snip its of stories

I looked outside my window. Outside it was a murky gray, the kind of sky that typically accompanies a rainy mistress. I sighed. There was nothing out there and yet it kept calling out for my attention, the way an unclear image forces you to examine it closely. I exhaled slowly. Perhaps I would go for a walk, letting the cold rain encompass me and cleanse me to the bone. Yes, I liked that thought. Cradling this notion I set out to finish my work. After all this finance report wasn’t going to write itself. I closed my eyes and thought about the icy embrace that awaited me. This is what fueled me.

Today I stood outside. It was cold and dreary. As I walked I lifted my lips up towards the sky. I wanted to feel the chilling thrill of icy water. I wanted to be kissed by the rain.

She tapped her pen on the desk in a furious manner. She had been staring at him through her bangs, staring at the way his hair caressed his neck and made it irresistible. There he was being mister flirtatious and talking up this girl. She looked to be at least five years younger than he and fidgeted with her long auburn hair as he complimented her honey colored eyes; a motion characteristic of a shy teenager girl. The girl blushed at something he had whispered into her ear and then hurried off with her squealing friends, but not before the man could get her number. He stood there for a moment congratulating himself on his latest accomplishment then he strode over to the woman at the counter. She looked down, grateful that her bangs concealed most of her face. “So Evelyn, what did you think of that one?” The man asked her flashing a toothy grin. She could pretend she hadn’t noticed and continue working on the time sheet in front of her, but he was her best friend so she felt compelled to answer him. “Yeah. She was pretty.” His grin widened. “Great because I’m going to take her out this weekend and was wondering if you could help me decide on where to go and what to wear.” He stared at her expectantly. “Uh…Great I’ll be over tomorrow to help you plan,” she could feel her smile start to slip. “Fantastic! I knew I could count on you Ev.” He leaped over the counter and grabbed her up into a hug in one swift movement, almost knocking her glasses off. “Alright, alright,” she protested pushing away from him, a weak grin spreading across her lips. “But get back to work Bry. If the boss catches you picking up customers on company time he’s going to have your ass, especially under-aged ones.” He let go of her and mussed up her hair, that goofy smile still plastered on his face. She watched him as he walked off to fix some racks and sighed. Today was bad, but tomorrow was definitely not going to be her day.

I sat there, waiting in the car and staring at the rear-view mirror. The neon sign that reflected back at me was the sort that beckons the filthy and lost to it. An appropriate motel for what you were doing in it. You could have paid for a better hotel. I knew you had a suite on reserve at the Hilton uptown; all the staff knew you there. I let the rain pounding monotonously on the roof of my car be the only thing I focused on. The sound washed away my thoughts and made me numb. I had been wondering if you were making your bed between her breasts. I wanted to know. But, alas, I just sat there listening and imagining. Maybe you would recognize my car when you left in a few hours and maybe you would walk over to it and find me sleeping in a fitful manner, curled up in the drivers seat. But then again, perhaps I would be driven off by the motel’s manager long before you were done devouring her. A smile spread across my lips. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. We’ll let fate decide.

The sun hit his face, bright and warming. If he had the choice he would stay like this forever, lying here being engulfed by the sun’s warmth. He took a deep breath to inhale the scent of tall grass and spring flowers. The taste of sweet pollen coated his throat. It was nice, he thought, to have this one peaceful moment to himself. Moments ago he had been drowning in a raging tempest and now he was safe in the quiet reprieve of this lone valley. He wondered for a brief moment if she was looking for him. “Just let her search”, he whispered, the traces of a smirk crawling across his lips. She would never find him until he wanted her to. No, it was better to stay lost in the comforting arms of a memory for the time being. No use worrying about when she would find him. He exhaled, thoroughly enjoying the peace that surrounded him.

She quickly walked to class. It was raining and her class was at the back of the school and up three flights of stairs. The weather had been bipolar for the pass two weeks. Her stockings were clinging to the backs of her calves, uncomfortably rubbing them raw. She was having trouble balancing the umbrella that she was using and the stack of books that she had cradled in her other arm. She liked the back of the school. It wasn’t well maintained and the flowers and bushes were allowed to grow untamed, becoming the very likeness of a fairytale forest. As she approached the second flight of stair she looked up and noticed something most captivating. The stone steps in front of her were roofed by a tall draping tree. The beads of rain that dripped off of the tips of its branches dropped onto the half flooded steps with a distinct pop and rhythm. To her it almost appeared to be playing a vibrantly illustrated melody on the step. Almost like something she had seen in a game or read in a book. A smile crept across her face as she walked up the magically playing stairs and hummed a tune to match the rhythm the rest of the way to class.

Laina tapped the tip of her pencil against her desk nervously. Before her sat a crisp white history exam, untouched. She looked up at the clock. 15 minutes until the exam was over. She hurriedly scribbled down her answers and turned in the paper at the desk in the front of the class, nearly jogging out the door ten minutes before the exam was over. She could feel the teacher’s gaze follow her out the door. It set her neck on fire with embarrassment. Her heart beat hard, pressing tightly against her rib cage as if it wanted to escape. It had been a long time since she had daydreamed in class and doing it on a day where her grade was on the line was not the ideal setting for her daydreams to reappear. She left the school grounds as quickly as she could and drearily headed home.