Tag: Writing

The Magic Ring – Part 2 of 2

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

12 years later

Seventeen-year-old Madison sat at her desk, sitting on one foot with her other leg swinging beneath her. She flipped through college brochures trying to decide where she was going to apply. Her dream had always been to study abroad in the UK, but her boyfriend Jack, who was a year older than her, was attending a local college this year. She knew he assumed she was going to do the same thing.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing to live in Europe,” she said to her reflection in the tiny mirror she kept on her desk. She didn’t know why she did it. She’d always taken a weird comfort in talking to herself in the mirror. After Madelyn disappeared she’d felt so alone. As a kid, she would sit next to the big mirror on her closet door. Her reflection made it feel like there was another person in the room.

As she got older, she just kind of got in the habit and didn’t even realize she did it anymore. It just felt so natural. Her mom thought it was because Madison liked to pretend her reflection was Madelyn, but that wasn’t it. Everyone else had trouble telling them apart, but Madison and Madelyn didn’t think they looked that much alike all. Even looking at old photos, she didn’t need to use the faded scar above Madelyn’s eyebrow to tell them apart.

But Madelyn was why she dreamed of going abroad. She could go somewhere where she wasn’t the twin who’d lost her sister. Everywhere she went, people asked her about Madelyn’s disappearance. She just wanted to be normal for a bit.

She looked out the window and saw Mrs. Stone jogging down the street, her long brown hair pulled into a pony tail and swinging behind her. It look looked like her limp had healed.

Madison gave a shudder. There was something about Mrs. Stone that gave her chills.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, she told Jack that she had applied to a school in England. She tried to tell him that there was a slim chance she’d even get in. But he’d been upset anyway. Then he’d found out about all of the other schools she’d applied to. He said they should take a break. When she got home, she sat in her old spot in front of her closet door, crying in front of her mirror.

Suddenly, she saw it. The scar above the right eyebrow. She leaned closer to the mirror, staring at her reflection, running a finger over her brow. But as she looked closer, it cleared. That was weird. She sat back and tried to get in the same position as before, but the scar was gone. Probably just a figment of her imagination or a weird refraction of light from one of the tears in her eyes.

At dinner, she was distracted and couldn’t get the image of that faint, white scar above her eyebrow out of her head. And the thing was, it wasn’t just the scar. For a split second, the image staring back at her, hadn’t been hers.

Later that evening, she grabbed a bottle of eye drops from the bedroom and sat in front of the closet mirror and dripped 3 drops into each eye, careful not to blink too much. With water-filled lids she looked again. At first, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but just as she was about to turn away, a glint of gold caught her eye. There, on her reflection’s ring finger was the black ring.

The eyedrops leaked down her cheeks. What did it mean? Soon her eyes were dry and the ring was gone. She quickly grabbed the bottle again and dripped more drops into her eyes. A few moments later, a faint image flickered on her ring finger again.

This time, she moved her fingers to take off the imaginary ring. As she slide it from her finger, the ring in the reflection moved slowly down her finger. And then it was off. Her reflection flickered for a moment.

She’d been expecting something bigger to happen, but what, she wasn’t sure.

“It’s about time you figured it out,” a voice said from behind her.

She whirled around and there was Madelyn. At least, she thought it was Madelyn.

“Is that really you?” she asked, tentatively.

Madelyn nodded, her eyes filling with tears. They flew into each other’s arms crying and laughing. She was seventeen now and looked much older than the last time she’d seen her.

“What happened?” Madison asked. “Where have you been?”

“It was that stupid ring!” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “It was a trap! Mrs. Stone knew that I’d be jealous and would try to steal the ring. As soon as I put it on, it locked me on the other side of the mirror. I’ve been trying to get your attention all this time, but the spell forced me do copy you’re every move. I thought I was going to be stuck forever!”

* * *

Everyone celebrated Madelyn’s return. Well, almost everyone.

“Who’s that?” Madison, asked a couple of weeks later, starting out the window.

Creeping along down the sidewalk in front of their house was an old woman hunched over a walker. She had long gray hair that swept past her waist. She glanced up at their window and glared. Large, circular glasses sat halfway down her nose. She snarled at them as she pushed her walker forward and limped down the street.

The Magic Ring – Part 1 of 2

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

Five-year-olds Madison and Madelyn Stewart trailed after their mother up the front walk of Mrs. Stone’s house. Usually their babysitter Natalie took care of them on Saturdays while their mom was at work, but today, Natalie had called to say she was sick.

“Thank you so much for a taking care of my girls,” Julie said, quickly kissing each girl on top of their head before rushing off. The girls watched from the open doorway as she rushed back to her car, her high heels clicking along the cement walk.

Mrs. Stone was over six feet tall with long, straight, gray hair that hung down to her waist. She had giant, round, black-rimed glasses that sat halfway down her nose and, along with her pursed lips, gave the illusion that she was part fish.

She ushered the girls inside and the door gave a resounding thud as it closed behind them. Sunlight shone through the windows, it’s beams catching the multitude of dust particles hanging in the air like glitter.

They dragged their feet as the followed her into the kitchen. On the table, laid out on a pale pink towel, was what looked like the entire contents of her jewelry box. They scrambled onto chairs and stood on tiptoe to have a closer look.

Most of it was cheap costume jewelry, but the girls didn’t know any better. They quickly snatched up strings of fake pearls, beads, and bangle bracelets. Soon each girl had multiple lengths of necklaces hung from their necks, bracelets up to their elbows, and a broach pinned beneath each of their shoulders. They were both grinning from ear to ear.

Then, Mrs. Stone brought out the gloves and helped each girl pull on the silky material. Madison in blue, and Madelyn in yellow.

“Can we keep these?” Madelyn asked, her eyes wide looking eager and hopeful.

Mrs. Stone laughed. “No sweetheart, not these. But, I do have something you can have.” She gave them a quick wink before turning to the jewelry box the girls thought was empty.

They exchanged a grin as Mrs. Stone opened a tiny, hidden drawer in the box and pulled out a ring. It was gold with a giant black stone set in the middle. She held it up between her thumb and forefinger. It was tiny. The perfect size for a child.

Mrs. Stone leaned forward and gave them a sly grin. “Whoever is the best behaved today can have the ring when you go home today.”

The girls’ smiles flickered. “Only one of us gets the ring?” Madison asked. Madelyn frowned.

Mrs. Stone just nodded and smiled. Then, she tucked the ring back into the box. “How about a tea party?”

* * *

That evening, when the Julie came to pick up the girls, they jumped up and down excitedly asking to see who would get the ring.

“What’s this?” Julie asked, a nervous smile on her face as Mrs. Stone left to get the ring.

“Mrs. Stone promised to give the best-behaved girl a ring.” Madison said.

“It’s so pretty,” Madelyn said, clasping her hands together.

Julie’s smile turned to a grimace.

Mrs. Stone came back into the room holding the ring triumphantly in her hand. “The winner is” she gave a long pause. The girls practically vibrated with excitement.

“Madison.” She finished making a sweeping gesture as she presented the ring to Madison. Maddison slowly reached up and tentatively took the ring grinning from ear to ear. “Look Mom!”

As she slid the ring on her finger, Madelyn dissolved into tears and sobbed as they walked back to the car. Once the front door shut behind them, Julie started muttering under her breath about the stupidity of giving a gift to only one of the girls.

* * *

That night, Madison carefully placed the ring on her nightstand while Madelyn glared at her. They both climbed into bed, but while Madison was able to fall asleep right away, Madelyn tossed and turned thinking about how unfair it was that she didn’t get that ring.

Finally, unable to take it any longer, she quietly crept out of bed and tiptoed to her sister’s nightstand guided by the pale blue light of the nightlight. She picked up the ring, feeling the weight of it in her palm.

Just as she was about to slip it on her finger, Madison woke up. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

Without saying a word, she slipped the pilfered ring on her finger and vanished.

The Boomerang Jump – Part 4 of 4

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

Jason was working on adding locks to the laboratory doors. It hadn’t occurred to him until one of his test subjects escaped that it was an obviously necessary protocol. He would have made his intern, Curtis, do it, but he had seemed rather stunned and out of it since the last test subject had vanished. He’d have to keep his eye on Curtis in case he decided to do something stupid.

Jason didn’t mind fixing the locks himself. It gave him something to do while he waited. He’d dreamt of being a time traveler his entire life. He couldn’t believe his future self had actually accomplished it. To be honest, he’d never really been that much into science so he was actually quite stunned when someone appeared at the agreed upon time.

“Oh no, not again,” he heard Curtis moan. He looked over to see Curtis moving away to the edge of the room, a look of dread on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, but he didn’t need to wait long to know the answer. A swirling cyclone of water began spinning on the platform followed by a second one. For a moment they looked like they were going to merge, but quickly split again. Then. they both disappeared revealing a man and a woman.

“Ah, I see our next test subjects have appeared,” Jason said, working frantically to get the lock in place.

“No, no exactly,” the man said. His eyes scanned the facility and he raised his eyebrow as he looked around. “Appalling.”

“My thoughts exactly,” the woman said. “Did you follow the directions we sent at all?”

Jason stood slowly, feeling confused. “You sent? Who are you?”

“We’re the ones who have been sending you the messages,” the woman said, walking around the lab inspecting things.

“We’re friends in the future?” Jason asked.

They both laughed. “Definitely not. You were born way before our time.”

“You stole my technology?’ Jason asked, feeling outraged.

“Your technology,” the woman laughed. “You don’t honestly believe you could have come up with time travel?”

“But my letters—” he started to say.

“We wrote them,” the man said. “The hardest part was making it look like we didn’t know what we were doing. Those poor dears who travelled back after we messed up the machine. I hope they didn’t suffer. Although, we weren’t expecting you to kill Simon.

Jason spluttered as he tried and failed to process the information coming at him. “Why?” He finally asked.

The woman shrugged. “The world was coming to end and we needed somewhere to go. We needed someone to prepare a place for us, which you did, albeit poorly. Our only other option was to join a group who planned to colonize a new planet. Can you imagine it? Me? A farmer?” They both laughed.

Jason was barely listening. He could feel the betrayal washing over him turn to rage. 4 years he’d spent building this laboratory, not for him as he’d thought, but for them.

He lunged towards them. The man saw and sighed. He casually stepped out of the way. Jason was about to turn around and lunge for them again, but his body was frozen in place. He suddenly couldn’t move. Water began to fall around him, swirling. It felt like his insides were being pulled up out of his head. And then everything went still.

He was back in his laboratory, but there were way more high tech gadgets about. Above him, the sky through the glass dome was an orangey red. The ground shook knocking him to the floor.

He’d finally got his wish. He was a time traveller. But, for some reason he wasn’t as excited about it as he’d thought he be.

The Boomerang Jump – Part 3 of 4

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

April 6, 2057

Dear Jason,

I assume the laboratory is finished. Congratulations. While we are discouraged that all of our test subjects have died so far, we are confident it is only a matter of time before one survives. Now that your laboratory is finished, this project should remained more contained and we will be able to start sending them much more frequently from your perspective. Your status reports have been invaluable. Thank you.

* * *

August 23, 2015, 4:48 am

Curtis had been working at WatchWorks Lab for a week and still he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing, but as long as it counted towards his practicum he didn’t care. At least he was pretty sure it counted. He should probably double-check that.

He sat at his desk slowly rotating in his chair. The curls of his red hair flopped against the back of the headrest as he stared up at the ceiling which was a dome of windows that gave a clear view of the slowly lightening sky.

He stopped rotating when he heard a strange dripping noise coming from the centre of the lab which was a raised platform that looked like a stage. He had a sneaking suspicion that his boss, Jason or Dr. Thompson as he preferred to be called, had a flair for the theatrics and saw it more as a stage than for any practical purpose, especially since it seemed as though no actual science ever seem to happen here.

Following the noise, he realized that drops of water were materializing in the air above him and dropping down into a puddle at his feet. As he stood there, they started dropping faster and faster until it formed a stream. Then, the stream began to rotate and expand.

Where moments before there were just drops falling, a cyclone of water and mist had appeared. Curtis stumbled backward to get out of the way. The cyclone expanded outwards, then narrowed. Then, as though it were breathing, it continued to grew thicker before sucking back into a tiny spiral. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it gave one last heaving attempt to breech past the edge of the platform before it narrowed and disappeared completely. But not everything had disappeared.

Standing, where the cyclone had been, was a man with slicked back, dark brown hair and a wild, wide-eyed look. His eyes darted around the lab while he stood in a crouched position like he was preparing to sprint away.

Finally, his eyes landed on Curtis and they narrowed. “Who are you?”

“Hi, I’m Curtis.” He tentatively stepped forward awkwardly stretching his hand out.

The man looked at his hand, but made no move to shake it. “What year is it?’

Curtis, with his hand still outstretched, raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“The year? Is it still 2057?” His eyes drifted away and started darting around the room. “The lab doesn’t look any different. But I did go back, didn’t I?”

Curtis had no idea what the man was talking about and started backing away towards the door.

When he didn’t answer, the man fixed his gaze on Curtis again. “Well?”

“Ah, no, it’s not 20-whatever you said. It’s 2015.”

The man seemed to visibly relax and he grinned for the first time. “Fantastic.”

They stared at each other for a moment and then he sprang forward and bowled over Curtis, knocking him to the floor. By the time Curtis picked himself up, the man was gone.

* * *

August 24, 4:35 am

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Dr. Thompson shouted, his face turning from pale white, to a deep red. “Why was he early? Where did he go? Is he coming back?” He waved his hands about frantically in front of him as he peppered Curtis with questions.

“Um, I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“You don’t know?” Dr. Thompson said, so angry he was almost levitating off the ground. “You don’t know! What am I paying you for?”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he mumbled.

Dr. Thompson ripped a tattered envelope from his lab coat. “August 23! He wasn’t supposed to be here until August 23. Why did they send him early?”

“Um, it’s August 24 today,” Curtis said, his voice barely audible.

Dr. Thompson glared at him for the longest 3 seconds of Curtis’s life, before whipping out his phone to check the date.

“Dammit,” he said, crumpling the paper in his fist.

Curtis was momentarily distracted when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. What now?

The man had returned and he was holding a piece of paper in his shaking hand. “Am I going to die?” he asked, holding the letter out to them.

“Give me that,” Dr. Thompson said, snatching the letter out of his hand. He quickly scanned it.

“So, is it true. The others before me died?”

“So far,” Dr. Thompson said, unconcerned.

“I feel fine. I just won’t jump back. I didn’t want to anyway. That’s why I ran away,” he rambled.

Jason raised his eyebrows at the man. “You have no choice. You automatically return after 24 hours. Didn’t they tell you?”

The man’s face fell. “No. But it looks like they didn’t tell me a lot of things.”

“Hmm,” Jason said. He’d grabbed a clipboard from one of the cupboards and was now scribbling furiously on his board. “Well there’s good news and bad news. You won’t necessarily die. The second recruit lasted much longer than the first. And look at you. It’s been nearly a day and here you are. Still breathing.”

The man seemed to perk up a bit. “So I might be okay?”

“Well, see, that’s the bad news.” He reached into his pocket. “I actually think you might have been our first test subject to live, but then you ran away and read the letter, so now you know too much.” He stabbed the man in the ear. “So, no, I don’t think you’ll be okay.”

He pulled the paper he’d been scribbling on off the clipboard, folded it carefully, and pinned it to the inside of the man’s coat.

Curtis watched in frozen terror unable to make his feet move towards the exit.

“Pity,” Dr. Thompson said, before stepping over the body and walking towards the exit. “Clean up the mess after his body disappears.”

This definitely was not going to count against his practicum.

The Boomerang Jump: Part 2 of 4

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

April 5, 2057

Dear Jason,

I trust by now you have purchased the farm. I’ve included detailed blueprints for the laboratory and the numbers to another lottery. From here, it will be much easier to conduct experiments as we will be sending test subjects back and forth between identical facilities. You will have 1 year to complete the project at which time I will send test patient number three.

* * *

August 23, 2014, 4:31 am

Greg woke up early and stumbled out of his tent. The bottom of his tent was a swimming pool and his sleeping bag was drenched. It had been the most miserable trip from start to finish, not the least issue being that his uncle hadn’t told him he’d sold the farm six months ago. He’d had to sneak onto the back field and pitch his tent rather than stay in one of the dry rooms in the house.

He’d set his alarm for 4:30 so he could pack his things up before the new owners of the farm caught sight of his tent in the early morning summer sun. He didn’t need to bother with the alarm. He’d been awake most of the night.

He was just packing up his tent trying in vain to shake the water off the canvas when an odd metallic screech like a metallic bird sounded. He stopped moving thinking maybe he’d pulled one of the tent poles the wrong way. As he examined the tent the noise sounded again, but seemed to be coming from above him.

Suddenly, there was a great gust of wind that sent his tent flying and nearly knocked him off his feet. An enormous crack of thunder sounded and shook the ground with tremendous force. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the stilled and everything went quiet.

He brushed the dirt from his hair and looked around and saw to his surprise a woman standing in front of him. She appeared to be in her late 20’s and was grinning broadly at him. She walked towards him with her hand outstretched.

“Hello,” he said, jumping a bit in surprise when he caught sight of her. He had no idea where she came from.

“Hi,” she smiled. “My name is Stephanie. Are you Jason?”

“No, my name is Greg. You must be looking for the owners.” He frowned slightly. “My guess would be up at the house.” He pointed to the right. “I can drive you up in my truck once I find my—”

He broke off as he realized that his tent was nowhere to be. Oh well. Good riddance. He didn’t plan to ever camp again.

“Ah, no actually,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “Do you think you could give me a ride into town.”

As they climbed into his truck, they missed the angry man running down the driveway towards them, lab coat flapping in the breeze. He was waving his hands frantically trying to get their attention.

* * *

Somehow, they were ended up spending the entire day together. She new in town and fascinated by everything. She kept asking question after question.

It wasn’t until after supper that she started to look a bit green.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, as they walked out of the restaurant.

“Yeah, I’m just feeling a bit nauseous.” Her eyes started to droop.

“Do you need to sit down?’ he asked, guiding her to a nearby bench. No, I think something might wrong. I need to see—”

“Darling! There you are!” A man with a blonde mustache and a lab coat came up to them. “Ah, tsk, tsk, tsk.” He shook his head sadly and said conspiratorially with Greg. “She drinks too much, my love.” He gave Greg a nudge in his die with his elbow.

Greg frowned. “She wasn’t drinking. And who are you?”

“Me?” he said, looking scandalized. “I’m her husband.”

Greg looked over at Stephanie. ‘You’re married?”

She stared blankly back at him, her eyes glazed over.

The man scooped her up and carried her over his shoulder.

“Stephanie!” he said, feeling very uneasy about this man carrying her away. “Is this your husband.” But she was now unconscious and didn’t say anything.

The man sauntered down the street leaving Greg greatly troubled.

The Boomerang Jump – Part 1 of 4

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

April 4, 2057

Dear Jason,

You are no doubt waiting in the Peterson’s field just like we agreed. In answer to the question you are dying to ask: yes! We succeeded in developing time travel. It only took us 46 years, but I’m thrilled to tell you, we’ve finally done it!

I’m sending my first test subject to you. He is embarking on the first ever boomerang jump and will return automatically in exactly 24 hours. Detail how the jump went, the heath of the subject, and any other details you think are worth noting. Do not be alarmed if he dies. This is, of course, the first try and there are bound to be some mishaps.

I’ve also included the date and numbers of an upcoming lottery. Use the money to buy the Stangland farm which will become available in 3 years time. It will make an ideal test facility.

I will send the second test subject to their field in 3 years and 61 days on August 23, 2014 at precisely 5:00 am. Please send your reply and field notes with test subject #1.

* * *

June 23, 2011, 3:46 am

Daphne was running away from home. Again. She was eleven years old and tired of being compared to her perfect older sister. She trudged down the familiar dirt road flashlight in hand. She knew, by this point, not to walk along the main road. Guaranteed, either her parents, her older brother, grandparents, or an obnoxious, nosy neighbour pick her up and take her home. But, if she cut through their field to the old dirt road that was hardly every used, then she could walk for miles without being seen.

She had her earbuds in listening to her music as she allowed her anger and self pity wash over her to fuel her forward.

After what felt like an hour, an odd mechanical noise chirped. Alarmed, and suddenly afraid that she had been caught, she flew into the bushes on the side of the road. By now, the early morning sun was peeking over the horizon and she was able to see without her flashlight.

She yanked her earbuds out of ears and listened intently. At first, all was quiet aside from the soft rustling of leaves. Then, the noise sounded again and she thought it might be coming from above her.

She couldn’t see what was making the noise. Suddenly, a blinding light and loud cracking noise exploded through the air and she duck down, throwing her arms over her head. The ground shook throwing her off her feet.

When she caught her bearings again and lifted her head, she saw a tall man, about 70, with a large pot belly jutting out in front of him. His rumpled clothes hung disheveled from his overweight frame. He stood in the middle of the road staring, with an odd expression on his face.

She stayed in her place in the bushes and peered through the leaves. The man appeared to be disoriented. His eyes were crossing and he leaned to one side. Just as he looked like he was about to topple over, he stumbled forward, caught his balance then began to lean to the other side.

Daphne was about to sneak away, when another man, about 25 years old, appeared down the road just coming up over the top of the hill. He raced towards them with a wheel barrow swerving about in front of him and his white lab coat billowing out behind him.

He stopped when he got to the older man, dropping the handles of the wheel barrow. He bent forward and clutched his knees, gasping and breathing hard. Suddenly, the older man gives a load moan and and started to topple over to the side. The man with the lab coat noticed just in time and jumped into action. He grabbed the handles and slide the wheelbarrow under the man’s falling frame and caught him. He landed in a heap sending off a metallic clang.

“Easy does it, easy does it.” He quickly scooped up the limbs that were hanging limply from the wheelbarrow, knuckles and shoes dragging on the ground. Then, he started riffling through the coat pockets of the unconscious man before giving a shout of delight. He emerged with an envelope and eagerly tore it open.

After scanning it for quick moment, his smile growing larger with each word and he whooped in delight! “Ha HA! I did it!” He slapped the shoulder of the man in the wheelbarrow and cackled with delight.

That’s when Daphne noticed that the large man’s condition seemed to be getting worse. Not only was he unconscious, but blood had begun to drip from both nostrils and started to leak from his ears.

From inside his lab coat, the younger man pulled out a folded tarp and with a grand swoosh and a flick of his wrists, he unfurled it. The tarp lay over the body as the man giddily trotted away pushing the wheelbarrow back the way he came.

Daphne stared at the empty path and the drops of blood trailing after the men, her mouth hanging open. She slowly emerged from the bushes, her backpack hanging on the crook of one elbow and dragging on the ground.

When she finally came to her senses, she raced back home, hid in her room, and told no one.

* * *

I wrote this story based on a prompt from the Instagram page: the.write.way.to.right

“People are dropping dead in the middle of the street completely randomly from brain aneurysms, but they have no identity. It turns out that they are time travelers in the early stages of the technology and the jump to the past is causing their brains to melt.”

Overheard

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

Alison had always had a sneaking suspicion that that she was missing something. The people around her had always been able to connect on a level she couldn’t, and until today, she had never been able to figure out why. It was like she existed inside a glass bubble. She could see life happening around her, and she could interact with everything. Yet, somehow, that easy connection that everyone else seemed to have, she was missing it.

Today she figured out why.

“I have to tell you something,” Jodie, her roommate said, quietly. Her eyes were downcast suddenly the carpet. “Normal people can—oh I mean, it’s not that you aren’t normal, but well, everyone else I should say, see, they can hear each other’s thoughts.”

Alison burst out laughing. “Oh sure they can.” She gave Jodie a playful punch on the arm.

But Jodie didn’t laugh. “No seriously, nor—most people are telepathic, but there are some, like you, who are, well, handicap. That is, you can’t.” Her hands were waving animatedly in front of her as she spoke.

“So you’ve been able to hear what I’m thinking?” Alison arched her eyebrow at her.

“See, that’s the thing. Before last week, no. Most people who aren’t telepathic are also unable to project their thoughts. Which is kind of great, because it would suck if everyone could hear you thoughts, but you couldn’t hear them.” Her hands were still moving rapidly in front of her.

“Ah, I see,” Alison said. “So you can’t hear my thoughts, so none of this is provable. How convenient.” She rolled her eyes as she stood up.

“But that’s the thing, until last week, I couldn’t hear you. But today, I can.” Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.

Alison sighed as she walked to front door. “I have to get to work.” We’re not in grade school anymore. How gullible do you think I am?

“I don’t think your gullible at all. That’s why I knew this was going to be difficult.”

Alison, turned and narrowed her eyes at Jodie. Lucky guess. Obviously that’s what I’d be thinking.

“It wasn’t a lucky guess. I can hear you,” Jodie said.

Alright, why tell me know?

“Like I said, now I can hear your thoughts. I think that means so can everyone else. I had to tell you! I’m your friend. I couldn’t let you go out there without knowing the truth. I should have told you soon, but I just wasn’t sure until now.”

“Jodie, I’m sorry, but I really don’t have time for this. I have to go.” Alison huffed as she grabbed her purse and keys from the back door.

I always knew Jodie was a bit different, but now she’s going bat-shit crazy.

“I heard that!” she called from the kitchen.

Alison rolled her eyes, still not believing her. “Of course you did,” she mumbled as she closed the door behind her. “But then, you didn’t actually say what it was that you heard, now did you?”

Out on the street, she began to walk to work, when someone called out from behind: “Alison! Hi, how are you?”

She spun around and saw Edgar striding towards her looking amazing as per usual. He grinned as he approached her

You are just gorgeous. Too bad you have a girlfriend.

His easy grin flickered and he paused misstep for half a second. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Of course, why do you ask?” How bad did she look to warrant that question?

“No it’s just, um, never mind.” He grinned again.

Marry me and have my children.

His eyes widened and he started to mumble incoherently.

Suddenly, Jodie’s warning from earlier came back to her and a deep blush slowly crept up her neck.

But that’s crazy. He can’t—

“I have to go. Nice seeing you.” He tripped over his feet and nearly ran into a pole in his rush to get away from her.

Huh.

She wandered into a nearby coffee shop to grab a tea, deep in thought as she went. Jodie had certainly done a number on her brain this morning. Maybe she was gullible after all.

When she got the register, the woman at the till gave her a sympathetic smile. “My niece can’t hear either.” She patted Alison’s arm sympathetically. “I know how hard it must be.”

“I can hear just fine,” Alison said, confused.

“No, I meant, oh never mind.” She busied herself grabbing Alison’s tea.

That was weird.

She stared at the woman’s back as she poured hot water into her cup. The woman was wearing a hideous stripped shirt that clashed loudly with her purple stretch pants. It was not a flattering look in Alison’s opinion.

The woman whirled around and slammed the cup on the counter. “Well, no one asked you.” She turned to the next customer as Alison quickly grabbed some nearby napkins to wipe up the slosh from the cup.

I’m so sorry!

She fled feeling embarrassed and shameful.

What was happening?

* * *

I wrote this story based on a weird fear I sometimes have when I’m talking to people. I’ll be chatting when suddenly the thought will pop into my head of, “oh no, what if they can hear my thoughts? What if everyone is telepathic, but somehow I wasn’t born with that gene and they’ve all just agreed not to tell me.”

To be fair, I said it was weird. I didn’t say it was rational 😉

Imaginary Friends

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

Emma ran down the sidewalk towards her best friend Cora’s house. Her and Emma had been best friends for as long as she could remember, probably their entire lives. 12 years is a long time!

As Cora came around the corner she saw Emma standing at the end of her driveway with a couple of girls Cora didn’t recognize. The each had their bikes with them and they were huddled in a tight cluster. Cora stopped running when she saw the girls with Emma. She felt a pang of jealousy as she slowly walked towards them. Emma was her friend, but suddenly she felt like the outsider.

“Hi Emma,” she said, trying to grab her attention away from the girls.

“We should grab slushies,” one of the girls said. She had her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and she had both glasses and freckles. Instantly, Cora hated her. Both her and Emma had always wanted glasses and freckles. It was so unfair. “I got my allowance this morning,” she said, “And I’m dying to spend it.”

“Sure,” the other girl said. She was tall and towered above the other two.

Emma looked sad. “No thanks. You guys go ahead.” She start to pull away from the group. Finally, she would have Emma to herself.

“No way! What’s wrong?” the girl with freckles asked, pulling her back by the elbow.

Emma scuffed her toe against the pavement. “It’s just, I don’t have money.” She said.

The girls laughed. “That’s okay,” the girl freckles said. “I’ll pay for yours and you can pay me back when you get your allowance.”

Emma shrunk further away. “I don’t get an allowance,” she whispered.

Neither did Cora. They didn’t need an allowance. They had always had fun for free.

“That’s okay,” said the tall girl. “I’ll just pay for it. You have to come!”

Emma perked up. “Really?” she asked breaking into a huge grin.

“Wait,” Cora said, as the girls hopped on their bikes. “Can I come?”

They acted like they couldn’t hear her and hopped on their bikes and speed away.

Cora’s eyes welled up with tears. She let her bike drop to the pavement on the driveway and sank down into the grass. It wasn’t fair. She was so busy feeling sorry for herself that she didn’t notice old Mrs. Decker walking down the sidewalk towards her with another lady.

Cora quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand so they wouldn’t know she’d been crying. She didn’t need to worry, however; they didn’t seem to know she was there.

“It is so nice to see Emma with some friends for a change,” Mrs. Decker said.

Cora glared at her. What was she talking about? Her and Emma had been inseparable for years.

“Oh, I know! When I think back on when her mother died. The poor dear didn’t talk to anyone for an entire year. I thought she was going to be a mute!”

“But even when she did start talking again, all she ever talked about was Cora, Cora, Cora.”

Well, of course she did. They were best friends after all.

“Who’s Cora?” the second lady asked.

“Her imaginary friend. I’d invite her over for dessert every now and then, and wouldn’t you know I always had to set out two pieces of cake. Of course, Emma would eat them both.”

Imaginary? What a load of crap! And Emma was doing her a favour! Cora didn’t like those nasty cakes so Emma would eat it for her so they wouldn’t her Mrs. Decker’s feelings. But, now Cora didn’t care a bit about her feelings. How dare she call her imaginary!

* * *

The above story I wrote from a prompt I found on the instagram page: _writing.prompts.re

“You’ve been with your best friend for as long as you can remember Earlier in her life, she used to be a very lonely kid, but recently she’s slowly begun to  become popular. Others would talk to her, but often ignore you. One day, to your shock, you finally realize that you’re actually just her imaginary friend”

I’ve always enjoyed stories where things aren’t what they seemed at first. 

Pet Dragons

Eliza JamesLeave a comment

Three 10 year old boys sat on the grass beneath a “No Parking” sign, taking in the last days of summer, before school started up again.

“Do you think dragons are real?” Devon asked, a tinge of hope in voice.

“Yes,” Matthew said, immediately, sitting up on his knees in excitement.

“O course not,” Tyler said, at the same time. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked out his friends incredulously. “They’re imaginary. Like vampires.”

“Maybe they’re more like aliens,” Devon said, “And they could be real we just haven’t seen any yet, so we have to make up what they look like.”

“No way,” Tyler said.

Matthew wrinkled his nose. “Nu-hu. There’re real. Kevin said he saw one.”

“Your brother’s an idiot,” Tyler said. “Didn’t he flunk math last year?”

“Okay, but people have seen them before,” Matthew said.

They glared at each other.

“If they are real, would you want one as a pet?” Devon asked.

“Yes,” Matthew said.

“Definitely,” Tyler agreed.

They grinned in agreement.