Crime Thriller Short Story – ‘The White Light’

Running head: ENGISH CREATIVE WRITING
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Crime Thriller Short Story – ‘The White Light’
It was a rainy Sunday evening when it all happened. The boys were sitting in the
living room area, enjoying a football match and I had gone to the kitchen to get some snacks
for them. My parents had gone to visit my aunt in the countryside and were not supposed to
return until the Monday morning.
“Max, could you get some popcorn?” Steven called out to me from the living room.
Just as I turned towards the kitchen cabinet beside the window, I could see a streak of light
moving outside. I tried to locate its source but it was too dark for me to spot anything except
that strip of white light. I emptied the popcorn packet in a bowl, put it in the oven and went
back towards the window. The light was not visible anymore. So, I retreated towards the
living room, trying to catch a few minutes of the game.
It was not long before the oven beeped thrice, reminding me to bring the popcorn. As
I turned towards the door, with the bowl in my hand, I saw a flashing light form the window.
This time the streak was wider and stronger, as if closer than before. I looked out of the
window to find that this light was coming from the backyard and seemed to be produced by a
torch.
“Who’s there?” I called out immediately. The light was still moving but there was no
answer. “Anybody there?” I threw another question into the darkness. Meanwhile Victor
came into the kitchen on hearing my voice. “What’s the matter?” he asked, and I instantly
pointed at the moving white streak of light outside the window. Victor tried to get a closer
look by opening the glass window and shouted into the darkness, “who is there?” The only
sound that came in response was the drizzling rain on the puddles. I did not feel like going
out and checking because honestly, I wasn’t particularly a brave hearted person. So, I locked
the window, drew the blinds and went back to the living room with Victor.

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After about half an hour, we all heard a loud knock at the door. Mr. Wilson our
neighbor shouted from outside, “Greene, are you there? Open up, fast!” His voice sounded
anxious and scared. I rushed towards the door and opened it to find Mr. Wilson crying and
panting. “What happened Mr. Wilson? Father is not home.”
“Someone… someone killed… Beatrice!” he gasped. “What!” was my immediate
response. “Yes, someone robbed us and killed Beatrice. I just returned home to find the door
unlocked. Everything was a mess, Max! I called out for her, as I went upstairs… and there
she was lying on the floor in a pool of blood… my wife, my lovely wife, Beatrice.”
We were shocked to our core and went out with Mr. Wilson immediately. His house
was just behind our backyard and as I thought about that white streak of light from before, a
chill ran down my spine. “Did you call the police?” I asked him on the way. Mr. Wilson
nodded and said, “they are on their way”. We stood outside their house, waiting for the police
to arrive, as we did not want to spoil any evidence that the murderer might have left.
About five minutes later, we could hear the sirens on the police vehicle. They went
into the house as soon as they arrived, and immediately marked the area as a crime scene.
Meanwhile, Victor and I moved towards our backyard. It faced the bedroom where Mrs.
Wilson was stabbed. As I was about to open the gate to our backyard and enter, Victor
stopped me saying, “Look! Footprints!” I looked down to find footprints that were probably
created by boots. I was trembling at the horror of certain thoughts that were passing my mind.
Soon after a police officer looked out of the window from the Wilson’s bedroom and
exclaimed to his colleagues, “he must have escaped from that backyard to avoid anybody
noticing him.” The officer pointed directly towards us and added, “move out from there, kids.
You may spoil the murderer’s footprints.”

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Critical Analysis
The genre of crime thriller revolves around an act of crime through a series of events,
usually culminating in an investigation that may be able to bring out the truth. One of the
most important features of crime thrillers is a sense of fear and uncertainty that encompasses
a character or a group of characters (Naidu 2013).
In the story written above, the character Max had been troubled by a strange white
light outside the window of his house since the very outset of the story. This event caused a
sense of mysticism and uncertainty that required investigation (Priestman 2018). The setting
of the story also plays an important role in crime thrillers, which is usually identified to be
dark and mysterious. In this story, the darkness and rain outside Max’s house provides an
appropriate setting for a crime to be committed.
A crime thriller generally follows a structure of a crime followed by an investigation.
In this story, the crime has been assumed to be committed at the very outstart of the story,
when Max begins to see the white light outside the kitchen window. A certain amount of
investigation is attempted by Max as he questions where the source of light had been coming
from. However, owing to the fact that he is not brave enough to actually investigate into the
source of the light, he chooses to keep himself and his friends safe instead by locking the
doors and windows. However, a proper investigation is later conducted by the policemen who
are able to identify the probable source of light outside Max’s kitchen window.
The element of thrill in crime fiction arises from the characters’ and readers’
uncertainty about what is happening or what may happen in the future. This story can be
regarded as a crime thriller fiction, as it has these elements of uncertainty and fear among the
characters as well as the readers.

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References
Naidu, S., 2013. Fears and desires in South African crime fiction.
Priestman, M., 2018. Crime fiction: from Poe to the present. Oxford University Press.