April 22 – A little night terror

She wasn’t sure why she was awake, but as soon as she came to her senses, she could tell that there was something else in the room with them.

Instinctively, her eyelids flew open.  There was the distinct sound of somebody brushing their hands together.

She rammed her eyelids shut.  She slowed her breathing, which had begun to race.  Best to feign sleep.  Hide.

She reached across the bed, putting her hand on her partner for reassurance as the window blinds rattled.

Then – silence.  She slept.

The next morning by the window, a large, dead moth was on the floor.

March 22 – The Observatory; Part 2

The floor had never creaked so much as he crept towards the door.  Although he had been working in the building for a few weeks now, and was starting to learn its sounds and eccentricities, it felt as though the floor, the very fabric of the building, were trying to thwart his efforts to get to it.

Someone will hear…… someone must hear him….

The rational part of his brain didn’t know why his heart had begun to race, his palms to sweat; surely there could be nothing untoward, or dangerous behind it?  Surely someone would have mentioned something?

No.

March 18 – On Bouncing

She knew no more as she plummeted towards the ground, until, she bounced.

The bounce was not what she had expected – her body had tensed up anticipating the impact, instead, the road rippled slightly as she hit it.

The sensation was similar to bouncing too high on a trampoline, she couldn’t control where she was headed next.  Her eyes watered as the air rushed past them.

Was it going to hurt?  Was she dead?  Was she a superhero?  Was the Matrix real?  Was she going to miss that car?

The answer was yes, but not to all of her questions…..

March 17 – On Falling

She had leaned too far – just slightly too far, and that was all it took.

The instant feeling of vertigo transcended any feeling she had ever known, as suddenly there was no pressure on the tips of her toes; no weight except gravity tying her to the ground, far below.

She had time to marvel at the sensation of the air rushing past as she fell, the sound of it.  It filled her ears, along with another sound, which took a moment to register as her own scream.

The day was fine, the sky blue.

Then she thought no more.

March 10 – The Observatory

The Observatory had operated for over one hundred and fifty years before Owen found himself working there.

Straight out of school and vaguely interested in astronomy, the work was quiet enough that it required little autonomous thought; just busy enough to keep him occupied.

He had been working for a few weeks when he discovered the door.

It was firmly shut and locked, and looked older than the recently renovated interior of the building.  No-one else seemed perturbed by its appearance – they walked straight past without a glance.

So he found himself working late one night, walking towards the door.

February 12 – Le Noir

The approaching lightening flickered through the blinds ominously.

He pulled the fedora a shade lower over his eyes – the lightening flickering in the background was distracting.  A nuisance.

She didn’t notice – her nerves jangling, she hoped that he was too preoccupied to sense her tension.  In their black and white coloured world, the evidence that he was searching for was there, just there, jumping, screaming to be found.  She stepped to the right, hoping to draw his attention away.

His eyes flicked towards her instantly; searching for any weakness.

“I have it,” she breathed heavily.

“What you are looking for.”

January 12 – A Story

“What do you do?”  She asked.

“I make planets,” he replied, wiping his dripping hair from his eyes.  I really should get a haircut, he thought.  I feel like a douche.

“Currently I’m trying to build a ‘Hot Jupiter’,”

She gave an involuntary laugh in spite of her plans to play it cool.  She dared to follow with a wink, chlorine irritating the surface of her eye.  She watched him run his fingers through his shaggy hair.  It needs cutting, she thought.

A spray of water sparkled through the air as he flicked his hair again.

She took his hand.