It's the kind of darkness you can sit back and sink right into, something so smooth and relaxing that you don't notice the moment you slip away. When you wake nothing is right, nothing is as once was, everything is dull, a light not at all so bright, a dark kind of quiet.

No one sees you; no one hears you, yet they are there right in front of you, discussing you like you aren't even there. Then you see it, a glass, the last thing you drank. On your feet you turn to see yourself dead where you last sat ... poisoned ... murdered.

'Is he dead?'

'Oh my God Maggie, I think you've killed him, you've killed your dad.'

'He's not my dad, alright Jackie? I didn't even know he existed six months ago.'

'Still, he is your biological father, and he doesn't look like he is breathing.'

'I only wanted to knock him out and take his car for a spin, ya know, so the three of us could get outta here for a while. There was no way he was ever gonna just give me his keys.'

'What did you do to me?' he asks quietly, moving slowly towards his daughter. Everything looks dull and grey when a moment of so prior, a golden spectrum of colour existed. He reaches out towards his recently found daughter and no matter how he tries; his right hand never really comes close to his daughters shoulder.

'What did you do Maggie?' asks Jackie.

'I ... eh ... I ...'

'You did what? ...'

'Em ...'

Still not being able to reach his daughter physically, Frank Murphy turns his attention towards a wooden, rectangular table close to his left. His daughter's friends Jackie and Ellison sit either end of this table with their backs against a wall. Maggie is standing next to, in front of the table and also close to halfway in between her friends. Frank is standing only a couple of feet away from Maggie who oddly acts as if she were not so close to him at all.

On the table are three small bottles, soft drinks, one for each of the girls, all probably with a little added extra content. There is a fourth drink, a glass containing ice and a dark amber liquid. The liquid is whiskey, Frank's whiskey. For a moment he didn't know it was there, once he seen it, he remembered.

He remembers something else he didn't remember at first, drinking from that glass, placing it down on the table and feeling tired. He remembers backing up and sitting down into a large, cushioned seat a few feet away from that table and he remembers things getting ever so dark, ever so quickly. He also remembers a want, a want for rest, a want to take a few minutes to close his eyes.

Standing was something that came all of a sudden. The dulling colour was something that also seemed sudden, the golden brightness prior to closing his eyes becoming dull as he found himself stood and a little lost. Frank turns to look back towards that seat he had slinked into and sees he is still within it. Eyes are closed, head is slumped.

'You spiked his drink, didn't you Maggie?'

'Guys I think we should call an ambulance' speaks Ellison, her first words since inquiring as to if Frank is dead.

'No, no ambulances ... no police ... he is fine. He'll wake up in a couple of hours.'

'He is not fine' says Jackie. 'Look at him, does he look fine?'

'You killed me ... I'm dead ... I don't believe this ...'

'Leave him. We'll take his keys, go for a spin in his car, leave it somewhere out of the way and burn it. He'll be found eventually, and people will think ... you know ... that he took himself out.'

'Maggie ... listen to yourself, this is madness' speaks Jackie.

'Look, I didn't even know he existed all that long ago.'

'Yeah, he came looking for you, remember?' Jackie tries to keep calm and make some kind of sense out of what is happening.

'He said he never knew I existed and that he found out by accident. He said he tracked me down once he knew for sure. I don't believe that. I was not going to let him suggest that I was an accident.'

'He wouldn't do that ...'

'And how would you know ... Jackie' Maggie's tone of voice implying an accusation or two.

'We have got to call the police' speaks Ellison in a moment resembling one of coming out of a trance like state.'

'No ... we will not be calling the police' says Maggie as she relives her father of his car keys. 'Now, are you guys with me or not?'

'Do you not hear yourself? This is crazy Maggie. You have killed your dad; we can't just drive off and leave him here.'

'I told you already Jackie. He is not my dad; he is nobody to me ...'

'Police please ...' speaks Ellison having brought her mobile phone to her ear. 'I want to report a mur...'

As Ellison does speak Maggie moves quickly and smacks the mobile phone away from Ellison's face and out of her hand. The phone breaks upon hitting the ground. Ellison's initial shock at these and all prior actions quickly turns to anger.

'What the hell are you doing?'

'I'll tell you two losers what I am doing, what I will do. I am going to take my dad's ... that guy's car and I am taking it out on the road. You two can either stay here or come with me.'

'We are not going anywhere with you.'

Jackie looks towards Ellison who looks back in total agreement.

'Right then, I guess we are done.'

Maggie makes a move to leave then gets into the car with which the keys she has belong to then takes off.

'She planned this all along' Jackie says to Ellison. 'How did she think it would play out?'

'I don't know but she has lost it. I never thought Maggie had any of this in her.'

Ellison's phone may be broken but Jackie's phone is perfectly fine. An hour passes before police and medics arrive. Maggie's father is indeed dead, and nothing can be done for him. Jackie and Ellison tell of all they know.

They tell how Maggie grew up believing her father was dead all along which of course until now he wasn't. It is told that Maggie's mother is currently serving time, ten months into a five-year sentence and Maggie has been living with her grandparents.

Six months ago, a man came looking for Maggie stating he had recently been informed of her existence and of course he found her. He rented an apartment in town so they can get to know one another and Maggie, along with her friends, have been coming to visit him regularly. Maggie had felt safe with her friends being with her, but she never showed any emotion to her new found father.

Telling of all they know occurs within the kitchen of Maggie's father's apartment with him himself still within the living room and he is there in more ways than one.

'This car Maggie has gone off in ...' speaks a detective who is here to investigate what needs to be known, '... can you girls describe it for me?'

This question comes in a manner which worries Jackie somewhat. 'Why?' she asks.

'Please ... this is important.'

Jackie and Ellison describe the same car and after they do this, they watch the detective move away and speak quietly to another officer. The detective soon comes close.

'Girl's, we have some unfortunate news ...'

Jackie and Ellison look at one another fearing the worst.

'A car matching the description you both gave was discovered upturned in a ditch not far from here about forty minutes ago. It had one occupant, a girl of similar age to the two of you ...'

The dulled figure of a man named Frank, Maggie's father, stands in the living room of the apartment he had been renting only indeed he is no longer doing any living. Looking out of the window he soon sees a reflection in it, a reflection only he can see. Maggie has returned, only now she too is dulled, her spirit caught on reset. Frank turns and smiles, Maggie does not and will not return that smile ... if anything her looks rather ticked off.

How quiet it can get on the other side, all dark and dull when you have an eternity to debate the ins and outs of a double ending leading to that eternity to be spent on the dark side of quiet ...