I’m riting this as fast as I can. I can hear him outside the door there’s a storm outside and i’ afraid the power will go out This is my last chance. I know he has a knife. I’m scared please come help me. I can’t .. the door. he’s rattleing the knob what can I do? my phoen won’t work if the power goes ou
Twisted
…says a character to her author
you see me. i know you do. you feel my pain, you know my joy so intensely that you can express it. you understand what i’m going through – you see past the facade.
so why won’t you get me out of this fucking situation? just do it, damn it!
Hike, Part 2 – Silence
Read part 1 here first.
George sat on his rock well past twilight and into night time, but Rod Serling didn’t show up, despite what his brother, Rob, had said. The silence was heavy, the lack of insect voices or small animals shuffling about in the underbrush was unnerving. George felt like he was the only person left on earth. Perhaps he was.
He got off his rock and sat on the ground with it at his back. Eventually he dozed off. By the time he awoke, to a tapping on his shoulder, his neck ached, his rear-end was numb, and the sky had turned a deep indigo.
“George!” said a voice. George opened his eyes and saw it was Rob.
“What are you doing back? And why didn’t your brother show up?”
Rob shrugged. “Maybe because he’s dead?”
“As good an excuse as any, I guess. Hey, do you know the way back to town? I think I’m a bit lost.”
“Why didn’t you ask last night? I just came from there. Not planning to go back.” Rob looked up. “Oh hey, there’s Rod now.”
Rod Serling, or the ghost of Rod Serling, crawled out from behind the rock and sat beside George.
“George,” Rod said, “have you ever considered that bump on your head from yesterday might have made it unwise to go to sleep?”
“I’m beginning to think so,” answered George. “Am I dead?”
Rob spoke up, “Is this the new show, Rod?”
“Rob, it’s what we call, the Dawning Zone.”
Hike
A two-hour hike had turned into a six-hour-long ordeal. George sat on a rock and thought about where it had gone wrong. Was it possible that the bump on the head from not ducking low enough under the fallen tree made him miss the signpost? The markers along the trail were bright red. Then again, now that he looked around, everything seemed black and white, like he’d stepped into an old television show.
“You have,” said a voice from behind him.
“Rod? Rod Serling?” George asked the stranger.
“No, I’m Rob. Rod was my brother.”
“So, I’m not in the Twilight Zone?”
“Technically, no. This is just the sunset zone. Rod will be along in a minute.”
“Isn’t he dead?”
“Well, yeah. Technically.” Rob stepped closer and ran his hair over George’s scalp. “You really should have that looked at.”
“You’re telling me,” said George with a small laugh.
“Okay, gotta go. Say hi to Rod for me.” With that, Rob ran away down the trail that George had walked up.
To be continued
Stump
“Honey, we’ve been walking for sooo long! I feel like we’re just going around in circles!”
Ralph raised the binoculars to his eyes and peered through them for the umpteenth time. The woods in the distance were dense. They were made up mostly of dark, shadowy pines, but the occasional maple dotted the way. The birds were both abundant and weird. Rather than chirp, they buzzed. One of them had picked up Spot, their old springer spaniel, three days ago, and flown away with him.
“You can see for yourself, we’re following the road, Martha.” He didn’t want to scare her, but he thought a couple of times that he’d seen the same tree twice.
“I think we should set up camp soon,” Martha said, tiredly.
“Sure, okay.”
“Do you think we could build a campfire tonight?”
Ralph sighed. “And where, exactly, are we going to get wood from?”
“We could just chop up a bit of the road,” she suggested with a shrug.
Great, thought Ralph. Then if we are walking around in circles, we’ll come across the hole in the road and Martha’ll go crazy.
“Please?” Martha begged. “It’s been weeks since we had a hot meal.”
“Yeah, okay.” Come morning, while we’re walking I’ll give her the binoculars and just change lanes when she’s not paying attention, he decided. The lanes both to the left and the right seemed endless.
***
Stump is the word of the day on the Daily Post, and our assignment for today on A Story A Day was to paint a vivid setting. How long did it take you to figure out where they are?
Paranoia – 100 words
She walks like she’s being followed, slow and fast, turning right four times and then left, watching her back all the time. She sees a cheat from a mile away and wonders why he’s cheating. Look at his beautiful wife, after all. She wishes she could look over her virtual shoulder, to see if they’re all copying her.
She waits.
Tension is her middle name.
Is that something burning?
Are the homeless really spies?
She’d have her groceries delivered if it wasn’t for that weird guy who works at the store.
What was that noise?
The bugs are coming in.
#SoCS – Your Mistake
Your first mistake was thinking I’d care if you committed a small felony. Shoplifting is nothing – I know you did it for the kids.
Your second mistake was having a party to which I wasn’t invited. Yeah, it was for your kids, and your wife was there. But I wanted to come anyway. You told me you cared about me.
Your final mistake was telling me you cared about me… in the end. I made sure the cops found out who stole all those electronics. Now the kids don’t have a daddy. And your wife…
Your first mistake was thinking I’d care to keep your secret.
Mistake is the word of the day on The Daily Post.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday has a three-word prompt this week: your/you’re/yore. You can find it here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/08/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-2716/
Sleeping Beauty, Fifty Years Later
Gathering, church basement.
Sleeping Beauty: (stands) Hi. My name is Aurora and I’m an insomniac.
All: Hi Aurora.
Sleeping Beauty: It’s been three years since my last full night’s sleep. (shuffles feet and drops gaze) I’m addicted to romance novels. I can’t count how many times the sun has risen on a happily ever after.
***
Fifty is the one-word prompt at The Daily Post today.
Reach – #SoCS and The Daily Post
The cash is sitting on the table. I watch on the closed-circuit camera set-up to see if she’ll reach for it. I trust her – we’ve been together for five years. I hope she won’t do it.
Trust is essential in a relationship. It’s the one thing that will make me cut out, lack of trustworthiness.
I’m just about to get up and go back into the room when she does it. It takes her under two seconds to grab and pocket the cash.
I go to confront her: “Why did you do it?” I ask.
“Why were you watching me?” she counters.
She’s got a point.
Reach is the one-word prompt from The Daily Post.
Cash is the one-word prompt from Stream of Consciousness Saturday.
Maybe Dying
“I’m sorry, Marsha,” the doctor said as he sat back in his chair, behind his massive, expensive-looking desk. “There may be nothing I can do.”
“But… You’ve GOT to do something! I’m dying here!” Marsha gripped the arms of her own seat and lifted herself off it a few inches in agitation.
“Well let me see.” The doctor sat up, stared down his nose through his bifocals and flipped through a folder that lay on his desk. “There is something. But it’s going to take some money.”
“I’ll do anything! I’ll even go down to the bank for you myself!”
“Fine,” said the doctor. “Get me three cases of your Girl Guide cookies. I’ll give you a cheque.” He closed the folder. “Damned mothers and their little girls,” he muttered under his breath.
Linda G. Hill 