Special Effects: The Jacket
dropped him into the chair. Unconscious but not dead.
The man ripped the jacket off Daniel and threw it across the room, then he carried the boy into the kitchen and pulled a towel from a drawer. He gagged the boy, and tied his hands behind his back.
Daniel lay on his side. Bent. Broken. His breathing was faint, and gentle, like a feather. Red blotches in the skin on his neck began to turn blue.
The man grabbed the jacket and ran down the path. He ran like a ghost. His breathing was hard and fast. His eyes stared into the gathering dark.
He opened and closed his gate. Stopped. Saw the bicycle. Hesitated. Should he hide the bike or leave it? Fingerprints. He thought of the boy, lying in his kitchen. Should he go back and wipe everything? No. He had to get away. He would be hunted. Maybe tomorrow it would start. Radio. Television. All over the country, people would be looking for him. Run!
He ran down the hill and saw a bus. He ran faster. The bus driver saw him and slowed down. The jacket. What would he do with it? He stuffed it into a plastic rubbish bag and ran for the bus. Relief. He would get away.
He got out at the train station.
The man leaned back in the train seat as it clicked out of the city. Ten minutes later he looked through the window into the gathering darkness of evening, and saw far away, like strings of diamonds, the city lights twinkling. The driver wished everyone a pleasant trip. A hostess came along with drinks and smiles. The man sighed. He was safe - he had escaped, and no-one would ever find him.
A few days later, in a back street of the city, at about 6 am the rubbish truck came slowly along the gloomy street. Peter's father stood on the footpath, waiting. He worked for the council. He wore the blue overalls and had the leather gloves on. He took them off briefly and blew on his hands then he slipped the gloves on again. It was his job to run ahead of the truck and throw the rubbish bags into the truck as it came by. The first winter frost had left a thin, white coating on the lawns. The truck wheezed and hissed as it pulled up and Peter's father hoisted the bags high into the air. They sailed over the side of the truck and dropped into the growing pile. Another man ran past and prepared to throw the next lot.
As Peter's father started to gather another bag he
