Judging
by what I see on the social networks I am part of, a lot of authors these days
reserve Sundays for samples of their works. While the title is not locked in my
mind just yet, this story is going to be part of the new book featuring new and
previously published stories. Hopefully this small sample will pique your
interest.
Neither
Here Nor There
The figure on the bed stirred briefly, pulling at his
bonds. Even without the restraints, he
physically wasn’t going anywhere. The
prison of the mind inexorably tightened and he began to scream. Silently at first, he gradually cranked up
the scale to drown out the monitors. A
machine in the corner whirred to life as medication dripped into his rigid
arm. The arm spasmed against the bed in
a futile effort at freedom. There was a
screech, indistinguishable between man or machine, then silence reigned in the
ward. Reality began again for the
patient.
********
The tires crunched as they rolled over glass and gravel
along one side of the mall. The white
car adorned with decals of this month’s security force lurched heavily as it
straddled potholes. Might as well paint
a big bull’s-eye on the car and be done with it. It would be nice if they replaced the shocks
while they were at it. The underside
screeched as the metal rubbed on the buckled pavement of a pothole. Can’t dodge them all. Sometimes it seemed as if they formed right
in front of me as I drove.
The nearly constant jostling certainly didn’t help my ever-present
headache. I took two more tablets with
the last of the soda. So much for all
the commercials promising pain relief.
It was all so fake. The car
bottomed out hard, scraping the undercarriage again on a pothole.
Headlights flashed across the graffiti on the fence and then
back to the street. What once had been a
very prosperous part of town was now a war zone that the police refused to
tread. It would be a great set for one
of those Armageddon movies. Actually,
the whole area would probably have to be fixed up a bit for one of those end-of-the
world movies.
It was left to a security guard to patrol the six blocks of
mall property and parking lots without any hope of backup. Where was John Wayne when you really needed
him? The mall was less than a mile from
the police station, but it was a world away.
Progress had been here, done that, and moved out to the suburbs. More like the suburbs of the suburbs, I
thought as I glanced at the dark building…..
2 comments:
You certainly piqued my interest with that sample. Good going, Kevin.
Be sure to let us know when you get Sandi's results.
Thank you, Caroline.
Will do. Most likely it will be Thursday afternoon before we are back and I can spread the news.
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