Tuesday Tales - Quick

Welcome to Tuesday Tales! This week's word prompt is “quick”. We are back with my new story. I’m still not sure where it is going.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesday Tales by clicking here!

**Note to my readers - while this story will have a romantic element, it is first and foremost a sci-fi tale. And it's a pretty creepy one at that. If you are uncomfortable with that type of excerpt, you may want to move on for this week.**

The blare of a car horn pierced through Ezra’s brain. It felt like a sledgehammer was pounding his skull over and over. His stomach lurched and heaved in response. 

He hated this with everything in him. He tried everything possible to make it stop. He even tried ending his own existence. 

They wouldn’t let him. They wouldn’t go away. They wouldn’t leave him alone. He was stuck like this until they were finally done with him and left him to die. 

That blessed moment wasn’t happening any time soon.

He heard the familiar cracking and popping that always accompanied this pulverizing migraine. It sounded like white noise, like when a television or radio lost its programming and plunged its listener into a void of nothingness. It would haunt Ezra’s nightmares for eternity. That was if he could even dream. His life was one walking horror show. 

The voice that accompanied the noise followed as usual. “Get up, dirty piece of trash slave. Your human police will be here any minute now. Do you want to get caught?”

“Will you go away if I do?” Ezra muttered out loud even though he knew the sound was in his head.

There was an inhuman laugh followed by a chorus of chuckles like a thousand tiny beings were watching the performance. “No. I’m far from done with you. Get up. Be quick about it.”

Ezra slowly lifted his throbbing head. Through his hazy vision, he could see a set of lifeless eyes staring back at him. The young man they belonged to lay motionless in the alleyway. His rigid, pale frame indicated that there was very little blood left inside him. For all Ezra knew, he was missing an organ or two as well. Like the rest, it didn’t seem like a peaceful death.

Tuesday Tales - Sweat

 

Welcome to Tuesday Tales! This week's word prompt is “sweat”. We are back with my new story. I’m still not sure where it is going.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesday Tales by clicking here!

“Did you meet anyone interesting?”

Dani shrugged the sweater off and hung it over the back of her favorite reading chair. Okay, it was the only chair in the living area. The space was cramped and she just worked her first day ever. Her parents had helped with the first month’s rent on the place, however that was all they could afford. Someday she could get more furniture other than this chair and her bed. Today wasn’t that day. “Yes, I met Elise. She is my new co-worker, kind of like my boss. She showed me where everything is and what to do.”

“Anyone else? The Boston Public Library is a big place.”

“There was Jack. He’s a conservationist who brought animals for the kids to see. I also met a patron named Ezra.”

“Ezra, huh?”

“Yes. He came up and introduced himself to me.”

“Is he cute?”

“Mom.” Dani could hear the whine in her voice as she plopped into the so-soft-she-sank-into-it-chair.

“What? It’s just a question.”

“I know what you’re asking.”

“Danielle, I love you. I’m just worried that you’re missing out in life.”

“Because I don’t have a man?”

“Because you don’t have a partner to share your life with. How are you going to experience what the world has to offer?”

Dani let go a disbelieving laugh. “I already have those opportunities on my own. I have companions provided for me and multiple planets to explore. It’s called books, Mom. And now I work somewhere that is filled to the roof with them.”

“I know, sweetheart. It’s just…”

It was best to cut her mom off now before she was on the phone for hours about marriage and babies and why Dani had neither. “How are you and Dad doing? Did he ever figure out the mower?”

Tuesday Tales - Hot

 

Welcome to Tuesday Tales! This week's word prompt is “hot”. We are back with my new story. I’m still not sure where it is going.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesday Tales by clicking here!

Once she said goodbye to Elise, Dani gathered her things and made her way to the front door. The March afternoon was unseasonably warm. The hot sun above burned her face and hands. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky to provide any shade. Despite the temperature, she tugged her chocolate knitted cardigan closer to her. Her ankle length skirt whipped around her hose covered ankles. There was enough humidity in the air to frizz her long, brown, curly hair.

Yes, she was starting to sweat and it made her very uncomfortable. It was far from her intention to look like a stereotypical librarian. However, the clothes she wore helped her blend into the background. For most of her childhood she had been a glowing target for bullies. She figured out quickly that if she didn’t attract attention to herself, they would leave her alone. 

She shuffled into the crowd waiting for the bus. It meant that she led a pretty lonely life. It started in high school, plagued her in college and followed her to Boston. 

Maybe it was time to get a pet. It was too bad she was allergic to cats. Her apartment was too small for a dog. 

Dani stared out the window, watching the buildings go by as she rode home. After two transfers and 45 minutes, she finally reached her front door. As she slipped her key in the lock, a ringing filled the hallway. She popped open the door then scooped her cell from her sweater pocket. 

“Hey, mom,” she greeted. 

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your first day of work?”

Dani’s thoughts immediately went to Ezra - the way he looked at her when he smiled, his figure hunched in a ball as he read. She shook her head and continued. “It went great. I can’t wait to go back.”