January 1st, 2014, PROMPT #1: Use this line somewhere in your piece: “I guess he got the umbrella with the slippery handle.”
Nora had not had a day this bad in as long as she could remember, which is saying something considering how unlucky she considers herself. She had gotten braces the day before pictures one year, and had an allergic reaction to a new lipstick shortly before her prom date arrived to escort her. She broke her ankle a week before graduation and had to walk on crutches to get her diploma. It seemed that every unlucky event in her life occurred just before an equally important one, much to her dismay. The terrible events of today seemed to be leading to nothing of great significance, as far as she could tell. She could not be more wrong.
She ran out of printer ink while printing a report for work, and while refilling the ink she spilled some on her skirt and marked up her hands with it something good. She made it through the rest of her work day relatively unscathed and headed home with relief. She wasn't aware that the events of the day were just beginning....
She spoke with her mother on the way home from work and was informed that the family pet, a Siamese cat named Koopa had been diagnosed with a respiratory problem that had recently gotten more severe, and they were weighing their options. The conversation with her mother was cut short when Nora realized that she had a flat tire. Upon getting out to investigate, she saw that she had run over a large nail. She flipped her phone open to call Triple A, only to find that her battery was dead. Then, the rain began.
When the first rain drop hit Nora, the events of the day all came crashing in at once. She climbed into her car, which she had parked in a parking lot of a pharmacy that happened to be closed, and she began to cry. She cried, ugly tears of frustration and helplessness. Issues much larger than those of her day arose from the depths of her, as she asked herself those big, unanswerable questions of meaning and purpose. She cried for not nearly long enough when she was interrupted by a rapping on her window. Thankful for assistance, annoyed by the interruption of her soul-searching and more than a little embarrassed to be caught blubbering, she reluctantly rolled down her window.
The rain was really coming down at this point, but there at her window smiled a stranger whose face would come to be the most important one she'd look at for the rest of her life. He smiled, "It looks like you could use some help," he offered. She smiled back meekly at him and thanked him for stopping. She got out of the car to show him the situation and he introduced himself as Nate. As he checked out her spare tire, she couldn't help but admire his dimples and his hands which were free of a wedding band. She said their names together in her head and admitted that she liked the way that they sounded together, then blushed to herself at the thought and at her runaway imagination.
He announced his assessment of the situation was that he could indeed fix the flat, but would either need to wait for the rain to die down a bit or would need an umbrella, which she did not have on hand. He gestured to a nearby coffee shop and suggested they wait out the rain for a bit. She liked the thought of spending more time with him, so she agreed.
They enjoyed each other's company and conversation. She found him to be guarded and a little mysterious, which intrigued her. After about an hour and no sign that the rain would be letting up, she agreed to a short trip to a convenience store to purchase an umbrella. They grabbed two, which he pointed out were matching and she thought that maybe he was going where she was going in her head as far as a future for the two of them.
They returned to her vehicle and before exiting his, everything changed in the blinking of an eye. Or rather, the blacking of one. Handing Nora an umbrella, somehow it hit her in the face. A million thoughts ran through her mind, anecdotes about what a funny story this would make in the future, assuring him that it was ok, accidents happen.... Then the umbrella hit her again and the last thought she remembered thinking was "I guess he got the umbrella with the slippery handle..."
When she woke up, she couldn't move. Her body ached and the well-known feeling of bruises covered her. She was in a fog and she could not comprehend the situation. Her hands were bound and she drifted in an out of consciousness. She saw his face and realized how much she had overlooked. Indeed, this day was the worst of them all.
No comments:
Post a Comment