Iain Kelly

Arnaldo slugged the last of his beer and tossed the bottle. The tinkle of glass echoed in the night.

‘That’s me,’ he announced, even though there was no one there to listen to him. ‘Same time tomorrow.’

He stood up, swaying precariously on the edge of the wooden pier. He stared into the dark, black water.

‘Happy fortieth, Arnaldo,’ he muttered to his reflection.

Forty years since he had fled Carolina, taken on the new identity, become Arnaldo instead of Jose.

The police siren blared a sharp blast and the pier was bathed in swirling blue.

‘Hands where I can see them,’ hailed the voice. ‘You’re trespassing, sir.’

In the fog of his clouded mind, Arnaldo only just grasped the trouble that was coming his way.

‘Sure thing, officer, no problem,’ Arnaldo staggered, shielding his eyes with a raised hand.

As he moved haltingly along the pier, Jose slowly emerged into the light.

Linking up with the prompt at What Pegman Saw. The task is to write a story in 150 words or less based on the destination that Pegman is visiting. This week’s destination is Tolchester Beach, Delaware, USA. Not finding much inspiration in the history of Delaware, I found a recent news story about the real life arrest of Arnaldo/Jose, who had escaped from prison 40 years ago and lived under his assumed identity ever since.

You can read other stories based on the prompt HERE.

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A JUSTIFIED STATE:  U.S.A. – AMAZON.COM      UNITED KINGDOM     AUSTRALIA    CANADA    INDIA
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