The Bookcase

Hello again. It's another first Tuesday so time for another story. Remember, if you like this one, do press the like button and, to be kept up to date with exciting news, do become a member. xxx ALW

He had a problem and he had come up with a solution. All he needed were a few new skills and that was where the night class came in. He’d seen the advert in the local shop window: ‘Carpentry for Beginners’. It went on to say that, in a mere eight weeks, students would be able to make their own bookcase. He could see it now. A tall, sleek bookcase, creaking under the weight of numerous tomes. Books that were presently scattered in various nooks and crannies in the small mid-terrace house he shared with his brother. His twin brother, the thorn in his side for as long as he could remember. There were six minutes between them, he being the younger of the two, and those six minutes had meant that his brother had flaunted his greater maturity, wisdom, world experience for the last sixty years.

Sixty years! That’s how long he had put up with the sarcasm, the put downs, the constant niggles. He could have moved out, of course. Found his own place but why should he be the one to move. The house had been left to them both when the parents had gone. His brother had asked if he could buy him out then. The cheek of him! He wasn’t going to give up his home just like that. NO! Let his brother move out. Yes, that would be better.

And so the years had gone by, each brother determined to outstay the other. Each waiting for the day they could be free. Time ticked by, youth gave way to middle-age and, now, old age was on the horizon. Neither man had ever travelled beyond the borders of their own county. Neither had married, had a family, or achieved anything of note. They just sat, night after night, plotting and planning for when the other would no longer be a part of their lives.

He wasn’t sure when that plotting and planning had changed to a desire for action. Perhaps it was when he’d seen that advert for the night class. Suddenly he knew he was no longer prepared to wait. He’d have to do something. He was actually going to do something!

He signed up for the classes and turned up diligently, night after night. He learned to saw, to plane, to measure twice and cut once, to polish, to varnish. To make dove-tale joints. To drill. He became a dab hand with the various tools of the trade. He found he enjoyed the feel of polished wood, and, for the first time in his life, he experienced a sense of accomplishment. He discovered he had a talent he’d never known about. The teacher even said that he could have been a carpenter. Him, a real carpenter. Pity it was too late now. Pity he was too old now.

Finally, the day dawned. The bookcase was finished and all he had to do was install it in the living room. He’d cleared a spot, in the alcove beside the TV. His brother would be out all day, visiting a ‘friend’ who lived on the other side of the city. They used to meet once a month, who knew what they got up to. He’d come home and sit silently gazing into the fire, never sharing any snippets of the day. Ah well, today would see an end to all of that.

He was pleased with the job. It looked good there. Now all he had to do was add the books, making sure to put the heaviest on the top. He laughed out loud at how well the plan was shaping up.

Later that day, on the 9 o’clock news, the neighbours all voiced their shock. Nothing like this had ever happened in their neighbourhood. They couldn’t believe it. The bulletin was short and to the point:

Two brothers had been found dead in their mid-terraced house. Neighbours could only confirm that they had heard a loud thud, followed by what sounded like hysterical laughter, before they rushed to the scene. When they broke in, they found both men dead, one lying on the floor, a heavy bookcase on top of him, while the other was sitting in his chair, tears still visible on his face, one hand grasping his chest. Police are working on the theory that, on seeing his brother had died, crushed by a newly installed bookcase, he, the second brother, must have had some cardiac incident brought on by the shock. No foul play is suspected.