Definition
For the A to Z Challenge I generated a list of
random words, and I will be writing a short story incorporating those
words. Each day a little more of the story will be unveiled. You can read the full story, to date, here. Here we go:
“What do you know about that?” Mark
demanded.
The old man, who claimed to be him,
sighed again and looked up. Mark saw nothing of himself in those eyes.
“When you were eleven, your dad left
you with Nana. His mother. It was his weekend, but he got called in to work for
a few hours, so he figured it would be ok to leave you with her. Except, Nana
scared you. She was old, she smelled funny, her house was always spotless, and
you were afraid to touch anything because she would yell at you for making a
mess. She was the definition of cantankerous.”
“So,” Mark said again. A lot of kids
were creeped out by old people. In fact, as it was being proven just now, a lot
of twenty-one year olds were creeped out by old people. He refused to believe
what he had been told. This man wasn’t him.
“Just as stubborn as I thought you
would be,” the old man said with a mix of pride and irritation.
“That morning, your dad left you
with Nana, and she spent a good thirty minutes yelling at you to sit still, but
you couldn’t because of the ADHD. You hadn’t been diagnosed at that point, and
she probably would have just seen it as just an excuse for bad behavior anyway.
After a while, you were so stressed out you asked to play outside. She let you
go, and you ran around the backyard for a while, wishing she would just drop
off the face of the planet, and when you went back inside you saw her.”
“Stop.”
“You saw her. She was choking on one
of those butterscotch candies she was always sucking on. She was choking, and
you just stood there, too afraid to move. You didn’t even move when she stopped
making noises and slumped over in her chair.”
“Shut up!”
Well I guess he proved his point. Still has me hooked.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Ax: Writer's Storm
Creepy, but in a very good way.
ReplyDeleteWow, that sure is convincing!
ReplyDelete