by Crystalwizard
“I do not,” his eyes glinted with anger, “have to explain anything. To you or to anyone else.”
“Jacob,” a small, slender man tried patiently. “Please be reasonable. The police said—”
“I don’t care what they said,” he interrupted. “I’m explaining nothing. End of discussion!”
The smaller man shrugged helplessly and watched as Jacob turned and strode out of the room. Then he turned and…
Oh bother! I dropped my pen on the desk and stared into space. This story was not going where I wanted at all. I’d struggled with this scene for three days and the more I re-wrote it, the worse it got. I stared at the words scrawled unevenly across the lines of my notebook, then ripped the page out and wadded it up.
“I wish you’d stop doing that,” an unfamiliar voice said from somewhere to my right. I jumped, whirled around then stared in shock.
A tall man stood there, his black hair glinting with blue highlights. He crossed his arms, leaned against the doorframe and returned my gaze.
“Uh,” I managed, unable to believe what my eyes were reporting, then shook my head. “Too much caffeine. No more Coke for a week!”
The man lifted an eyebrow and chuckled. “You seem slightly surprised to see me.”
“You don’t exist,” I stated, standing up. “I’m hallucinating. Go away.” I walked out of my office without waiting for my over-worked imagination to come up with an answer and headed for the kitchen.
Food, I thought. I need to eat. I rummaged in the fridge and attempted to ignore the sounds of footsteps on the floor behind me.
“I don’t exist?” the voice behind me asked, causing me to jump again. “Funny thing for you, of all people, to declare.”
“Food,” I said out loud. “Definitely food. And sleep. Lots of sleep.”
The doorbell rang, startling me in another direction and I had a brief, panic-struck instant of wild imagination, then headed for the door. It opened to reveal my neighbor, an older woman who shared the house next door with 15 cats, 4 dogs and a parakeet.
“Jana,” she wheezed as soon as I had the door open. “Be a sweetie and let me borrow 2 eggs and a cup of sugar please?”
“If I have…” I began, then noticed she was looking at something behind me.
“Who’s this?” she asked, cocking her head to the side, still staring over my shoulder.
“Jacob,” the voice I had been trying to ignore responded. A body moved up next to me, unsettlingly warm, and the voice resolved itself into a man who was holding his hand out to my neighbor. “Pleased to meet you,” he said, smiling slightly.
“Pleased to meet you,” my neighbor responded, her eyes twinkling. “It’s about time.”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” I protested, knowing what was on her mind. “He’s a…”
“I’m her cousin,” Jacob interrupted. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll get you those eggs.”
© 2007 Crystalwizard
This story originally posted in Crystalwizard’s portfolio at Writing.com Sept 4, 2007. Reprinted with permission.
Crystalwizard is an author and graphic artist. She states: "I started writing in my Junior year of high school.... A small group of us would get together and talk stories, developing characters, plot lines and just in general having fun. My universe, and ultimately the books I have in print, developed out of that." Her books can be found at The Sojourn Chronicles and her art can be enjoyed at her gallery at ArtWanted.com.
