Dear Martha
written by: Gabriella Balcom
“I stand before you with a heavy heart,” Pastor Nebbens began. “With tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, this is usually a happy time, a time to count our blessings. But today the death of a loved one has brought us together. Our dear sister Martha Price has departed this mortal coil… Our congregation and community were blessed to have her as long as we did, and she was a true example of compassion, kindness, and charity. She will be greatly missed.”
He continued. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband, Thompson. May God watch over him and his family and see them through this dark time.”
When the memorial service ended, people flocked to Thompson, shaking his hand, hugging him, and offering their sympathy and best wishes.
“I’m dying inside,” he sobbed to an elderly lady. “She was my world, and I’m just miserable without her.”
“Poor boy,” she sympathized. “You can call me anytime you want to talk.”
He nodded, wiping his eyes.
Once Thompson got home, however, he crumpled his copy of the service program, throwing it in the trash. He ransacked his wife’s jewelry box, tossed inexpensive pieces away, and made a pile of valuable ones to sell. Afterward, he boxed up her antique glassware and lamps to dispose of, along with a sword belonging to her great-great-grandfather, who’d fought in the Civil War.
Then he drove to the funeral home. He’d made special arrangements to “spend more time with my one-and-only sweetheart” in a private room before she was transported to the cemetery for burial.
Closing the door behind himself, he locked it, opened Martha’s casket, and removed her large, diamond-studded earrings, replacing them with cheap substitutes.
Frowning at her suit, he wished he’d managed to get to it before her sister had. He bet he could’ve returned it to the store. It had cost a little over $2,500, and he wanted to accumulate every penny he could. Needed was more accurate, since she’d cut him out of her will after catching him with another woman.
“You miserable thing,” he muttered, glaring down at her body. “If I’d known you would do that, I would’ve poisoned you much sooner.”
He was tempted to slug her, and more than once. She wouldn’t feel it, but hitting her would make him happy.
A glint from her hands caught his attention, though, and he noticed her rings. He’d forgotten about them.
Thompson took Martha’s left hand in his, smirking to see the brilliant emerald she wore. He began sliding it off but flinched when her finger twitched.
Surely he’d imagined it. He snorted but froze when it moved again.
Her hand shot toward him, grabbing his throat and squeezing it. Although he tried to pry the appendage loose, it tightened and pinched off his airway.
Raspy sounds filled the air and his chest tightened. Realizing what was happening, he felt sheer horror, and it sent his heart galloping. Fear and adrenaline made him stronger, enough to pry the hand off.
Gasping air into his starving lungs, he couldn’t move, let alone run.
Martha sat upright. Her head swiveled in his direction, her eyes popping open. They were no longer their former golden-brown, but a disturbing red instead.
She parted her lips slightly but didn’t speak. Her mouth expanded past what was humanly possible, and she grabbed Thompson, yanking him toward her.
Her still-widening mouth became a gaping hole and enveloped his entire body.
All he could manage was a faint burbling sound before her teeth pierced his body. She chewed rapidly, then gulped him down.
- Dear Martha - February 13, 2025
- Interview Q&A With Gabriella Balcom - January 16, 2025
- Free’s Tale: No Home at Christmas-time - December 16, 2024
