undressed so she could glance back and see the calloused cut, the clumsy stitches were still visible. Under normal circumstances she was pretty keen with a needle, unfortunately having to weave thread through your skin tended to be very distracting and cause some sloppiness. There was no doubt that in her mind that it would leave a scar; she hoped that with proper care the scar would be minimal.

Serenity slipped her sleeve back over her arm and hoped the cloth wouldn’t chafe against the wound. She sighed with relief when no irritation ensued.

There was a knock at the back door.

Serenity got up from her seat and took the container a salve down with her to the main floor. After a cautious glance around to make sure Mr. Thorne was still in the basement-he was spending a lot of time down there recently-she dug into a potted plant and buried the container. Originally she had put her medical bag in the stomach of a large grandfather clock but she soon learned that the grandfather clock could serve as a door that linked the hallway with the basement, something Mr. Thorne had neglected to mention on the tour. So Serenity had been forced make the decision of splitting up her medical supply in various places around the house.

There was another knock at the back door.

After the container was secure and hidden, Serenity went to the back door and looked out the door window. A crate of groceries was just outside the door and a young boy was walking away. It use to be Serenity tried to get the boys attention but he was paid to drop off the food, knock once, and run away so he was usually out of sight when she arrived. Serenity lifted the door flap that was scarcely large enough for a dog and pulled the crate through.

She took it to the kitchen to sort out it’s contents and prepare breakfast. Like usual she unwrapped the brown paper package from the butcher and did the same when she found a second one but this time she nearly screamed.

Serenity jerked her hands away from the package and used them to cover her mouth. Her immediate reaction was that she had made a mistake caused by over exhaustion but she knew it wasn’t true. When Serenity checked again her fears were confirmed.

“Master Thorne!” Serenity called. Mr. Thorne’s footsteps came running up the creaky stairs and he soon emerged through the kitchen door.

“Did you see someone?” he asked slightly out of breath. Serenity said nothing and stared at the package. Mr. Thorne looked at it and frowned. He didn’t understand and Serenity didn’t want to have to say it.

“It’s just liver, don’t bother me with something so trivial,” Mr. Thorne said irritated. He walked away and Serenity saw that she would have to say it.

“It’s a kidney” she corrected. Mr. Thorne exhaled a heavy huff of breath. He had enough to worry about without his servant overeating because the butcher gave the wrong order.

“What difference-”

“Human,” Serenity said quietly. “Human kidney.” Mr. Thorne said nothing. In truth he couldn't tell much of a difference between liver and kidney, much less human kidney and cow kidney.

“Was it the usually delivery boy?” Mr. Thorne asked.

“No.” Mr. Thorne had gone strangely quiet and he appeared to be pondering something as he stared at Serenity. “Something you want to explain?” Serenity asked.

“No.” He walked away but Serenity pursued after him.

“Should I expect more human anatomy to arrive along with the groceries or do you expect me to write this off as a mix up?” Mr. Thorne ignored her and wrenched open the basement door with Serenity on his tail. “Or maybe the butcher decided to add in a bonus?” she called as she ran down the stairs to keep up with his pace.