Regrets

Most of my regrets come from things I said that offended someone. and most of those times I wasn't trying to be offensive. I was trying to say things in a more subtle way or a way that implied that I was just joking. It would have been better for me to have just kept my mouth shut.

But I wonder if right now, I'm not doing something I'll regret later. Maybe it's because I read too many mysteries, but I need to know: Did my neighbor just murder his wife?

Last night I clearly heard a gunshot. Well, I was sleeping, and suddenly awaked with a sense that someone had dropped a bomb on our peaceful little town. Then my husband said:

"Did y0u hear that gunshot?"
Ah, so that's what it was. "I think so; something woke me up. Was it a rifle?"
"Sounded like a pistol to me."
So I ran to check all the doors; they were locked. Reassured, I went back to bed noticing that the time was 3:34 A.M.

At around 8:30 this morning, as I carried out some garbage, I heard my neighbor's door open and saw a man come from the back door with a large lunch pail. I couldn't see his face clearly enough to know if it was the neighbor or someone more sinister.

This morning, Turtle dropped me off at the gym and drove out of town to visit a parishioner who was ill. I told him I'd walk back. On my way back, I stopped at the police station and reported the shot to a gently reproving white-haired gentleman; he said I should have called last night when I heard it, so they could have sent a squad car around. I looked properly abashed and gave him my name and address. Then, he decided to allay any regrets I might feel for the delay by letting me know that there is a man who lives northwest of me who sometimes shoots armadillos that get into his garden at night. Surely that must be it...but my bedroom window faces south...still.

When I got to the creek that crosses our road, I looked up and down it, both ways, not wanting to see a body...but you know, those mystery stories again. I walked north a ways checking the little creek--or what I could see of it through the winter-bare trees, and that brought me to the alley that runs behind my house.

Passing by my neighbor's house, I noticed a woodshed he has out back. A couple cords of wood
shield the view from my house, but from the alley, I saw a large, rectangular hole dug in the ground. About that time an ambulance siren went off, and a neighborhood dog set up a howl to match. I sped up and reached the safety of my locked house.

Do you think I will regret not going to look in that hole a bit closer?
Maybe, I should slip back over there.

Our Sunday Scribblings prompt was "Regrets".