Každý týždeň vám prinášame originálne príbehy, ktoré vznikli v rámci našej súťaže Short Story Competition 2025. Dnes predstavujeme poviedku s názvom

„I had it under my nose the whole time“, ktorá nás zaujala nielen silnou atmosférou, ale aj pointou, ktorú možno mnohí z nás poznajú až príliš dobre.

Je to príbeh o hľadaní, prehliadaní očividného a o tom, ako niekedy stačí pozrieť sa na známe veci z iného uhla. Autorka/autorkin štýl vťahuje čitateľa hneď od prvých riadkov a vedie ho cez napätie, odhalenia aj jemné osobné momenty.

Prečítajte si poviedku, ktorá dokazuje, že tie najväčšie odpovede máme často priamo pred sebou – len si ich musíme konečne všimnúť.

I had it under my nose the whole time.

“Samantha, we’ve got a case. Meet me on this location.” I look at the text message sent by my dearest colleague Eric. Another case, another day full of paperwork and difficult explanations. That is the life of a detective. My name is Samantha Willson, I work as a detective and let’s just say it isn’t as exciting as when you watch a movie.

The location is by the bridge, near the lake in our city. I arrive there and the first thing from far I see the police lights. When I park my car, I lift the police tape surrounding the crime place and enter. “Another murder?” I ask, putting on my gloves.

“Sadly. The dead is a kid.” Answers Eric. I let out a sigh at his words and approach the corpse. Oh, how I hate seeing dead children. I mean, I hate seeing dead people in general, but children are the worst.

I kneel to the corpse and look at the wounds. “The wounds are… a hit in the back of his head. What was the time?” I look up at Eric while paramedics examine more of the boy.

“3 days ago.” He responds while I stand up. “The name is Martin Whitlock.” He continues: “He was 10.” My heart stops at his words. Only 10? He had his whole life ahead of himself. He could’ve gotten married and have children and live a happily ever after.

I sigh. “Take him to the lab and… try to find the cause of death.” I take off my gloves before looking around.

“Any clue how did he get in here?” After I look around and obviously see nothing suspicious, I turn to Eric.

“Isn’t this the place where he was murdered?” He raises his eyebrow, and I genuinely just had to rub my head.

“Eric, how much blood do you see?” I smile, but it’s a fake smile because I just can’t seem to understand how someone as dumb as him could become a pro detective and is basically at the same position as me.

“Well… none.” He looks at the corpse. “So, someone must have brought him here.”

I cheer sarcastically. “Good job, Sherlock!”

Eric just chuckles at my behavior. “Let’s get some coffee. We need to talk to the family.”

And maybe he’s right. I desperately need a coffee.

We arrive at the station and just as I enter the office, I’m met with two people; a woman, desperately crying, and another older woman, who’s just sitting there like nothing happened. For me? Creepy and suspicious.

“Good morning, miss…?” I tilt my head, not knowing if she’s the mother or just a relative or whoever close.

“Whitlock. I’m a mother of Martin, the boy…” She sobs and wipes away her boogers with a tissue. “And this is my mother, Martin’s grandma.” She turns to the old woman.

“I’m Madelyn Mierau, pleasure to meet you, detective Willson.” She smiles creepily and reaches out to shake my hand.

I’m honestly creeped out by her behavior but force a smile and shake her hand. “How… how do you know my name, miss Mierau?”

She chuckles. It’s that kind of chuckle you see in movies from 1980s, the ladylike laugh. “I don’t need to be a detective, miss.” She turns and points to my name card which is placed on top of my table.

I let out a slight laugh, being somewhat relieved. “Right… Well, I’ll try to do this discussion as quickly and as easily as possible.” I sit down in front of them and begin to ask questions.

“So, the boy had no enemies, he had friends that came over multiple times, girls were after him like he’s a magnet and… there’s no motive for anyone?” Eric chuckles while having our second coffee.

“That’s right, I feel like this is going to be a long and difficult case.” I chuckle while stirring my cappuccino and adding more sugar.

“Agreed…” He sighs.

“Any info from the paramedics yet?” I tilt my head.

“I placed it on your desk. It was surprisingly… quick how they managed to do this before the due time.” He chuckles before sipping his espresso.

“Eric, they always do it when there’s a child. They do it as quickly as possible, so they don’t need to deal with it later.” I explain. “And, what did they say?” I look into his eyes.

“The kid was hit multiple times in the back of his head, he was choked and… he’s missing a kidney.” He sighs.

“Okay, black market?” I raise my eyebrow.

“More of a… ritual. He had a strange mark on his shoulder.”

“Oh… I’ll have to look at it after lunch.” I place the empty cup in a bin and grab my bag.

First thing after lunch, the symbol. I open the file Eric has left on my desk and turn on my computer. I feel unbelievably uncomfortable at the scene before me. How could anyone do something like this to a child? Right, only a total… psycho.

That’s when I get it. I unfold the picture with the symbol and google it right away. Seems like it’s called the mark of lords. Have no idea what it is for since there’s only an explanation that it has a big meaning in black magic.

The grandma… she had a bracelet with stones, isn’t that used in magic? I’ll make sure to pay her a nice visit with Eric tomorrow.

I sigh and rub the sides of my head again before turning to a huge pile of paperwork. Here we come…

I fell asleep on my desk. But I wake up to a strange… noise. “Sa-ma-ntha…” somebody chants.

I look around and see no one. I’m alone at the station just the receptionists and… yeah just them. I stand up and the voice continues to chant my name. “Hey, Lila?” I called out to the receptionist but see no one.

Am I alone?

The voice continues. “I’ll be loved… I’ll be loved… I’ll be loved.” The voice says three times.

Suddenly my head begins to spin, I feel like I’m going to fall or something but when I look at my desk, I see… it looks like some kind of an old journal. I open it to see some kind of a recipe.

Kidney from a pure soul, blood of a lamb, rose petals washed in tears… this all needs to be mixed and… I can’t read it. My head is spinning too much and that’s when I-

“Sam?” Somebody shakes me as I somehow lay on a ground. It’s the receptionist Lila.

“Lila…” I groan in pain and sit up slowly as she’s supporting my back.

“Girl, you fell asleep on your desk and the next thing I see is you on the floor. Are you okay?” She asks, putting a hand to my forehead as if checking my temperature.

“I- yeah… I’m fine. I just- I don’t know.” I chuckle, being confused myself.

“Go home and get some proper sleep, sweetheart. This is the third day of you working nonstop deep in the night.” She chuckles and helps me stand up.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go and… take a nice long sleep.” I smile and fix my hair.

“Eric can’t see you like this now, can he?” She smirks, as if she knows something I definitely don’t know.

“What do you mean?” I raise my eyebrow in a total confusion.

“Come on, hon. You two are together all the time!” Her words make me chuckle. “Hon, we work together. Now, good night.” I blow her a friendly kiss before taking my bag along with a file and going home.

Yet… I can’t seem to fall asleep once I’m in my bed. What was that dream? Did it mean anything? I personally don’t believe in ghosts or… magic kind of things…

I shrug my shoulders and close my eyes. That was probably my brain making it all up.

On the next day, I see Eric already with a car outside my house. “Hey.” I say with a smile while getting it.

“Got you a coffee. Can’t have this sunshine grumpy like yesterday now, can we?” He chuckles and I chuckle along with him before taking my coffee. “You’re starting to understand me.” I respond with a smile before taking a sip.

“The grandma’s house?” He asks and I just nod.

We arrive there shortly after and I gently knock on the door. “Miss Mierau? It’s detective Willson, we have some questions.”

The door is opened, and we’re met with her prideful gaze. “I’ll answer anything… but only you, miss Willson. I need no man entering this property especially… not him” She gives him a death stare and he can’t help but chuckle awkwardly.

“Alright, Sam. I’ll wait in the car… if anything, call me.” He winks and walks away.

“He’s going after you…” She says coldly. “It’s not good.”

My eyebrows are raised as I’m obviously creeped out even more. “Why do you think so?” I tilt my head as I try to respond as kindly as possible.

“He has that look…” She sighs. “Did you get my message?” She asks, her expression turning to a smile as we stop talking about him.

“Uh, what message…?” I look at her in confusion.

“Never mind…” She walks slowly to a counter and hands me an already prepared tea. “Green tea… it’s for boosting your metabolism. Good choice, darling.” She smiles as I politely take the tea.

“How did you…” She interrupts me. “I know everything.” Her smile turns into a wide grin, which makes me even more uncomfortable. “What did you want to talk about?”

She leads me to a couch, and I sit down, not daring to drink the tea. “I wanted to know more about Martin… I heard he was pretty close with you.” I smile kindly.

“Oh yes… my sweetheart.” She looks down. “But I already told you everything at the station… need to know something more?” She looks up at me with now an upset expression.

“What is that bracelet you have on your wrist?” I look at it.

“Oh honey, these are citrine stones.” She smiles, taking it off and brings it closer.

Just as I reach out to touch it, she slaps my hand away, making jump in my seat. “Oh- “

“No touching. Only the one who absorbs the energy. That is unless you’re a Leo.” She frowns but smiles at the end.

“I’m Gemini…” I smile nervously.

“Oh! That spirit of yours is powerful.” She smiles.

“Um, miss Mierau… I was wondering if you knew something about black magic.” I ask, tucking my hands in my pockets.

“Black magic? Oh certainly, although I prefer to use the white one.” She smiles kindly.

“And… do you know anyone who performs black magic? Someone who… is somehow associated with Martin?”

“You should ask that partner of yours.” Her expression turns cold once again. “Now, is that all?” She suddenly smiles. Man, is she bipolar?

My expression turns to a confused one right after her words but shake my head.

“Do you know Martin had a lamb for his birthday?” She stands up.

“A lamb?” I tilt my head, the dream from last night is being brought back into my mind.

“A lamb. Now it’s dead. Without any blood.” She looks up at me as she pours the tea on the floor, which is… creepy and strange as well.

“Without blood…” I sigh and shake my head, bringing myself back from the running thoughts.

“Have a great day, sweetheart.” She says and before I know anything I’m back in Eric’s car.

“So, how did it go?” He asks, leaning his shoulder against the passenger seat and being completely turned towards me.

“No comment.” I chuckle.

It can’t be real, right? She’s just… trying to confuse me. That dream meant nothing, and magic doesn’t exist it’s just… a stupid psycho murdering innocent people and thinking he’s doing… a sacrifice for some demon or Satan.

“Sam… I was wondering…” Eric begins.

“Hm?” I look up at him as he leans closer, the gesture genuinely surprising me.

“Would you… want to come over to my place and… you know, have a nice dinner with a glass of wine to relax and… unwind?” He looks into my eyes.

I chuckle. “Eric, I still have too much of the paperwork that needs to be done.” I smile.

“But I appreciate the offer… maybe… sometime later?” Or never.

“Sure, just… call me.” He reaches up to tuck a strand of some hair behind my ear and it looks as if he wants to kiss me but we’re still in front of the grandma’s house so…

“Gosh, she really is creepy.” He looks up to see her standing in the door, grinning like that clown from movie IT.

“We should probably go.” I chuckle and nod before he drives away.

It has been a whole week since I tried to find more clues. The librarian, who appears to be an expert in voodoo and black magic, didn’t know what the symbol meant. Said that it’s from some kind of an ancient book that cannot be found.

The rest of Martin’s family, who loved him dearly and didn’t even mind the grandma’s behavior.

His friends, who basically loved him with their full heart and respected him as the ‘dad’ of the group, which means he really cared about them and was the most responsible of them all.

So, what am I missing?

I’m currently standing in front of the mirror, adjusting my blouse and jeans for the dinner at Eric’s. Lila told him about the fact that I’m done with my paperwork for the rest of the month, but she didn’t tell him that I genuinely see him only as a colleague and a coffee buddy.

I sigh, knowing that it’s going to be a big heartbreak for someone like him.

I knock on the door, and he opens it immediately, as if he was standing there all along and waiting for my arrival.

“Eric!” I smile kindly yet awkwardly as he hands me a rose.

“Hey there, Sam… I must say that you look absolutely divine tonight.” He smirks.

“Yeah um, thanks. Can you take the rose though? I don’t know where to put it.” I chuckle awkwardly.

He takes the rose and puts it in a vase before turning to an already prepared table with candles, glasses with wine in them and my favorite dish which are pancakes.

I smile in awe at the dinner. “You remembered?” I look up at him.

“I remember every detail, Samantha Willson.” He smiles and puts his hand on my lower back, gently leading me to my seat.

“Well- thanks Eric.” I sit down.

The conversation seemed… almost natural. He knew all about my hobbies, talked about my favorite serials and movies as if he watched them a thousand times.

Now, we’re finishing the meal, and he suddenly stands up. “I’ve got a special drink I learnt how to mix at a very expensive Italian restaurant.” He smirks widely and pulls out two glasses.

“Here is pink for a lady… and blue for a gentleman.” He puts the glass in front of me and I can’t help but smile but… something seems off.

He reaches out to clink our glasses but that’s when we hear a noise. Suddenly, the glass explodes right in my hand and blood begins to flow down my arm. “No!” I hear Eric yell.

“I was preparing this a month!” He covers his head with his arms.

“Eric… what’s going on?” I look up at him while reaching for a tissue to wipe the blood.

“That old bitch…” He mumbles. “It’s all her fault… I just wanted to be happy!” He takes his arms off of his head. He genuinely looks like a psych ward patient and not my colleague…

“What?” I ask but then he snaps his head towards me in a creepy way.

“You love me, right?” He kneels towards me. “Please say you do.” He looks up at me with a desperate expression.

“Eric I… You’re an amazing colleague-“ Before I can finish the sentence, he yells again: “Say you love me!”

That’s when I stand up, prepared to leave but instead he grabs my arm and pulls me towards him. I can’t take his hand off of me as he leads me to another room.

“Eric- let go of me, please…” I look up at him yet giving up to follow him willingly.

That’s when I see everything. There’s a journal, blood in a cup, kidney in a jar… that’s all from my dream and… he is the murderer!

My eyes go wide but he ties me up forcefully to his bed. He grabs the journal and begins to read: “This was a moment that would define them. They will love and adore me. They will appreciate everything I do…” He begins to chant something in Latin but that’s when I see a light.

It’s a light that flies towards him and he begins to scream. He’s screaming so loudly that I would cover my ears if I could.

And that’s when he disappears.

The door is opened and it’s… “Miss Mierau?” My eyes go wide, and she kneels to me to untie me. The only word she says is “Run.”

I run as fast as I can, not having any idea what is happening yet running anyway, knowing that I was probably going to die.

The next days are strange. Eric was found by the bridge again by some fishers, catching him in the act of burying the kidney in the ground. He’s arrested for a murder of Martin Whitlock.

I’m relieved. It’s over. I can sleep peacefully without any paperwork or worries about the murderer.

But when I go to sleep, I wake up again. It’s Miss Mierau’s house.

“Miss?” I look around and she steps out.

“You’re alive…” She smiles.

“What happened?” I ask, sitting down on the couch and now drinking the tea she made.

“He wanted you to love him, it’s simple, darling.” She sits beside me.

“But… was that magic? That saved me?” I look up at her.

“That was Martin, sweetheart. He told me everything.” She rubs my back.

“Woah…” I sigh, the realization hits me like a rock.

“Do you believe now, Sam?”

“Yes, but what about other spirits? Are they kept here as well? Like Martin?” I turn to her, being really curious.

“They travel through dreams and in our world, they appear only as a light.” She smiles and looks up.

“But… how? Isn’t it all confusing? Do they have a map or something?”

“I have only one thing to say, darling… They had no map, only a dream and the will to move forward.”