The Elm community ch.2

My eyes suddenly slid open. It was dark, the only light coming from the street lamp outside bleeding in through the slightly open blinds. It was still the middle of the night but for some reason I didnt fall immediately back to sleep. That's when I noticed my throat was dry, it hurt to swallow. I lumbered out of the bed and out into the empty living room. It was eerie, no furniture, just carpet and street light. I navigated along the wall facing the street, and made the most of the light available. With the blinds closed so tight I couldn't even see the wall across the room. Soon the island signifying the border between the kitchen and living room came into view, it was so sudden I almost crashed into it. Around the island was the sink. I drank like a desert horse at an oasis, I must've drank one or two cups before I managed to pull myself away.

I started back toward the bed to get some sleep before my shift the following day when there began a clicking noise. At first I wrote it off as the pipes in the wall reacting to the water I had just used, but upon further listening, I realized it wasn't coming from the walls. I followed the noise, soon enough I found myself at the top of the staircase leading to the outside. The clicking was coming from the door? Tiptoeing down the stairs as to not alert what ever was trying to get inside. At the door I noticed the sound of the clicking was coming from the locks, as the middle of the three locks was slowly turning to the unlocked position. In a panic I turned the security lock, a deadbolt that can only be accessed from the inside. As soon as I clicked the bolt over my doorknob was turned and the door boomed, as if someone was trying to bust their way in. Instinctively I threw my mass against the door and relocked the middle and and doorknob lock. The pounding continued for a moment or two before ceasing completely. My heart was beating out of control, I could feel my whole body shuddering as I was still leaning full force into the door. A minute passed by before I could hear a car booting up down the road. Fear turned to anger as I thought the perpetrator was trying to escape. I hastily flung the locks back and pulled the door only to be caught by the security lock. The tires of the car drummed up the asphalt and passed by my house, they are almost away. I hit the deadbolt and slammed the door open, I was still in my clothes from yesterday shoes and all, so I sprinted to the pavement and looked toward the gate. Retreating red tail lights was all I managed to see before they disappeared passed the white brick of the exit gate.

A multitude of emotions were building up, anger, bewilderment... fear. I started to sink to the floor as to let out a confused scream scream, when a car horn honked behind me. I whipped around to see a line of about four cars, the first of which with its driver leaning out of the window.

"Get the hell outta the road were trying to get home here" he said continuing to blair his horn.

"Oh.. uh sorry" I replied, quickly moving back onto the sidewalk.

The first driver gave me a dirty look before speeding off, a plump, balding, old guy. The rest were young or middle aged men in reflective vests, caked in some dried powdery substance. "They were the construction workers from earlier" I thought to myself as I watched them head toward the gate. The leader of the pack punched in the code on the pin pad, and the convoy moved out into the night.

I sat down on the curb to gather my thoughts. I crossed my arms and rested my forehead upon them. What just happened to me? Why did someone want to break in to my empty house? Other questions buzzed around my mind until a hand docked onto my shoulder. I almost jumped out of my skin thinking it was the intruder back for round two. I looked up to see Beth standing there, her face slightly contorted with concern.

" hey is everything alright? What was all that noise."

I wanted to blurt out and tell her some crazy construction jerk tried to break in to my house, but I didn't want to seem like a wimp. Especially not now, Beth was wearing a bath robe and pajama pants, with her hair slightly messy in a bun. I needed to show I was a cool cucumber to get on her good side so I made up a little something.

"I went out for a little walk by the gate, as I was coming back across the street one of those hardhats nearly ran me over! No big deal though I set him straight."

" Oh I see as long as you're not hurt " she said with a little smile. She rubbed her arms in the chilly weather and sat down on the curb with me.

I didn't want to make an awkward silence again so I threw out a question. " hey what time is it right now, I kinda crashed after your tour, and just woke up"

" it's a little after nine, that's when the 'hardhats' second shift heads home" she teased with air quotes around hardhats.

I tried to defend my vernacular " er.. it's something my dad used to say.. kinda rubbed of on me heheh"

"Whatever" she said pushing my arm "was just poking fun" Beth got sullen for a moment "i'm sorry those guys honked at you, they are pretty nice fo the rest of the residents here, hope this doesn't ruin the atmosphere for you..."

To reassure her I chuckled and said " no no I get where they were coming from, just want to get home after a long day of work... which reminds me. I've actually got an early shift tomorrow. I should probably turn back in."

Beth stood up and brushed herself off " yeah me too, lots of errands for the boss, and for the barbeque too."

I stood up as well. "Ooh yeah. I'm definitely looking forward to that, I'll bring stuff too, like a side er something"

" sounds great, well you rest easy now " she said as she strolled across the street.

I started heading back for my door when in the middle of my path stood a back cat, with a face of half white. Its yellow eyes met mine, before it began scratching at my outside door.

" hey. hey!" I gritted through my teeth as to not disturb beth again. The cat slinked off after I began to walk toward it and retreated into the night.

I headed back inside, locking all three locks before getting upstairs to lay back down.

The Elm Community CH.1

“Take the next left onto Elm wood lane” The GPS droned

I turned slow as to not tip any of the precariously stacked boxes in backseat or trunk. Moving into a new place was pretty exciting, It is close to my school, a shorter commute to my part-time job, and best of all I have all of the two bedrooms and two baths all to myself. Not that living with Keith and his party crew didn’t have its moments, but I was ready for a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for once.

A gate soon appeared and knew I was in the right place. The Elm Estates hung over the gate on a beautifully painted sign, the gate itself was a black Iron set of bars with a parabolic top. To the left and right were white stone walls that stretched beyond vision into the surrounding forest, according to the brochure the walls encased the entire premises in order to keep the wildlife out and the “adventurous kids” in. To my left sat a keypad embedded into the white stone. I typed in the password the landlady repeatedly sent me and the gate opened. The gate slid into the adjacent stone wall, and I drove through.

As the gate shut behind me, I gazed at the community at large. One long road with cookie cutter houses lining each side, with some sort of municipal building at the end. My new townhouse was the closest to the entrance, but i couldn’t help but notice a crew of men in reflective jackets and hard-hats half way up the street. I parked my car in my new designated spot and killed the engine. I was about to go and investigate, maybe stop and meet some of the neighbors along the way, As I gathered my essential items a knock came to my driver side window.

I’ve always been a little jumpy, so the knock startled me. I turned to see a pretty young woman she was leaned over, as my car was low to the ground. I Stepped out of the car to be greeted by a smile and an extended hand  “ Hey there! you must be the new neighbor!” she chirped as I met her handshake��“my name is Beth”. The summer sun reflected off of her charcoal black hair, and thick glasses. I was starting to get caught up in her charming smile almost forgetting to reply to her greeting. “Hello Beth, my name is Carter, nice to meet a friendly face.” I smiled back as we released our grips. “Carter” she repeated “what a nice name!” This girl was beyond cute I thought. I was single and she looked to be my age, this was a golden opportunity that landed right in my lap. I was lost in what to say next however, never was good at small talk. “ Do you want to meet your other neighbors!?” Beth asked filling the gap in the conversation. “They love meeting new people come on!” she said as she started to walk up the sidewalk. I quickly followed.

We walked and talked, I’m usually apprehensive about talking to new people, but Beth broke down my defenses pretty quickly. We found out we actually went to the same community college, and frequent similar stores. I found out she works as an assistant to the landlady of the Elm Estates, and she found out that I worked at a grocery store just a couple of minutes away. As we made our way up the street we grew closer to the gathering of construction workers. They were busy looking at a blueprint, one probably the foreman, began pointing and the workers began entering the house across the street.

“Beth, whats with that house over there?” I pointed as the foreman followed the rest of his comrades inside.

“pretty sure that is the unit needs renovation, all of the other places are up to date n’ whatnot” she answered quickly before turning my attention to our destination. “here we are, The Baker residence!” she practically sang as she rapped on the door. “ I know you’re here Elaine! we’ve got a new neighbor!”.

As we waited for the door I looked around to notice this house was different than the rest of the community. The lawn had weeds sprouting up here and there, the walkway was cracked, the siding of the house was filthy. looking at the rest of the house I noticed it actually wasn’t the same design as the rest of the townhouses. There was exposed brick, multiple windows covered up inside by curtains, and a balcony off of the second floor. On the balcony railing sat a fat Calico, we stared at each other for a moment before it hopped of the railing and went inside via an open window.

My nerves were on end, that cat creeped me out. The door opened and I looked back down to see a small old woman with her hair in a neat bun, she gave Beth a hug and chimed out “good to see you Beth dear, you look so well” the woman turned to me. “you must me the newcomer then” she came in close and gave me a hug as well, forcing me to bend awkwardly as she was a full foot and a half smaller than I was. As she gripped me I looked into the house, it was dim, a single dusty desk lamp attempted to illuminate the living room. The room was populated with two large sitting chairs and the old tube television that faced away from the entrance, by the sound coming from the TV it sounded like some cooking program was on. I also noticed a few cats littered around the room. One on top of the TV, two on one of the chairs, and one going into the room that connected in the back, the door frame had a piece of cloth hanging from it, acting as an impromptu door. This hug was going for too long as I began to notice she was feeling my ribs and back with her particularly bony fingers.

“nice to meet you ms.Baker” I blurted out has I ungracefully escaped her grasp.”My name is Carter Langley, i’m looking forward to being your neighbor”

“Oh what a nice young man, you’ve caught us a good one Beth” ms.Baker chuckled “you should meet Eric while you’re here, ERIC DEAR COMPANY!”

soon enough Eric Baker appeared from the back room pushing aside the cloth door. He was carrying an animal carrier with something inside. He put down the cage next to one of the rockers in the living room, it jostled on its way down. he filled in the space of the doorway next to Elaine and stuck out his hand for a shake. I went to receive the handshake when Eric’s hand shot out ,suddenly grasping my forearm. I returned in kind, and he mumbled “welcome son”, before turning back picking up the carrier and returning to the back room.

Noticing my shock at the upfront greeting Elaine said “ he’s not much of a talker to new comers, but he’ll be a real chatterbox once ya get to know him.”

“Hey we were going to throw a mid summer barbecue, like a welcome party sorta thing” Beth chimed in “Maybe you can get to know each other better then.” 

Beth’s melodious voice calmed all the tension from my nerves. “Yeah, sounds great” I replied

Beth then turned to Elaine “ then we’ll see you at the end of the week Elaine, Carter here still has to unpack!” 

“No problem dear, i’ve got to catch up on my show anyways. It was nice to meet you Carter” Elaine said as she shut the door.

Beth exhaled deeply before chuckling a bit

“what’s up” I asked

“those two can be kinda.. weird with new people,sorry” she replied 

“its fine, though all the cats are kinda creepy.”

“they don’t get many visitors, those cats are like their babies, gives them something to take care of all day”

We began to walk back to the entrance when I asked “ what is up with their house? It doesn’t seem ‘up to date’ like the rest of these places” 

“The Bakers have been here forever, Elm Estates grew around their house, they’ve seen everyone that lived here come and go.”

we made it back to my unit, I was going to ask to meet the rest of the neighbors but it was getting late, and i still had to set up my air mattress and make something to eat.

“Hey I’m going to set up for tonight, thanks for showing me around” I said to beth as we reached my front door.

“No problem, it’s nice to have another person my age around here. Hey if you need help unpacking tomorrow give me a shout!” she began walking away across the street

“wait how can i give you a shout when I don’t even know where you live” I called out she turned around twirling her key ring around her finger “ ill give you a little hint” she teased as she opened the door of the house across the street. she gave a little wave before disappearing behind the door.

My heart skipped a beat as I banged into my front door. Gathering myself I went inside. opening the door revealed a closet door next to a staircase leading to the rest of the unit.I went up the stairs to find a spacious living room that bled into a kitchen that wrapped around to the left while the first bedroom was to the right.The second bedroom was straight ahead. All of the doors were open to reveal how empty this place really was. The only thing besides the built in stove and fridge was a mattress in the corner of the first bedroom. There was a fitted sheet, a pillow, and a blanket along with a note. “Didn’t know if you would have a bed or not so I made this one for your first night- Beth”. I had an air mattress out in the car, but sleeping on a made bed was more appealing. The sight of the comfy spread made my exhaustion set in. Before I had known it I fell face down onto the mattress. It smelled heavenly and soon enough I had drifted off to sleep.

Subject: Maya the crone

"Red newt's tail... rotten pear core... and..." Maya flipped the page of her dusty old spellbook. "A witches fingernail, khekhekhe, that should be no problem for us, eh Marlon?" She said whilst whipping her head to find her familier in the bird seed sack again. His fat body and back legs dangled out from the sack's opening. Maya was annoyed, that was her only supply for the rest of Autumn, and she needed to catch three more sterlings before they all head south. She raised her free hand contorted it so that the thumb and the first finger formed a 'C' while her middle, and small finger pointed straight out. This was a spell that Maya was very familiar with. It was the first spell she learned, even though it was an advanced level spell.

"Telekeeto!" She said pointing her twisted hand at Marlon. A light chime echoed through the hut, like a bell on a cats collar, that's when Maya knew her target was locked. She moved her hand upward, releasing her contorted formation. Marlon the hedgehog familiar slowly rose out of the seed bag, finding himself floating in mid-air, caught red handed with a mouth jam packed full of mixed seeds.

"My darling little Marlon, what have I told you about the seed? " Maya said with a sweet motherly tone, using one hand to wave Marlon closer, whilst using the other hand to hold her place in her spell tome.

Marlon quickly swallowed what was stored in his mouth, as he scampered in mid-air trying to escape. "U-uh... that I c-could have as m-much i-i'd like as long as I help you with the spell yo-you're workin on?" Marlon stammered as he was floated right in front of Mayas displeased face.

"No. I said you could have SOME once we were finished with the spell" she snapped her fingers and Marlon landed in one of Mayas open palms.

Marlon turned his snout downwards in shame. "I'm sorry Maya, it's j-just , that seed is so tasty, u-unlike the forest berries you bring me.. they're always so b-bitter."

Maya looked at him for a moment before she rubbed her nose into Marlon's soft belly. "Ooh my little darling, I can't stay mad at you especially when you're so darn cute." She looked him in his beady eyes, while still cupping him in her palms.

" all I need now is a witches fingernail, grab one from the cupboard and I'll fill a teacup full of seed for you, okay? But that is all."

Marlon became a little more relaxed "okay!... but wait, maya you ARE a witch why don't you just pull off-"

Maya created a cage with her hands with Marlon inside, she furled her brow and said through gritted teeth. " I'm. Not. A. Witch, my little Marlon, I'm a crone now remember, completely different. now get me that nail." She resisted the urge to squeeze Marlon and set him down on the floor before returning to her bubbling cauldron. Marlon got the message and scampered down the hallway, his claws uttering little clacks along the hardwood floor. He found the cabinet Maya wanted him too easily. Marlon lived his whole life in the hut and a small area around it, therefore he knew every nook and cranny, even places that were supposed to be for Maya's eyes only. He ran along a mop handle that lead right to the shelf below the cupboard. Marlon did a complicated, yet practiced acent up boxes, tins and old jars to a hedgehog sized hole in the bottom of the cupboard. Once inside the pitch black cupboard Marlon cast a simple illumination spell in order to see.

" ig-coal" he shouted a little too loudly into the dark. A moment later a small flame appeared, floating above his head. The cupboard was now at least a little brighter as Marlon began his search. The cupboard itself seemed infinitely large, with heights competitive to a nights sky, and lengths like a vast ocean, filled with nothing but hands. Mer-hands, human hands, goat hooves, and at last a witches hand. All strung up by their wrists by rope that reached into the deep, dark sky. The witches hand that hung before Marlon spun slightly causing the jewelry that it still had upon its fingers to sparkle in the light of the summoned flame. He needed only a fingernail, he remembered as he chewed off the one that hung from the ring finger, since the middle and pointer were used up already.

"Maya we only have a couple more uses out of that spell... so we'll have to think of something new next time..." He said to himself, practicing what to say when he got back to his master.

Marlon jumped out of the cupboard, spouting a "ig-stinguish" snuffing the light before running back down the hallway. He got back to the main room to find Maya nose deep in some other section of the book, gasping out little "ooh"s and "aah"s and circling things with a feather pen. Marlon swiftly ran up Maya's leg onto her ankle high dress, purple as a twilight sky, and as ragged as a backroad. It had stains and rips in it that were beyond remedy. Marlon reached Mayas shoulder

"Mother wi-.. c-crone I have the nail.."

Maya opened the book back to the page she had her thumb in "excellent my young Marlon, you've made me proud" she plucked the nail from Marlon's grasp, and proceeded to rub his head gently with her eyebrow, craning her neck to it's limit. She tossed the nail into the pot and the sludge within turned from a dark green color to a light blue as it began to bubble violently. "Perfect! what a lovely color, this will be the best batch yet." Maya giggled with excitement, for the first time in hours she turned from the pot and left the room. She grabbed the broom leaning on the cupboard the mop in the pantry and the bucket, which was catching whatever was dripping from the ceiling in the corner. She came back to the pot to find a stream of bubbling liquid that spouting from the cauldron like a fountain.

"Yes excellent, now do my bidding! Galeen garoot" she enchanted directing her hands initially to the suspended stream. The liquid became flacid and morphed based on Mayas movements. She then whipped her hands toward the gathered cleaning supplies and the formula followed. The gathered supplies slowly became animated and began to bounce awaiting Mayas command.

"You know what to do you've done it before, make this home clean once more " Maya chimed

The tools got to work sweeping up the great piles of leaves and dust that had accumulated around the hut. Maya looked to Marlon and said " let's let the boys get to work khehee." She turned toward the door and opened it. On her dresses end Marlon scooped up a bit of the brew from the cauldron in a small glass bottle. He scampered back onto her shoulder as they got outside. Maya pulled out a pipe and some dried herb from one of the multitude of sacks adorned on her waist. She began to pack her pipe, while Marlon poured the soupy mixture onto Mayas dress, restoring it to a bright lavender sundress with white accents at the bottom and around the neck and wrists.

" Aww thank you my little darling, I forgot it could do that" she said out of the side of her mouth exhaling some smoke.

"You're welcome Mother crone." Marlon chimed back.

Maya and Marlon stood on the huts porch overlooking the dense forest they surrounded themselves with. Nothing but darkness beyond the small clearing around the hut, as the trees were so densely packed that nothing could be seen beyond them but more forest. This made Mayas seclusion easy, no-one could simply stumble their way here. This made her job easy too. In the middle of the clearing that also served as her yard, and garden there was a tree. A gnarled old tree that looked as black as coal and had limbs that were as twisted as corkscrews. Many upon many years ago this tree bore fruit that held a surplus of magic properties. Many upon many years ago Maya came to this forest seeking the tree, when she ran across a dying guardian forest spirit. The spirit knew of her power and asked her to watch over the forest and this tree in particular in his stead. Maya needed a place to call her own, as well as a renewed purpose, as her time as an evil witch was over. She accepted the Guardians proposal and began to cultivate the clearing to her liking, with the Guardian's wishes in mind. Overtime however the tree began to die without the Guardian's essence to sustain it, and now only one mystic fruit remains. Many a hero has tried to claim it for themselves, but none have passed Mayas test. Only the worthy and pure of heart were allowed to consume the mystic fruit, so be it claimed by the dying forest guardian.

Maya was ensnared in her memories when Marlon squealed with worry

"Maya look! Look! A human approaches."

Maya looked to the other end of the clearing where a young boy had suddenly appeared. Maya quickly ducked behind the preserve barrels on her porch to observe the boy In secrecy. The boy looked at a scrap of paper, before looking up at the mystic tree, and setting his sights upon his prize: the mystic fruit.

"We can't just let him have it Maya we have to do something!" Whispered Marlon in unshakable fear.

"You're right we can't, but if that is the map i left the villagers in his hand, we will have to come to us and ask for a trial in order to earn the fruit." Maya said back with a normal tone of voice.

Maya waited and watched the boy for minutes as he turned the map around in his hands over and over, before tossing it to the ground and hopping onto the trunk of the tree. The boy began to climb shuffling his way up the trunk, as there was no limbs toward the bottom he could use to pull himself up. He was making progress stunningly quickly, in only another minute he would have the fruit.

"He can't do that... He can't just get it that's against the rules... didn't he read the rules?" Marlon squeaked out

"You're right again my little Marlon, and you know what we do to rule breakers, khekhekhe" Maya chuckled igniting a sinister look in her eye that had long been dormant. Maya raised her arms and began to twist her hands into the formation she used earlier that day, but this time her ring finger was extended aswell.

"Wait Maya..." Marlon said but it was too late

"Gravikeeto!" She shouted whilst pointing at the boy. This particular spell causes the target to become afflicted with a curse that makes them affected by gravity threefold. With a familiar chime In the wind the target was locked. With a snap of the tree branch he was on the boy began to fall. He was high in the air so it would probably take him a good five seconds to fall.

"Maya you can't he'll die!" Marlon shrieked while holding up a village notice

"So wha-" Maya remembered the notice, she had caused the death of too many curious children, the villagers warned her that they'd come after her if she did it again. The fact she acted as the forest guardian didn't matter if she slipped up again.

"OH DRAT" She yelled as she began to run towards the falling boy. Three seconds, she wasn't going to make it she needed to cast a spell quickly. Her mind was vast with spells and she scanned through them all quickly thinking of the best solution. Two seconds. She had to settle on a physical defense ward, strong enough for him to survive the impact. One second,

" Garthala dermi !" She screamed as she clasped her closed fist and open palm toward the boy. A yellow aura shot out and encased the boy as he struck the forest floor.

Maya skidded to a halt and collapsed to her knees before the boy, wary as to not touch him in case he was injured. She waited for a few moments, each passing by for what felt like an eternity. Her heart slowed and she could hear her breathes, quick and hot, she hadn't had to run in a century. Before the boy began to stir and push himself up. He tried but collapsed under his shaken arms, with a groan.

" go prepare the front room Marlon! " Maya said to her familiar.

"Yes mother crone" he yipped as he ran full speed back toward the hut.

"Come on boy, stand now let's get you inside" she said picking the boy up by his armpits. The effects of the gravitation curse hadn't worn off yet... that is strange she thought to herself as she strained to pick the boy up

The boy could only groan as he got to his feet and allowed himself to be guided by the crone.

"What is someone so young doing this deep in the copperwood? Dont your parents tell you it's dangerous?" Maya asked in her motherly tone.

"f-fruit..." is all the boy could manage to say.

" I can see that, you must've fell fourty feet.. what's your name anyway kid can you find the strength to tell me that?"

"my... name?... am- " he took a moment to inhale through a pained expression "-herst"

"Alright there Amherst, you'll be okay let's get you inside on the bed" Maya said as she pushed open the door back into the hut.

Apocalypse yesterday.

"Oh god it's gonna be another hot one. I don't even remember where I was going today, all I know is that I regret wearing this parka and... snow boots? What was I thinking? it feels like it's the middle of june, I'm roasting alive in this crap. What was I doing today? it's not like me to just forget my errands, maybe I wrote it down on my phone." I thought as I reached my arm around. Well I tried anyway when I moved my shoulder into the familier position to slide my phone out of my pocket I felt something bump up against my waist. I looked down to find my arm dangling about with what appeared to be a large bite mark out of the side. Though the wound was gaping there was no blood spouting. I traced my eyes up to find a bandana as a makeshift tourniquet. I remember now! I was sick, and was heading to the hospital, my symptoms were serious. Burning fever, blackouts, headaches, the works. I was going to tough it out in my bachelor's apartment, but the news report said that people with those symptoms should head to the hospital immediately. I remember suiting up because it was new years, snow abound. Now that I look around I see the new years decorations were still up, the streamers numbered 2019, yet they looked faded. And this heat, I didn't know there was supposed to be a freak heat wave anytime soon... Oh yeah my arm, I'm remembering that I was attacked on the way to the hospital. That crazy old man bit me. Right on the arm, guess that explains this injury, damn.. He got me good. I need to make it to the hospital quick. I looked around to get my bearings, I was on the corner of 11th and main. This was the shopping district I am going the complete wrong way, and has this place always been so broken apart? All the windows were smashed, and there was nobody around? I looked toward the cafe, that place was always jumping, especially during midday. There was someone there just standing around, maybe they can drive me to the hospital... I started to walk over, but my legs were so heavy. I knew I was out of shape, but this is ridiculous. I have no choice I'm going to have to drag my feet. So I shuffled slowly but surely to the young woman outside of the main street cafe. I started to get angry, at this rate I'll take all day. I tried to call out to her.

"Hyeeagh" was all I could manage before my voice started to hurt. Maybe this fever is more serious than I thought. Trying to even talk almost ripped my voice apart, I think I can taste blood? Nevermind that, I just totally embarrassed myself in front of this total babe.

I looked at her and she was built. Nice and round in all the right places, long white hair( must've bleached it, that's pretty cute), her skin was a little pale though, odd. She was wearing leggings and a jacket and booties. Just as crazy as me with this weather but she was the only one around, and I wants getting any better without treatment. She was turning around! Oh god I was always nervous talking to pretty girls, but my nervousness could wait.. I could be dying damnit. I looked up and she was turned toward me. Shock consumed me when I noticed that half of her face was bare down to the bone. She groaned at me before walking forward, pushing chairs along with her, bumping into the tables causing a cup to fall to the ground and shatter. Before I could scream in terror a loud pop crashed through the city. The sound bounced around the packed buildings. A gunshot? Then a couple more quick and consolidated. It resonated from up the street. Gunshot were common in the city as of late, usually I ignore it and walk the oppisite way. This time however, my legs seemed to move on their own. I kept walking all the way to 13th street before I saw someone worth talking to. He came busting out of the alley behind the steakhouse kicking up bags and boxes as he fell onto the pavement. I wanted to ask if he was okay but just another grumble. he was sweaty, in a wife beater dirty beyond saving, cargo shorts adorned with a toolbelt with all sorts of knives, bandages, and flashlights in the holsters. He whipped around towards me after I tried to hail him. His bloodshot eyes went wide and i could tell he was yelling underneath the hospital mask he wore. Before I could even attempt to say another word he swung his arm around to reveal a handgun, pointed right at me.

"Wait!" I wanted to yell. But it was too late I heard three more pops my shoulder was thrown to the side before he ducked into the next alley over." That fucker shot me! I'm going to beat his ass" I thought. I must have a serious adrenaline high because I couldn't feel the bullet wound. I followed the guy down the alley. It's nice and cool in the alley, shady and out of the sun. Another round of pops just around the corner. He's definately here... But is it such a good idea to go chasing after a guy with a gun? I was turning to leave only to see a crowd of groaning people envealoping my previous entrance. They continued to move as if I wasn't even there, I guess this crowd of good Samaritans is off to stop this loose maniac. We round the dingy corner to find him clawing at a chain link fence, while two bodies lay at his feet. "He's a monster "I thought to myself. we gotta bring him in. He noticed us and tried even harder to climb up the fence. Before I knew it I was at a full blown run, along with the rest of my troupe of Samaritans. I seized the crazed gunman by the arm that was holding the gun. He must be incredibly strong because he was overcoming my hold on him. I didn't want him shooting anymore people so I did the only thing I could, I bit him. Success he dropped the gun, and he was screaming I turned to his face to see the crowd also biting him. Maybe it was a bit overkill, we didn't need to all bite him, I think he got the point when I did it. That's when I noticed they were eating him, long strands of flesh and veins poured out of his neck as some dude in a polo tore the pour gunman apart. I thought I stumbled into a mad house, we didn't need to eat him ,just hold him til the police came! That's when my stomach began to grumble. I realized I was starving... maybe... Maybe a little nibble won't hurt.

Travelling blues

The open road. Serine, beautiful, quiet. Allows a man to think on his life, the choices he's made, and the choices he is still to make. Today I was driving through Arizona. Nothing but flat scrubs, a hot pounding sun, and life thinking. My driving shift was almost up, when the  next gas station shows up I'll hand the reigns over to the other passenger in the Winnebago. His name was James, and as I've found out over the past month, he is one mean son of a bitch. We started our trip up in New York, Albany and we were headed to California,  the original plan was to spend the rest of the summer near the beaches, but at this point I'll take anywhere that is clean, cheap, and at least fifty miles away from James. I didn't always have this feeling of utter disdain for him, in fact we were good friends. We went to school together, spent every class together goofing off half the time. We frequented each other's homes almost everyday, and once we graduated we moved into an apartment with one of our other buddies, Roger. That fateful morning when James pulled into the driveway with the Winnebago and grand fantasies of spending the summer with California chicks, I shouldve said no like Roger did. Now I find myself in this crummy RV, driving in the summer Arizonian desert with no AC, no stereo, and the crabbiest motherfucker after his naps, who just so happens to be awake and now entering shotgun. He said something to me but I didn't hear him on account of "spoon man" blasting through my headphones. I took them off with one hand and left them dangling around my neck, while my other hand gripped the wheel.

"You say something?" I asked while still trying to pay attention to the road

"Yeah. I did. I said did you even drive anywhere ? It was desert scrubs when I went back, so why is it that's what I see when I wake up?" James said before chugging an entire bottle of water and placing it in the cup holder.

" I dunno man the uh," I looked at my phone to check where we were " the painted desert is big, you weren't out for long and this piece of shit can go like fifty max, I had an old lady pass me earlier , it was embarrassing."

"Whatever dude, ya know when the next rest stop is? I'm hungry as hell." He moaned.

" like in five miles, there are popsicles in the freezer to hold you over." I said pointing backwards while maintaining my focus forward

"Woah really?" He climbed out of the seat and started heading back.

I heard him open the icebox and shuffle a few things around before asking "where ?there's only a bag of ice and..." a pause , and a sound of scraping ice ".... a bag of fish sticks in here."

"No dude there should be a whole box of those ice pops that shopkeeper in Kansas made special for us, old family recipie, with real strawberries, you know?."

"Aww pssh, we've been outta those for a week now.. getting me all excited" he mumbled that last part

" No I checked earlier ,the box is still in there."

"Yeah but it's empty knucklehead" he tossed the empty box on the passenger seat

I quickly grabbed it and upended it. Nothing but ice crystals fell out.

"What the hell there were twelve in here, I only got one!" I said shaking the box. Some of the ice landed on my sizzling arms.

" they were gonna get freezer burnt man"

" it's been a week you fat fuck! I bought an, I told you you could have one, not the whole damn box!"

I turned around to find him lounging on the couch in the mid section. Propping his feet up on the arm rest with his hands behind his head, staring at me. He furled his brow at me and shrugged " chill, you can just get some on the way back if you love em so damn much."

I was red with anger, I lose my head around him at little things now a days. Breathing a certain way, the way he chews with his mouth open, etcetera. But his blatant disregard for me with my beloved popsicles send me over.

"You suck!" I said as a threw the box at him pegging I'm in the head

" What the hell, don't be a little bitch it was a popsicle I'll buy you another box when we head back!" He was now standing flailing his arms this way and that, trying not to throw the box back at me.

"Its not about the money, you're always mooching off my shit, my money, food, my clothes even my phone charger. We hit a gas station everyday just fucking buy one!"

" mooching off you? Whose rv are you in right now dickhead ? And what's with you, ever since we got Colorado you've been flaring at me, you gotta get you're attitude in check If were gonna be picking up girls at vespuchi"

" picking up girls in vespuchi? Are you kidding? I'm not going anywhere with you once we hit Cali. And what you're gonna bring em back to this rust bucket? That'll make em dripping I'll bet"

" Oh suck my- oh shit! Thompson eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!" He screamed in terror while pointing towards past me."

I whipped around only to see that I had swerved into the other lane right into an incoming suv. They honked their horn... But it was already too late.

One Year Short Story Challenge

If you write one short story a week, it’s guaranteed improvement. Short stories can be anywhere from 1,000 to 30,000 words, but for the sake of sanity, the stories I write will be under 10,000 with a cap of around 7,500. Here’s some ideas!

1. Write entirely in second person. Someone is instructing your character to do something they’ll regret.

2. Write a first person story from the point of view of an inanimate object.

3. Write about a character trapped in the body of a kid about to start kindergarten.

4. Write about a high schooler trying to run away from a dangerous situation.

5. Write about a witch trying to find her lost familiar.

6. Write about a detective who uses questionable methods but always gets the right answer.

7. Write about a marching band who decided to block traffic for one whole day. Why?

8. Write about a character from the future. They aren’t trying to save anyone, they just want to live in a better time.

9. Write about a character with depression who’s desperate to help their friend, who suffers from the same thing.

10. Write about a middle school student going on their first date.

11. Write about a student who was trying to work at a coffee shop when a super villain attacks. Superpowers weren’t supposed to be real.

12. Pick a meme song and write a story based on it.

13. Look at your favorite old emo music and select the angstiest lyric you can find. Go wild.

14. Write with one oddly specific color in mind. Lavender. Fuschia. Carolina blue.

15. Write a story from the villain’s point of view, at the final battle.

16. Write about a character who plays music at a street corner and what they witness.

17. Write about a student who falls asleep in class and wakes up in a sterilized room.

18. Write about an elementary school ‘breakup’ between two fifth graders.

19. Write about two people who live in an RV and travel the country. They hate each other.

20. Write about a person who can talk to food. How do they eat?

21. Write about someone who breaks animals out of zoos.

22. Write about someone who can jump into books, and why they stay in normal life.

23. Write about someone who can’t go a week without almost dying, and what happens when they have their first quiet week.

24. Write a high school scenario that you heard about through gossip, or a scenario you overheard in real life or from a job. Dramatize it.

25. Write about a werecat who takes pleasure in being endlessly pampered by humans.

26. Write about a superhero who’s only power is making anything last forever. Their phone never breaks, and their toilet paper never runs out. Neither does their ammunition.

27. Write about two twins, one who’s a superhero and one who’s a super villain.

28. Write about a thief who hangs out with rich people but never steals their stuff.

29. Write about someone who can fly, but is too scared of heights to have ever tried it.

30. Write about a friendship about to break apart after ten years. Why?

31. Write about a sentient city, and how it helps out travelers and lost tourists.

32. Write about children running an actual rat race for fun.

33. Write from a zombie’s point of view of the zombie apocalypse.

34. Write about the skeleton inside you. It’s completely sentient. Watch out.

35. Write about a boy who has actually weaponized Axe, and sells it to people as a replacement pepper spray.

36. Write about a villain who can manipulate ice. They stab people and the weapon melts, leaving no fingerprints. How do you stop them?

37. Write about a student who decides to do anything except study before exams, and ends up bungee jumping and skydiving the day of.

38. Write about an invisible hitchhiker. They travel the country for free, by climbing into people’s cars at gas stations.

39. Write about a child who lives inside an amusement park, but never gets noticed. Another kid sees her. It’s the first time she’s been seen.

40. Write about a weredog touring a city in human form and trying their absolute hardest not to pee on the poles.

41. Write about a student who goes cold turkey on coffee the week before final exams.

42. Write about a pet turkey on Thanksgiving. They’re horrified.

43. Write about your phone, which is sentient. It finally decides to notify you in hopes you stop watching the exact same vine compilation at 2 in the morning every day.

44. Write about a girl who lives in the woods—30 minutes away from a huge city.

45. Write about someone trying to steal a giant monument, such as the giant peach in South Carolina or the world’s largest rubber band ball.

46. Write about cartoon characters suddenly faced with realistic risks from their actions.

47. Write about a warlock whose curse backfired on them—on their job interview at a respectable company.

48. Write about the sentient Chuck E Cheese costume that lives at the store, and whether it truly loves children.

49. Write about a dead forest, and the arsonist who caused it that visits every week.

50. Write about a couple that meets after they get in a street fight over a dropped twenty dollar bill. They’re actually perfect for each other.

51. Write about a genie trapped in a bottle of Axe.

52. Write about the craziest thing that ever happened to you.

Subject : young Amherst Grover

"Hurry up son, finish up there and you'll be free to go!" Shouted the stern voice from far below. He knew his dad's "son" like the entirety of the mulberry tree he was currently in. The suddenness of the "son" awoke him from his pleasant daydream. He thought about what he and his friends were going to do after he finished his chores for the day. Would they go down and play in the stream like yesterday, or maybe play swords on stony mellow hill? They hadn't done that in a while. But now awoken Amherst realized that the only thing he had left to do was bring the basket on his back full of mulberries back to the kitchen. Then he was free for the rest of the afternoon.

"Now to get down, eh ol mary?"

He slapped the trunk of the ol mulberry tree, which was capriciously thin all these thirty feet in the air. Amherst swung his legs from gripping the trunk to dangle off the branch he was sitting upon. With a small jump he fell for a few feet before his hand caught a worn branch, and quickly let go, to slow himself down and readjust his course. He had been up and down every tree in the grove hundreds of times, so from branch to branch he decended til he was close enough to the ground. He landed directly on this feet and continued to run. Amherst ran directly to the house closing the distance with his father who casually paced himself after the long day in the sun. His father was a strong man, in his youth he was built like a mountain massive shoulders, chest and arms used to climb trees, cut down trees and to plant saplings day In and day out for his whole life like his father and his father before him. And though Amherst's dad Hartwig Grover may've lost his mountainous body, he was still plenty strong, and the wisest person Amherst had ever known.

"Father! I've got a whole basket of mulberries. That means I can go with Ben and Lottie today right?!" Amherst quickly spouted, hardly able to contain his excitment.

Hartwig leaned in the open doorway sunhat in hand wiping the sweat from his brow. " if you run those to your mother, you can spend the rest of the day with those rascals... speak of the devils"

Hartwig gestured to the road behind Amherst, he spun around to see his friends already at the boundary fence waving him over.

"Hurry up slowpoke!" Yelled Ben from across the yard ,Ben was a big boy for his age tall but portly at the same time. His plate round face attached almost directly to his pear body, but don't let his shape fool you, under that flab was the muscles of a farmer boy, all he wore was a vest that is to big even for him (brothers hand me downs), burlap shorts and sandles.

"You're burning daylight snail-boy" shouted Lottie right afterwards. She was a black haired girl the same height as Amherst, same build too, lean with slight tone. Her hair was cut to chin height and she was missing one of her canine teeth, with a replacement in tow. she wore gaiters, overalls and a blue cotton undershirt, common attire for rice patty farmers.

"You'd better get going if you wanna get anything done before curfew" Hartwig said to Amherst.

"Alright, thanks pop"

quipped Amherst as he dashed around the corner of the house to the open kitchen window. The aroma of slowly roasting meat was strong and heavenly , dinner in the making.

"Ma? I got the mulberries"

Amherst's mother, Wendy Grover, quickly appeared in the window, her greying dark brown hair wrapped up within an unfurled bandana, and her thick circle glasses covered in steam.

"Lovely, my darling set them on the windowsill. My hands are full."

He set the basket on the windowsill and prepared to dash away when she stopped him.

"Are you going to play with, Ben and Lottie today?"

Balancing on one leg and ready to sprint Amherst gave a drawn out " yeeeeeiiis"

With a sigh Wendy gave out a " Alright darling but you listen here!" Quickly becoming serious "you kids stay safe, and don't you dare go near the woods! You hear me Amherst?"

"Of course ma, we'll be safe and no woods I got it, okay bye!"

Before she could say anything he was gone around to the front yard already. Leaving Wendy Grover to sigh anxiously before getting back to dinner prep.

Amherst ran to the gate on the edge of the grove where his friends were waiting

"Jeez snail boy now we have a whole five less minutes to play today!" Lottie quipped as soon as Amherst came into veiw.

"Snail boy? Just cuz I'm a couple minutes late today doesnt mean ya get to call me a snail forever!" Amherst whined back.

Ben jumped in on the verbal abuse "This ain't no spur of the moment thing Lottie n me have been thinking on this for a while. Snail boy fits you perfectly. First off you are ALWAYS finishing your chores last aaaaand..."

"You won't come out of your shell and tell Susie you like her hee hee hee!" Lottie jabbed out in sync with Ben, almost as of it was rehearsed.

"Oh you guys can go spit seeds. What're we doing today anyway?" Amherst tried to say casually as his face was becoming more and more red.

"I thought you'd never ask my young snail prince." Said Lottie as she pulled a scrap of papyrus from her inventory.

She spread the page and waved the boys over. They all gathered around to reveal golden lettering that glowed, illuminating their faces.

"This is a magical map that will lead us to a mystic fruit that lets you stay young forever" said Lottie

"You know we can't read this Lottie so I guess you'll have to lead the way" Ben said with a sigh

"Don't I always?, hee hee!" Lottie giggled as she began to jog down the dirt path.

The boys followed close behind. Lottie led them in what felt like circles all day. Over the "frog log", across the "crystal stream" past ms. Cursur's field. When finally they reached the stony mellow hill and Ben needed a moment to sit in the shade.

"Jeez Lottie *gasp* Where you dragging us to , Amber field in the next county over? " as Ben placed his back against the tree and slid down to a squat.

" worry your blubbery head no more, our destination is right down there" Lottie pointed to the edge of the Copperwood forest "just a little jog through the forest and we will be having fruit pie before sundown! Heeheehe."

"Wait Lottie we've always been told to stay away from the Copperwood!" Amherst retorted.

"Don't be such a snail in the mud Amherst, just a quick in and out and we-"Lottie tried to argue.

"NO absolutely not Lottie " Ben was now on his feet and angry "I'm fine with you dragging us around all the time, but we're not going anywhere near that monster infested place... not this late, not again...." The sun was now on the horizon casting an orange glow over the hillside.

"Ben what's the matter? I've never heard you yell, especially not at Lottie, she will kick your tail!" Amherst said

Ben didnt care, his voice was shaky but stern. "My uncle was a part of the guard in town, I looked up to him so much.. i wanted to be a guard when I grew up. So he took me on a patrol near the forest edge late one time and.... and..." Ben was almost crying now.

"Ben I'm sorry I forgot about your uncle.. let's just go back, I ruined the whole day.. but I'll find a way to make it up to you both.." Lottie said with her head lowered. She took the map, crumpled it and tossed it. "Forget this stupid legend anyway"

"Lottie you don't have to be sorry, guardsmen die...*sniff*.. if you want to make it up to me just take a look at where we are" Ben said wiping his eyes.

"Ah" Amherst blurted " were on stony mellow hill! "

Lottie gave a little giggle "Oh jeez you want me to school you both in stick swords that badly?" She was already back to her normal self.

"We'll see about that daemon witch lottie!" Shouted Ben, seemingly back to normal as well, scooping up a hefty fallen branch from the local maple tree.

Amherst ran to pick up a stick when he noticed that the sun had slipped over the horizon. He saw something zip past his vision, it came from the forest' s direction.

"Wait guys maybe nows not a good time-" Amherst said as he reluctantly grabbed a hearty stick.

That's when Lottie shrieked, it was loud enough to be heard from town. Ben fell back onto his butt trembling beyond all functionality. Amherst whipped his head toward Lottie to find her in the clutches of a horrendous bat creature. It was the size of a man, with glowing red eyes, talons the size of kitchen knives, and wings allowing it to hover.

"HELP HELP" Lottie screamed, flailing about within the monsters grasp.

The monster hissed at the boys and began to fly back toward the forest.

"N-no Lottie!"Ben yelled, even though still paralyzed by fear. "Do something Amherst! It's gonna carry her off, like my uncle!"

Amherst thought fast as the monster created even more distance between them. Amherst ran forward while wheeling his arm back, gripping the stick he whipped his arm forward, throwing the stick toward the monster. The stick went end over end with ferocious speed. It sailed through the air and struck the creature directly in the back causing the foul beast to drop Lottie from its grasp. Lottie fell for a moment before hitting the side of the hill causing her to roll down.

"Move your feet Benjamin ! " ordered Amherst as he scraped up another branch and began to slide down the hill. He went right up to Lottie's body and crouched down. He noticed deep claw marks in her arm oozing with a light green liquid. "Poison?!" Amherst thought as he looked to see the beast circling back for it's hunt. The thing was crawling on all fours toward Amherst, before stopping. Ben now slid down the hill branch in hand.

" Amherst I saw torches, the villagers are headed this way, we just gotta keep this thing at bay" Ben said with an almost foreign conviction.

The two boys stood in front of Lottie ready for the monster's attack. The thing waited a while before screeching to the sky, turning around and flying off. When the beast was far enough away the boys collapsed onto their unconscious friend. Torchlight began to illuminate them as the frantic villagers gathered around.

The guard and some of the men went to chase the monster, while Lottie's father went directly to her pushing the boys out of the way.

"Oh gods Lottie.. my baby. Apothecary! Help my baby... She.. she is burning up. " he picked her up and ran off back up the hill.

Wendy Grover quickly appeared and grasped her son with Hartwig not far behind.

"What did we tell you about curfew!? Damn it you kids, we should be kept a closer eye on you!" She was hysteric with tears in her eyes squeezing Amherst so hard he could barely breathe.

Amherst saw Ben get escorted by one of the guard back toward town asking him a bunch of questions. Both him and Amherst were silent with guilt. They knew they were out too late but there was nothing they could do about it now. Amidst his mother's crushing embrace Amherst steadied his gaze to one thing, that steeled his resolve. The crumpled map lay in the grass mere paces away, wet with fresh blood that reflected the nearby torchlight.

Endless white walls

My sleep was dreamless. Then again it wasn't a natural sleep. I awoke my eyes slowly opening, only to be stung by the industrial ceiling light shining onto me. I shut my eyes and quickly sat up. My legs swung off the end of the bed to hit something on the floor. I opened my eyes and my vision collected itself to find a pair of white hospital slippers on the floor. My vision was still stained with a blotch from the intense light. I looked around the room to find it almost completely bare. There was the bed with a stainless steel frame, and a white sheet. A wheel chair with chrome pieces, a blue seat, and blue handle bars. Finally there was a cart In the center of the room with a tray on top of it. I tried to stand up to inspect it further, but was halted by two things. First upon standing up my vision slightly blurred and the side of my head began to throb. I dropped to my knees, and touched to where the throbbing was most severe to find gauze. I traced it all around my head.

"Wh-what the.."

I uttered out due to panic, but it only made the throbbing worse. Slowly I unwrapped the bandage. At first it was clean, but soon there were traces of blood, then towards the end there were heavy blood stains. By then I was trembling the end of the rag falling out of my hands. Slowly I worked my trembling hands to the throbbing spot. I felt stitches, alot of them along a long cut on the upper back part of my head. All the hair in the surrounding area was cut all the way down to my scalp. Man.. My hair cut is fucked now... but I could worry about that later, for now I need to check that cart, maybe it will help me determine what's going on. I rocked onto my toes to give me a boost up, but a pain shot through my foot. The second thing stopping me from getting to that cart. I pulled my legs ahead of me and used my hands to pull my foot up to my face so I could see what the cause of this pain was. First thing I noticed was that I had all my street clothes on, but my shoes and socks were nowhere to be found. Guess that's what the slippers are for. I found that the pain was originating from inbetween my first two toes. I spread my toes to get a better veiw. There I found a cotton swab, which I took and threw to the floor. There was a small hole in between my toes. This wasn't good, whatever was going on I needed to get the hell out of here. I stood up and put the slippers on, better than nothing I supposed. I walked over to the cart to find a full set of surgical tools. Hooks, tongs and scalpels. All bloody, lying besides gauze and a bottle of strong smelling clear liquid. I determined that where ever I was wasn't friendly. I grabbed the scalpel and wiped it on my jeans. That's when I noticed my phone was missing, *pat-pat*, damn wallet is missing too. That reminded me of my last memory before waking up here. I was at the 24 hour atm outside the abandoned "family grocery" store. I was finishing up with a transaction when I heard someone running up behind me. Maybe they knocked me out and brought me here. What a frightening concept, but I'll be damned if I'll let whoever did this get away with it. Just then the lights turned off. I jumped and backed up to the wall pointing the scalpel out. Just then the lights came back on. The first thing I noticed was a outline in the wall across from be breaking the continuity of the white padded wall that wrapped all the way around the room. I walked over and noticed it was slightly ajar, pushed out from of the room. The doorway. I pushed the panel out to reveal a hallway, with the same white walls, white tile and staining white light. This bland veiw was starting to make me feel sick. I stepped out into the hallway and looked left, then right and left again. A long hallway each way, that turns off at each end. At the end of one hallway stood an elevator. A way out. I began to run, but that shook around my head too much, and my vision began to fade. Guess I'll have to walk. So I walked until I got about thirty feet from the elevator when the floor indicator lit up. "Jesus , one hundred floors? Where am I?" I thought I quick walked around the corner, I needed something to hide behind and this hallway had nothing, and I'd be damned if I was going back to that room. I rounded the corner looking both directions, nothing both ways but more hallways. *ding* the elevator! With no other options I drew the scalpel and hunched over. The doors opened to reveal a nurse with a mask covering her mouth pushing a wheelchair, pushing am occupant covered in a dull green sheet. She looked up from the clipboard she was holding. She saw me and jumped with surprise, but quickly became composed and stared at me.

"Where am I, what's going on here?!" I asked lowering the scalpel a little.

She dipped her head raised her hand to her mouth and began to... laugh. She was laughing at me

"Hey I'm serious bitch! Tell me where I am or i swear.... ill... illl" I shouted, but I began to lose conviction, I couldn't hurt this woman not even if she came it me. Absentmindedly I dropped the scalpel and it bounced of the floor with a rhythmn of clangs. She laughed at me again before turning to the left, wheeling the covered patient into the system of hallways. When she was about to round the first corner she looked at me and took a radio off her belt. And waved it at me. Before leaning in to talk into it. Damn now I really needed to move, she is calling reinforcements. I shuffled my way to the still open elevator and searched the floor panel. I saw the ground floor button and tapped it repedidly. The elevator began to go. I couldn't tell what floor I was on, or was passing, but soon enough I reached the ground floor with a *ding-dong*. And the door opened to a blinding white light and a *THUMP*.

Writing prompt #381 "The door"

She walked the same way to work day in and day out. From the parking garage on Maple past the bank on Sherwood, down the alley in between the gym and some ancient candle shop that was some how still open, across main street to her office building. Never once out of her two years at working at the office did she notice this door. At first she thought it was just a door taken and leaned up against the wall as to dispose of it in this forgotten alley. That's when she realized that the frame just slightly jutting out from the wall. The frames white stucko construction completely juxtaposed to the mixed-matched brick pattern that made up the entirety of the alleyway. And now that she looked there even was a welcome mat where there mayve been a wet newspaper before. She thought she may be seeing things, she hadn't gotten must sleep last night maybe her eyes are playing tricks on her. She reached out to touch the door with her free hand, the other left hand firmly clutching her briefcase. Her eyes were closed and she was hoping that when she reached out and felt brick that the mysterious door would be gone. Slowly she inched her hand toward the door, her hand was shaking... why was it shaking? Was she scared of a door? "No" she thought, "come on Catherine get a grip, enough slow and steady nonsense just open it!" She opened her eyes with a look of determination, thrust her hand at the circular handle and spun it clockwise  *cla-chunk* it's unlocked! The door opened slightly inward. She saw nothing suspicious from the slight crack, just darkness. She flung the door open inwards to reveal something she was not prepared to see.  Beyond the door was a seemingly infinite starscape, as if one was looking up into the clear sky at night on an old country road. Constalations formed before her eyes and the astrological map before her seemed to shift, turn and contort. Stars in the distance flickered off, and empty spaces of blackness lit up without warning. She felt as if she was watching millions of years of movement in just mere moments. During the moments she spent staring she seemed to lose herself. Her body had become numb and she had forgotten the world around her. Suddenly a gust of wind seemed to conjure itself around her blowing her hair and suit jacket around vigorously. She had returned to consciousness to notice that the wind was pulling her into the door. She tried to resist digging her black heeled shoes into the concrete ground, but to no avail. She wind burst up again and she fell to her rear end  and was being pulled in toward the door inch by inch. She felt like screaming for help but no sound escaped her throat. She heard a voice emanate from the door, low and somber in some foreign language with hard consonants and quick noises that could only be described as screams or yelps. She quickly interalized that she didnt want to meet What ever was making those noises. She reached the door frame and quickly planted her feet on it. The gales were intense but she managed to sit up once again face to face with the abyssal realm. She planted her arms on the door frame now and poked her head inside. There was no oxygen here and her face and neck started to feel tense, she couldn't stay here for long. She didn't need to however for she found what she was looking for. The door! She reached her right hand inside and grabbed the door knob. She pushed with her arms and legs and pulled with her right arm to get the door back. Using all of her strength she pulled and eventually shut the door. It slammed shut and she was thrown back by the sudden cut off of the winds and the force of her pushing. She stared blankly at the door trying to comprehend what had just happened when her watch alarm started ringing. "Oh shit" her voice returned to her to utter an exclamation "I can't be late again". She scrambled  to her feet and scooped up her briefcase before running down the alley. She never did go the same way to work again, it could be possible that the door is still there.

He said as calmly as if one were conversing with a friend at a coffee shop early in the morning, but in this moment we weren't at a coffee shop we were in the middle of the enemy compound. To be more precise the half of the complex that wasn't engulfed in flames. Carter had always been a loose cannon, with mixed results, but this time he threw us into the deep end quick. While in the midst of resisting the urge to strangle Carter a bullet crashed into the plywood box I had been crouching behind sending splintery debris into the air. Reactivity I ducked and started to move toward the Brick guard post to our left. I had successfully taken out the guard at this post five minutes prior, I'm glad I did or we would be stuck between a rock, and a rain of lead. I peaked my head out to where the shot came from previously, where there was one patrolling silloute before now held three, maybe four angry bastards whose search light was lighting up the courtyard like times square on new years.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! A little action in this op, it was getting boring as hell"

Carter whispered as to not further compromise  our already FUBARed situation.

"You jackass this is a stealth mission! Those explosives where supposed to be used on the vault, AFTER we got into their compound" I said through gritted teeth

"Yeah but now nobody is gonna be watching the vault, oh and uh... you won't need that anymore " he gestured toward the silencer at the end of my pistol.

I started to unscrew the silencer off as I growled a

" fine let's go in loud, but you're the one explaining this to chief"

With a slight chuckle Carter said

"I like it when you get serious man, let's do this! "

With a nod we each rounded a corner and started making our way to the courtyard door.