Short Writing : A Short Story

The long room, with its pink walls, was dark and empty, except for all the new furniture that, little by little, Tobe had sneaked in without the neighbours ever quite noticing. And a fine job he had done. The room had never looked half as lovely. I could hear footsteps slowly coming up the stairs and

John cringed whenever his therapist explained this. It had been two years since what happened on that rooftop. His therapist, however, it had come to her attention that he was still unable to come to terms with what happened that day, oh how right she was.

Inside there were no signs of a party either. A feeling of unease followed the shiver up his spine. The sensation seemed to be coming from his stomach which had shrunk to the size of a nickel. His ears reached out for any signs of life as his eyes tried to penetrate the gloom inside the front foyer.

He pressed his fingers against the cold skin, and just as he thought, there was no pulse. He stood up and smiled at the young woman with the Luger in her hands. It shook in her grasp as she realized what she had done.

Warmth, Jonas thought. All he could think about was making it to Elsewhere. His feet traveling through snow. His feet were cold;his whole body was cold. “Elsewhere is close ,but maybe my journey will end soon ,” Jonas said.

I can still picture the man’s face clearly as the man placed both his hands on the wounds as he fell forward. When I replay it in my, the forward motion is slowed down greatly. I see the man slowly falling down as I wish he would wake up or make a motion to signal he is still alive when he would make contact with the floor. “Thud”, that’s all that happened, that’s all I heard. Perhaps the loudest thud I have encounter because I knew that man was dead. The man lying down, face down was motionless, was lifeless. My stomach was upset and if it weren’t for my instinct of survival, I would have vomited and my cover would have been compromised. I would have been with the man. I was about to flee the scene for my safety as the aggressor cleaned the blood clean from his sword when the unimaginable happened. A slow and weak, “Hell with you.” came from the body. The man was not dead yet as he rolled over using all his energy over his vital fluids. I can’t erase the image from my mind of the man in the massive pool of blood. It was like a floating tree trunk in a pond. Little motion and absolutely no chance it will be alive again. In a blink of an eye, I saw the attack get aggressive. “To hell with me??

Rubbing his face and beating his hands only temporarily helped his circulation. After he got his feet wet, they froze. His fingers "seemed remote from his body" because he could not move them. The most obvious clues that the man took in were internal.

The cold slowly creeped thru the defenses I put up against it. He was a silent assassin as he made his way, then finally sent shivers thru me as he plunged his glacial dagger into my body. The only thought that comforted me was the gentle warmth of my home. The tender heat from the fireplace, enveloping me in its cocoon of calmness.

My alarm rings, I push open the wooden window shaders to see the early commuters honking and speeding past. The smell of the street bakers and restaurants ready to open for the locals. I get ready to head outside for another busy yet wonderful day. I head outside. I see cars, mums taking their kids to school, elderly at the bakery buying this week's bread and many, many tourists flooding the streets. I feel the hot air on my skin as a light breeze passes by me and the hot sun covering me.

John had awful thoughts running through his head: What would happen if the boat fell apart? He tried not to think about what might happen in the next few minutes, but clung to a vision of the future: A house in the country, children playing in the yard. His most desperate wish was to return to his beloved Mary and hold her in his arms and tell her that he loved her one last time.

events of the last thirty minutes rushed into his rambunctious mind once again. John’s eyes widened

He checked all the doors and went upstairs to make sure all the lights were off. Walking back down the stairs, the chills returned as he felt he was being watched. Maybe it was just his imagination running away with him. He chuckled as that reminded him of the old Temptations tune by the same name. He started to hum it as he locked the front door behind

James opened the door and climbed into the van. The van’s heater pumped out warm air. James sat forward, held his hands against the vent, and shivered violently.

Hands on hips, Carter leaned back looked up at the tower and then down at the body working out angles and positioning.

A few days passed and John and I got on well, I really enjoyed looking