A 470 word piece I wrote as an assignment during one of the many courses I took with the wonderful Eva Shaw. Enjoy! It was an ordinary day. Nothing exciting happened at work, just like every other ordinary day.
But that was all about to change. She had a big date tonight. She’s been seeing him once a week for the past few months. He finally asked her out. He was nervous to do so. She is so pretty. Even better, she’s intelligent too. She is a bit nervous about their date. He already knows so much about her. Every week he helped recommend books to her based on others she read and enjoyed. Yet, she knows next to nothing about him. She smiled to herself. That will be helpful actually. She can ask him questions to get to know him better. Learn who the man is behind the glasses. Driving along, a smile on her face, tapping her fingers on the wheel to the beat of the music and it happened. She wasn’t sure exactly what happened or how. It happened so fast, blurring her vision. She put her face in her hands, trying to steady her breathing. All she could hear was the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. When the hand grabbed her shoulder she screamed. It was a fuzzy sound which would have made her laugh had she not been so shaken up. Slowly she let down her left hand and peered out of the corner of her eye. A man was standing there with sunglasses on. His mouth moving but she had no idea what he was saying. Deciding it must all just be some crazy dream, she covered her face again with her hand. She let her head fall forward until it rested with a bump on the steering wheel. The man shook her shoulder. She rolled her head to the side to look, again. His lips moved in slow motion. His voice deep and stretched like a cassette tape that has been played too many times. “Miisss? Are yooouu okaaaay?” She stared at him unable to move her own lips and speak. She wanted to tell him she didn’t know if she was okay or not and ask him what he thought. “Miss?” His voice suddenly became clearer and she blinked at the volume of it. “Are you okay?” His voice lost a bit of its edge, was more calming and soothing. “I don’t know,” she said after a deep breath and a shrug of her shoulders. Slowly she lifted her head to see the lamp post pushed into the hood of her car. She wanted to cry. It was her father’s old car. Some would have called it a near miss, but it wasn't. Sure, she missed that dog chasing the cat, but she didn't miss the pole. Sadly, she will now miss the date. And she doesn't even have his number.
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I swear I just spent the last forty-five minutes on my rear end in the cold, wet snow. I really don’t think I will get the hang of this. Sadly, I only have a pass for the weekend so it’s a now or never kind of thing.
“Come on Beth,” his hand outstretched for me to grab, “one more time and then we will go up the rope.” “The rope?” He has got to be joking. Is he mad? “You are joking right?” Although he can’t see the panicked look on my face, I know he can hear it in my voice. “No joke.” All I can see is his mouth and he flashes his pearly whites with his brilliant smile. His smile is hypnotizing and I think I will do anything he asks. “Maybe you just need some more room to move.” Oh ya. More room to move. More like more room to fall. I rub my rear end briefly once he pulls me up. “And after,” he’s still holding my hand, his smile gone, “I’ll buy you a hot chocolate to warm you up.” “Fine,” I pout. He laughs and moves away from me. “Just remember, bend at the knees and look in the direction you want to go,” he shouts over his shoulder. “Show off,” I mutter. I concentrate hard. Knees bent, looking down the hill. I start to go fast. It is both exhilarating and scary. I lean back on my heels to slow down and feel my board start to cut into the snow. ‘Oh no, not this time,’ I think and lean forward a little. Somehow I rotate myself and am backwards. I don’t know how to turn myself back around. I look over my shoulder and see that I am approaching the bottom of the hill quickly. Like magic I stop right in front of him; my face mere inches from his. “That was awesome Beth,” he sounds as excited as I feel. “Let’s go carve some snow.” My heart is racing. The adrenaline is coursing through my body. “Then I will bring you back and help you warm up.” High on adrenaline and hypnotized by his smile, I smile back and nod. Now this, this is winter. And I can get used to this. (C) Rachel Rennie |