Penny stared out of her kitchen window. Penny wondered if she had made a bad decision when she signed up for the town's annual “Best Backyard Contest.” Gazing out at the overgrown yard, she decided to roll up her sleeves and get to work on cleaning it up. She only had two weeks until the contest,
Penny had spent the last year distraught by a devastating betrayal from a close member of her family and the end of her five-year marriage to Rick. According to Penny’s therapist, Miriam, entering the contest was a great way to move on and get closure. Penny doesn’t agree, but she does know that she needs a distraction. Penny is determined to win the contest.
“They can talk about how I won this year’s contest instead of my separation from Rick.” Says Penny.
Early the next morning, Penny is sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She is drawing her design for her backyard. Penny writes down the supplies she will need to begin her yardwork and construction of the small pond she wants to build. Penny walks into her backyard to her small tool shed and takes out the tools she needs to begin cleaning up the tall and tangled weeds that have overtaken her yard.
Sitting to the right of Penny’s tool shed is a small hole from a tree Rick removed last year. He never filled it in. Penny has decided she will put her small pond there. But first she must clear the stone pathway that leads to the empty hole. With every weed she pulled, memories of Rick’s lies and false promises played in her mind. Penny grunts as she pulls the last dandelion from the pathway.
“So much for happily ever after,” says Penny. Penny walks to the shed and grabs a shovel. A few hours later, the small empty hole has been transformed into a heart-shaped hole. It has rocks that Penny has cleaned up from the yard bordering the outline.
“This is going to be awesome; I am going to win this contest,” Penny said. Penny brushes off the dirt from her pants and drives back into town. She heads to the hardware store for more supplies.
It is six days until the town’s judging committee will be at Penny’s house. With all her hard work, her vision for the backyard is a success. She only has a few small details to finish up. Beautiful hydrangeas and marigolds decorate different areas of the yard. She has pink, white, and red rose bushes lined up around the heart-shaped pond area. Penny finishes up laying the plastic lining for the pond. Penny begins to walk towards her house; she will finish the rest of the work tomorrow. Penny has another task that needs to be done today.
Penny sits at the kitchen table. Lost in thought of her next task, she heads upstairs.
“Well, I guess I will get to it,” says Penny.
At the top of the stairs, Penny walks into the bathroom. Trudy, Penny’s twenty-five-year-old cousin, lies bound and gagged in the bathtub. She looks up at Penny with confusion and horror. The evening before, Penny had called Trudy, telling her how they needed to talk; they were family and needed to work out their differences. Reluctantly, Trudy had agreed to meet with her; when she arrived, Penny had ambushed her in the driveway. Now she had just regained consciousness. Terrified, Trudy tried to plead with Penny, but the duct tape on her mouth silenced her. As Penny approached, Trudy desperately struggled to free herself.
Penny walks up to the tub and grabs the sledgehammer.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Penny screams.
“You and Rick are having a real laugh at me, aren’t you? Well, who's laughing now bitch!” said Penny.
Penny lifts the sledgehammer. Trudy struggles and screams, but no sound is heard. The sledgehammer shatters Trudy’s kneecap. Penny hits Trudy with the sledgehammer until Trudy struggles no more.
Penny begins removing Trudy’s body from the tub and places her into a big eco-friendly trash bag when her cell phone begins to ring in her pocket. She leaves the bathroom and answers her phone. Rick, Penny’s estranged husband, begins to talk.
“Hey- are we still meeting at the house tomorrow?” Rick asks.
“As long as you’re here by 10 am,” Penny says.
“I will be there at 9:30,” says Rick.
“I will have everything ready for you,” said Penny.
Upstairs, on the bathroom floor lies the organic bag that contains Trudy's broken and lifeless body. Penny grabs the bag and drags it out into the backyard and kicks it into the heart-shaped hole.
“Compost bag number one,” Penny says. The aroma of all the freshly planted flowers fills the air. Penny looks around the backyard and smiles. In a few more days, the committee will hand her the first-place trophy.
The next morning – Rick arrives at the house he shared with Penny until their separation.
There is a strange quietness, and it gives Rick a creepy feeling.
“Hello, Penny?” yells Rick.
“In the backyard, ” says Penny.
Rick walks to the backyard and is amazed at the transformation.
“Wow, it looks great back here,” says Rick.
Suddenly, Rick hears a noise. As he turns to face where the sound has come from, he is struck across the head with a shovel. Rick falls to the ground, and Penny begins swinging the shovel down on his head and face. Rick has stopped moving.
Penny puts Rick's body into an organic trash bag and begins to drag him to the heart-shaped hole.
“You told me that you and Trudy have a special love set in stone. Well, now you can be set in stone forever.” Said Penny. Penny kicks the bag into the heart-shaped hole.
Later that evening, Trudy and Rick’s bodies lay side by side while Penny poured concrete over them to form the foundation of the pond. Penny begins to smooth out the bottom, showing no trace of the organic bags beneath it. The pond will be ready to fill tomorrow. Humming to herself, Penny walks into her house and gets ready to go to sleep.
A week later, Penny is sitting by her pond with her therapist Miriam. They are watching the koi fish swim in their beautiful heart-shaped pond.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t win first place.” Says Miriam.
“Second place is still better than last,” says Penny.
“It is absolutely stunning back here; you really put a lot of effort into this.” Says Miriam
“Have I thanked you for suggesting that I enter the contest?” Penny asks.
“No need to, as long as it helped with getting you closure,” said Miriam.
Penny smiles as she sips her iced tea and looks over at her koi pond.
“Oh, I got the closure I needed, said Penny.
