In the past, we seemed to fit.
    Why, I ask, did you have to quit?
    If the love was real, where did it go?
    Love never leaves, didn’t you know?

He thought about the first stanza of the poem that he had left for her and wondered if the answers would ever be known. She had left so suddenly that he wasn’t even sure what the problem was. Had he done something wrong? Thinking back on their life, nothing came to mind. Everything had been perfect and he had treated her like royalty.

    Life was great, when I had you.
    Always together. Always true.
    Let me take care of you, once again.
    We can recapture the love within.

It had taken time to track her down again, but he did plan on recapturing the love that they had. Plans were made to slowly start to remind her of what she had felt for him, and he had left her little clues that he was around and still thinking about her. The hopes were there that she might realize instantly what she had done and would come running back into his arms. She would, but he was going to have to show her a little more now to make her remember.

    And this time I’m going to treat you right.
    You’ll have me with you, day and night.
    Supplying every want and need
    Because I need you to clean and feed

Everything was ready back at the cabin. He had taken the time to lay everything out, neat and orderly. Everything was placed in its spot and the home was prepared to welcome her back again. It had taken time and it was work he wasn’t used to doing, but he had gotten it done, and now he needed her again to keep it that way. She had a special touch that made everything wonderful, with a little help and encouragement from him, of course.

    Escape is not something you will find
    We’ll always be together in my mind
    Inside my arms you will stay forever
    This is a bond you can not sever

Escape? What did she need escape from? Hadn’t he given her everything that she needed? Provided for her in every way? She didn’t need friends. She didn’t need activities. She didn’t even need to leave the cabin! And why would she need to? She had him, and he took care of her. She would always be his forever, one way or the other.

    How can you stand to be away?
    You know I took care of you every day.
    Only when I looked away, did you run
    Until I find you again, and running will be done

Suddenly he saw the car pulling into the driveway. Her “friend” was returning and so was she. He watched as they made their way into the house. Preparing his gun, he raised it up and stood it on his leg. Leaning against the tree, he took his binoculars and began watching the kitchen window. He knew they would find the poem that he had left on the counter. Soon he would know if she was going to come back to him on her own or not. Either way, the running would be done.

He knew she was familiar enough with his poetry and she would recognize it as his immediately. She’d know how he hid messages in them since he had done acrostics like this one many times and it would be one of the first things she checked for. Only this time, she wouldn’t laugh like she had last time. And he wouldn’t have to punish her again. And this time he wouldn’t have to punish her for refusing to clean either. She had learned that lesson well enough. Only now, he was staring to wonder. Had she really been in love the first time? Did she really care for him as much as he did her? He balanced the rifle on his leg and kept watching through the window. It would all be settled shortly anyway.

Patty Brady rolled over as the sun pierced through her window onto her eyes, waking her up five minutes before her alarm would ring. She always hated when that happened. Five more minutes of sleep could make a big difference in her busy day.

Teaching high school English was something Patty always felt called to do. She had always been able to find joy in teaching, even with the small pay and even smaller amount of respect she received with it. But lately she noticed that joy slipping. This year her students seemed to give her more problems than usual, and a growing number of them were becoming discipline problems. She was used to the usual sarcastic remarks or co[nf]cky attitudes of high school kids, but lately the remarks were becoming more mean-spirited -- more personal -- and she was finding it hard to get over them.

She yawned noisily as she made her way down the hall to the kitchen. Like a robot, she filled the coffee maker and clicked the bright orange button to “on”; a move she had perfected by doing it for so many years, she could even do it half asleep. Her ragged, leopard print slippers shuffled across the tile, back and forth, as she pulled a can of cat food out of her cupboard, a small plastic dish from the cabinet, and a can opener from the drawer. She plopped the food onto the dish and placed it on the floor. Whiskers would be out any second to enjoy that.

After a quick shower, she returned to the coffee maker and immediately noticed the dish still laying on the floor, untouched. That was not like Whiskers. He didn’t get to be 18 pounds by skipping meals! She quickly stepped to the back door and looked out into her yard, trying to remember if she had let him in the night before. The poor thing was probably locked out all night, all alone and shivering. She unlocked the door and stepped into the cool morning air.

The neighbor kids were always throwing trash into her yard, and it looked like they had struck again. On the ground in the far corner was a black plastic bag, and some other small garbage, tangled up in the chain link fence. She reached to pick it up and felt a lump of familiar calico fur fall to her feet. She screamed as she threw the bag of bloody fur and bones onto the ground and ran inside.

This had to be the work of one of her students, and she knew exactly which one it was. Just the morning before, Mark Andrews had threatened to do “something” if she didn’t pass him. He hadn’t done homework for a full semester, and Patty didn’t give in to threats, so she had laughed at his attempt. When she ran into him in the hallway long after school had let out that afternoon, he told her he needed to pass, and as she ignored him and walked away, he calmly reminded her he knew where she lived. Again, she laughed it off, but she felt frightened. Something in his eyes and the way he spoke made her worry he was serious.

She had called her brother that night and told him about the threats. He told her to call the police, but she knew they wouldn’t do anything. She had locked the house up tight, and fallen asleep with the TV on. That always made her feel safe for some reason. But now her cat was dead, and she was afraid to see what would happen at school. As she stood at the mirror applying her makeup, she decided she would call in sick. It wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would at least give her a day to think about what to do.

As she grabbed her purse to retrieve the office phone number, she noticed it felt different. The outside pocket was unzipped and a piece of paper was sticking out the side. Her heart started beating faster as she looked at the folded paper and recognized the handwriting. Sweat began to stream down her face as she unfolded the paper and began to read:

To Ms. Brady, my favorite English teacher.
Thank you for teaching me about poetry.
In your honor, I wrote you this:

The cat was a warning, you should know this is true.
I have no feelings for him or for you.
If my grade is not good and I fail this class,
You have been warned, you too shall pass.