Hana Aianhanma

Rice field

Latest update: December 2021

In-Laws, by Hana Aianhanma, December 2021. ARC.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This story is made up. Any similarities between characters and real life people is coincidental.

In-Laws

Herman paused outside the front door. He had the keys, he had the plan, and he had his risk assessment. Did he have the guts?

Herman had worked out the numbers. Even if he did catch this new disease, the chances of survival would be ten to one at worst. They were more likely to be closer to a thousand to one, if the latest numbers coming from Germany were to be believed.

When Herman heard his mother-in-law had caught the new coronavirus, he knew this was the closest he would be yet to that inheritance. Unfortunately, she seemed to be doing fine. The hospital, having their hands full with the more serious cases, even decided to send her home.

Herman took a deep breath and opened the door. He was committed now. She hadn’t even locked it, silly old biddy. He found his way in the dark, navigating the furniture to her bedroom. She’d be sound asleep at this time.

He looked down at her, the pillow he had brought with him held ready. She looked so peaceful, dreaming of catching the stars, it seemed. Herman covered her face with the pillow and pushed down.

*

The overworked doctors were surprised, but not overly so. The old tart had been over eighty, after all. Just another aged COVID victim added to the statistics. Herman had discovered the nearly perfect murder.

Nearly perfect. Herman himself also caught the virus. The numbers had been less in his favour than he thought. He hadn’t counted on his obesity being another “underlying condition”, and if he had known that face-masks helped against catching it, he’d have made sure to wear one that night. Why couldn’t those damn scientists think of these things faster?

That was all water under the bridge, though. He had managed to pull through the IC. He was as weak as a puppy. He still had a had time getting out of bed, but Herman had insisted on recovering at home. He would finally be able to enjoy the good life.

Herman heard someone entering. He moved his head to see who it was. His daughter-in-law? When did she get here? And what was she going to do with that pillow?

*****

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