Short Story


Great News, or was it meant to be. 


Ben was working in a warehouse, it was hard work but good fun. Today though, was a big day, possibly a life changing day. Ben was so nervous and unable to concentrate on anything he was doing at work. 


Mike, a colleague of his knew something was up. At lunchtime he told Ben to drive home and check the mail. It was only a ten minute drive but it felt like Ben was driving to the moon. He pulled up on his parent’s driveway and through the porch glass door he could see the post. 


All scattered on the floor like it was trying to look for hiding places. Ben unlocked the door and found the white A4 envelope addressed to him. As he picked it up it felt heavy, not like a single letter but a bundle of information which would hopefully take him on to the next level of his life.


Ben’s hands were shaking as he tore at the envelope like a kid on Christmas Day. The first word his eyes were honed in on like a laser beam was “Congratulations”.


Oh boy, what had he done, he thought. Ben knew life was going to change, including his old buddies. Some wouldn’t like it but it was his life and his future and he had to do what was right for him. 


At the tender age of twenty two Ben had joined the ranks of the police. He was going to be a Police Constable. There was a lot of training and studying to do to get Ben past his probationary period but he was excited.


Ben was still shaking with adrenaline whilst skimming through the paperwork. There was a date on his joining instructions and it was a mere six weeks away. 

After work Ben drove home to share the news with his family, they were excited and his younger sister hugged him. Izzy was asking all sorts of questions, most of them Ben couldn’t answer because he just didn’t know. All he knew was he had to be at the police HQ on 30th October. Later on that day, Ben told his girlfriend Ellie the news. He’d only been seeing Ellie for a few months and she was worried about Ben leaving. She was concerned he might meet someone else. Ellie was sweet but a bit clingy. Ben met Ellie in a nightclub after he saved her from some aggressive guy who was shouting and screaming at her. 


Time flew and but Ben still had time to contemplate whether he should go forward with this appointment. He spoke with friends and family and after a while decided that he may as well give it a go as it’s not like the army, you can leave whenever you want. 


The 30th came and Ben had packed a bag to last him five days, this was going to be nerve racking for him. On arrival Ben was given a key to a room and told to drop his things off. The room was small, had a single bed, wardrobe and a sink. It was soulless, there were no pictures, no TV and Ben had to share a bathroom, he just hoped it wasn’t with a bunch of slobs. 


Ben went to the meeting point upstairs and met with other new recruits. Fortunately Ben is quite likeable so he met a few guys that were of a similar age and they seemed good fun. They discussed their concerns and where they were from. They got on well and decided pretty quickly to go for a drink after the first session had finished. 

The guys met up later and had a laugh together and Ben soon forgot about his anxiety and began to relax. Ben settled in and cracked on with his training. 


Ben got arrested. 


He was four days into his training, it was Friday, Ben was looking forward to going home and seeing friends and family. 


Was it over before it started?


Ben was asleep in his single bed, in his single room at HQ. Whilst stirring, he heard the lock of his door being fiddled with, before he could fully grasp what was happening, his door flew open. 

Six police officers came in, two jumped on him and handcuffed Ben to his rear. One officer arrested Ben, but Ben was so shocked he couldn’t take it in. He was helped up, searched and whipped away to custody. 


It all happened so quickly, it wasn’t until they got to the custody desk that he realised that he was arrested for murder. Ben almost fainted. He couldn’t believe it, before he knew it he was in a cell, with the cell door slammed shut with a horrible noise he would never forget, it was like an anvil being dropped on his head, Bang! 

The police were searching his room and examining his phone, whilst Ben was shell shocked in a tiny cell with an uncomfortable bed. It smelt of disinfectant and he was thinking about all of the other people that had been held in there. 


The cell door slowly opened, it was the custody sergeant. He was calm and professional, he’s not part of the investigation, so he was just there to make sure Ben was ok and told him that Ellie was dead. He could only give brief details but Ellie had been killed in the local town. 


Ben couldn’t figure out why Ellie was even there, she lived eighty miles away. After several hours, Ben was able to speak to a solicitor. Anne, the solicitor explained the situation and Ellie was stabbed behind the high street in an alleyway. They pieced together that Ellie had followed him to the area, probably because she lacked trust in him. She was found by a drunken couple on their way home but it was too late for her, she’d bled to death. 


Ben was devastated for Ellie, but couldn’t understand why he had been arrested, he had witnesses. He was in the gym at HQ with five others. After his interview with two veteran detectives he was finally released. They didn’t have enough to charge and remand him, so he was bailed with conditions. 


Ben went home, completely exhausted, emotionally drained and didn’t know what to do with himself. He eventually slept, and he slept for a long long time. His future was in the balance. 


Ben just existed for a few months in a state of depression, loss and anxiety. He couldn’t go back to training after his arrest, he would forever have a cloud over his head. When he spoke to Anne, the solicitor just before he had to return on bail, she explained that Ellie had been following him but she too was being stalked by her ex boyfriend, the guy from the nightclub. Police had arrested him, after CCTV was found. 


Ben was relieved but left his parent’s house to get some space. Whilst driving to the Lake District, he relaxed and listened to music. He thought about his future.


However, he was involved in a car crash, a vehicle came out of nowhere. His car rolled over and fell down a ditch, Ben had died, he was hit by an unmarked police vehicle.