I always used to think Valentine’s Day was kind of fun, back in the days when I was able to participate, but now…well it’s just another sucky pointless occasion. Here’s why…

You see it all started when I was trying to buy a Valentine’s card as a joke for a friend. Nick and I had always been pranksters so I figured I’d prank him with a stalker type card, you know the kind of thing. In fact, I recall laughing to myself at what I’d planned to write. If only I’d gotten that far.

I walked into the crowded gift shop and could barely move, it was as if the whole town had decided to congregate there, fawning over which card to buy and preventing me from even getting close to reaching distance of a card. I’d never seen anything like it. All this for Valentine’s Day? It was insane!

I tried to manoeuvre my way through the throngs of people, saying excuse me and hoping someone would let me through, but it was like swimming against the tide, I was getting nowhere fast. How could people be so rude and uncharitable? All I wanted was to get my hands on one little card!

And then I reached my goal and grabbed the most over the top, cheesy card on display. Perfect. But then I spotted the cute little cuddly toys, the ones that have little love messages embroidered onto them, and decided one of those would be the ideal gift to go with the card. I picked the most ridiculous one up and turned to make my way to the cashier.

“Excuse me, but I saw that first” a petite blonde woman said, her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Not exactly the kind of reaction I was used to when faced with a pretty girl of a certain age. I was more used to reactions like “oh wow, you’re Brian Littrell” or “tell Nick I love him”.

“Well, that’s just too bad” I replied. If she’d genuinely seen it first, then how come I hadn’t seen her when I picked it off the shelf? Besides, this was perfect for Nick. She could buy something else. I wasn’t in the mood for being all gentleman like today. It never got me anywhere!

“Pig” she said and I must admit, I replied with an ‘oink’ and proceeded to pay for my things.

I thought no more of it once I’d left the shop. She was obviously a spoilt brat and used to having her own way. I’d come across plenty of her kind over the years and knew that the best way to deal with them was to ignore them. I had a few more shops to go to before heading back to my car, by which time it was getting dark outside. February…I hated it. So cold and depressing, I couldn’t wait until spring. I clicked the button to open my car and was about to grab the handle when I felt a sharp pain in my back.

“What the hell” I muttered and slumped against the door, completely unaware of what she’d just done to me.

“I told you I saw it first” she hissed and I turned to face the little Barbie doll look-alike from the gift shop. Except now she was wielding a hunting knife with a jagged edge, which was dripping blood onto the ground. My blood. Oh my god, the bitch stabbed me.

“You stabbed me over a cuddly toy?” I cried out, trying to reach around my back to stem the flow of blood, which was now dripping onto the ground and forming a puddle at my feet.

“Hand it over…now!” she growled and stepped towards me with a sinister sneer on her face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re insane!” I cried in terror and reached into my pocket for my phone. My fingers fumbled with the phone, my hands sweating with fear and causing me to mis-dial.

But before I’d even been able to dial the first 9, she lunged at me and stabbed me before I had time to react. Again and again the knife penetrated my skin. The pain was excruciating, and my strength quickly vanished, leaving me unable to fight her off. Blood gushed out of multiple wounds and all I could do was collapse in a heap on the cold concrete ground. I lost count after the fifth jab. I guess that’s when I died.

So now here I am, a ghost, a creature from the afterlife, or whatever you want to call me. I’m trapped in a never ending loop of returning to earth every Valentine’s Day to spook those poor bastards buying cards and gifts in the gift shop which had sealed my doom.

And blondie? She ended up where she belonged, in a padded cell within a maximum security facility, never to see the light of day again.