Post #263068786 (2 months ago)
He brushes his teeth improperly, knowing that he’ll brush them again later, then goes for a shower whilst thinking about his day ahead. He sits down for breakfast and gets up to clean the house with a piece of toast in his hand. The phone rings and he makes the bed with his head hunched uncomfortably over his shoulder.
He sits down to get some study done and goes to get a drink of water. He checks his email and makes a cup of tea. He checks his email again and gets some biscuits to dunk in his now lukewarm cuppa.
It’s time to get down to business, he’ll require some sustenance for that. It must be time for lunch. Sitting down for lunch he catches up with the latest podcasts and checks his email again.
Back to business, he needs to get some work done. But then that email he received last week needs something done about it, he’ll respond to that first and go and make a coffee. His phone rings again.
Back to business, but not before the dishes are clean. They lie in a tub of slowly cooling soapy water whilst he finish making the bed and returns that call from last week. It must be time for another cup of tea.
Getting back to business he checks his emails again before realizing the dishes had been left undone. But it’s time for an afternoon snack, the dishes can wait till afterward.
Now it’s getting late, time for some real work. He checks his email and makes another cup of tea, then begins. His girlfriend gets home from her ten hour shift. How was your day?
He finishes the dishes whilst she showers, it’s nearly time for dinner. He sits back down with his work and gets a solid 15 minutes in before his help is requested in the kitchen.
Dinners over and the dishes get cleaned while they talk about their days. It’s getting late but they’ll catch up with the latest episode of their favorite show as they ready themselves for bed.
Post #263068100 (2 months ago)
Luke reaches for his shoes, his head pounding. Why? There doesn’t seem to be a good reason and he does his best to ignore it. He puts his shoes and on looks back up at the shoe rack. What?!
He puts his shoes on again and turns around. He begins walking towards the door, his head pounds some more. He closes his eyes trying to blink the pain away and he looks up, he’s back at the shoe rack. What the hell is going on? His head continues to hurt but now there’s also the fear. An overwhelming fear that leaves him paralyzed, he is unable to think or act for an undetermined amount of time.
He sits down and squeezes his head with his hands. It helps with the pounding but it seems to amplify the already unbearable terror that has now penetrated his every pore. Why is this happening to me?!
He stands up again and walks again towards the door. He move towards the handle but the door bursts open before he gets there. He recognizes his friend Geoff. Luke tries to explain the pounding and the way time and space are pulling or pushing or whatever it is that’s happening to him but he manages a frog like croak. Geoff looks at Luke but somehow doesn’t recognize the fear in his face. How could he not understand? ‘What are you doing?’ asked Geoff, ‘We’re late. Stop fucking around’. He turns and leaves through the door that Luke had tried to exit just moments before.
Luke collapses again, unsure of what to do or how. The fear is suffocating and his head is pounding. He can’t think and moving any muscle requires more effort than Luke can muster. Perhaps it was the fear that propelled him, but something in him made the effort to stand and walk towards the door.
He steps outside and notices his bare feet. There’s no way he is going back in that door so he heads towards the small hut where everyone had gathered, each step requiring more and more effort, his head still pounding, his heart frozen with terror.
He leans against a fence and closes his eyes. He hears a clap of thunder and opened his eyes. He was back at the door. He collapses again, this time flat on his back. He tried to shout out but doesn’t have the energy. The clouds above begin soothing the dusty red earth and replace the tears Luke was unable to cry.
He screams but it comes out inside his head, his lips don’t even quiver.
Post #242256139 (2 months ago)
Tom took another look at his watch. It was twenty past three and there was still no sign of him. He stood up and looked around, then sat back down in the same spot. “Typical” he muttered to himself under his breath. He leaned back into the chair and hung his arms over the back before leaning forward again putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He sighed.
He lost himself in thought for some time before looking at his watch again. Three forty five. Things obviously hadn’t gone to plan, it was time to call it a night and find out what had happened this time. He stood up, buttoned his coat and pulled his collar tight around his neck as he walked quickly along the path towards the main road.
He waved a taxi down and it skidded briefly, stopping at Tom’s feet. He opened the door and hopped inside.
Post #242253485 (2 months ago)
The grass had just been mowed, but already the flowers from the jacaranda had littered the grounds. The ground under the old gum tree brown and hard, speckled with beautiful violet petals.
The cars didn’t disturb the serenity, and how could they? The birds chirping and the wind blowing and the ants scouting for food. An old propeller plane flies overhead.
Graffiti is supposed to be a sign of ‘urban decay’. What is it that has decayed? The seats are left empty now in the beautiful quiet park. It’s the perfect time of day for a picnic.
The bright new growths of the gum tree have hardened into fully fledged leaves, the new perimeter fence is made out wood that came from a pine plantation and still the scout ants search for their food, sacrificing themselves for the sake of the population at large.
The traffic dies down and a window slides shut. An Indian minor bird lands on the lower branches of the jacaranda and the wind blows some more.
The long shadows of the leaves on the trees lie scattered across the park, unappreciated and totally forgiving of the fact. Another purple petal falls.
Post #241005347 (3 months ago)
Jeremy left the same way he had arrived. He hid in the shadows for a minute before ducking under the roller door. The sun had set whilst he was inside. Soft shadows now punctuated the asphalt, fighting the moonlight for attention.
Conscious of his footsteps, Jeremy walked on the soft grass where nature had reclaimed small sections of the otherwise insipid landscape.
He reached the perimeter fence and turned around. A dull orange glow escaped through a window in the otherwise cool blue ambiance and for the first time Jeremy noticed the breeze and his goosebumps, the smell of sulphur in his nose and the taste of copper in his mouth.
He twisted back towards the gate, lifted his collar, put his hands in his pockets and headed towards the city.
