KATIE DID IT: ALTERNATE

“Sadie?”

You poke your head around the corner. “Yes, mum?” you ask. She beckons you to follow her, so you do. She stops in front of the fish tank and points at the glass.
“Look!”
You look.
“At the fish!”
You look at the fish.
They’re dead.
“They’re dead,” you state.
Your mother sternly stares at you. “Yes, they’re dead. They were alive yesterday. What happened to them, Sadie?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, mum.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie killed the fish.”
Your mother shakes her head. “No, Sadie…Katie can’t have done it.”
“Katie did it!” you insist.
She takes you by the shoulders and firmly says, “Katie can’t have done it, Sadie! You know that…”

In the darkness, Katie giggles.

“Sadie?”

You look up at him lumbering into the living room and you drop the five remote controls for the television you were trying to turn on. “Oh, dad, there you are. Which remote controls the TV?”
He ignores you and holds up his suit. “Sadie, look at this!”
You look at his suit. “Whoa, dad, I thought mum said she’d send them to a professional to get the resized for you…”
He clutches his shredded clothes and angrily brandishes them around. “No, Sadie! I didn’t cut them up!”
“Then who did, dad?”
He glares at you, dropping his pulverised clothes to the floor. “I was hoping you could tell me that.”
You shrug. “I don’t know, dad.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie cut up your clothes.”
Your father shakes his head. “No, Sadie…Katie can’t have done it.”
“Katie did it!” you insist.
He takes you by the shoulders and firmly says, “Katie can’t have done it, Sadie! You know that…”

In the darkness, Katie chuckles.

“Sadie, cara?”

You look up at her peering at you through her ancient glasses. “What is it, Grandma?”
She holds up two pieces of her walking stick – the two pieces that used to be one. “Look at what happened to my walking stick, cara!”
You move your head to one side and you sigh. “Geeze, Grandma, I know you hate the walking stick but you didn’t need to snap it in half. Those things are expensive, you know…”
She adjusts her glasses and places the two halves of the walking stick on the couch. “I know that, cara! I did not break my walking stick! Do you know who did?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, Grandma.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie snapped your walking stick in half.”
Your grandmother shakes her head. “No, Sadie, cara…Katie can’t have done it.”
“Katie did it!” you insist.
She takes you by the shoulders and firmly says, “Katie can’t have done it, Sadie! You know that…”

In the darkness, Katie chortles.

“Yo, Sadie?”

You pull off your headphones and look up at him. “Hey, Mitch, what’s up?”
He bobs his head up and down and holds up one of his many Higher School Certificate assignments. “Check it out, sis!”
You take the assignment and examine the chunks of the assignment missing. “Oh, Mitch, I know you hate school but really, eating your assignments can’t be good for your health.”
“I ain’t the one who ate it, sis!” he moans, grabbing the assignment back and throwing it on the table. “I was hopin’ you mighta been able to tell me…?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, Mitch.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie ate your assignments.”
Your brother shakes his head. “No, Sadie…Katie can’t have done it.”
“Katie did it!” you insist.
He takes you by the shoulders and firmly says, “Katie can’t have done it, Sadie! You know that…”

In the darkness, Katie laughs.

“Sadie?”

You look up from your origami and glance at her. “Yeah, Auntie Joyce?” you ask.
She shoves a tomato paste jar under your nose. “Look at this, Sadie! Look at it!”
You look at it and take a sniff of the red substance. “Ew…Auntie Joyce, that’s just plain gross. Stop trying to feed us blood.”
She takes the jar back and places it on the kitchen bench, her nose wrinkled up in disgust. “Sadie, I’m not trying to feed you blood! Someone’s replaced my tomato sauce with it! Do you know who did it?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, Auntie Joyce.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie put blood in there.”
Your Auntie Joyce shakes her head. “No, Sadie…Katie can’t have done it.
“Katie did it!” you insist.
She takes you by the shoulders and firmly says, “Katie can’t have done it, Sadie! You know that…”

In the darkness, Katie sniggers.

“SADIE!”

You come running.

“BELLA! LOOK AT BELLA!”

You look down at the carpet where the entire family is crowded around and blink. “Oh…”
Your mother angrily grabs your arm. “Sadie! What do you know about this?”
You stare at the rug – which used to be your cat.

“Sadie!”

You shake your head. “Mum…if you wanted a rug you could have just gone to the shops or something –”“Sadie, who did this? Was it you?”
You shrug. “I don’t know, guys.” An idea occurs to you. “Katie did it,” you declare. “Katie killed the cat and turned her into a rug.”
Your father grabs your shoulders and forces you to face him. “Don’t lie to us, Sadie! Who killed Bella? Did you kill her?”

“Katie did it!”

“KATIE ISN’T REAL, SADIE! WHO KILLED BELLA?”

“KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE DID IT KATIE, KATIE, KATIE, KATIE, KATIE –”