literature

She sat there

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Literature Text

She sat there quiet and unassuming, waiting watching, observing.  She did not know what she was waiting for, but she knew what she would be waiting for when she saw it, or them.  The bottle of water on the table in front of her glistened with the heat and the cold from the fridge slipped down the bottle onto the red chequered table cloth.  This was her favourite past time people watching, it was why she was hired to do what she did.  She was a columnist and wrote about life as she saw it.  Her spare time was something different, it was built up around the strange and the unusual, part of something which fuelled her passion for 'people watching'.  It allowed her to watch the balance of the worlds, both this and ethereal, the Mythical and the real.  
No one would quite believe her if she wrote about what she really saw, but she did not care, she was there for them as they were for her.  There was an understanding between me and my other friends that I would never discuss them but I would also be here for them, in return they would protect me as far as they could.  I could never ever repay them for all the hospitality they had shown me not to include the protection they had afforded me over time.  And there it was the very thing I was looking for.  

Just walking down the street, towards me, well staggering really, these things did not do well in human form, they always looked drunk.  They were a variant shape shifter but not your standard type i.e. they were not fae, but they had learnt the art but not well - hence why they looked drunk when they did so.  I had once been lucky enough to see them without the current mirage but it was not a sight that even London would have been prepared to have accept.  He continued to stagger towards me before leaning heavily against my table and greeting me in their normal manner of hands on table and banging his head against it.  This was often amusing for me, and the looks of disgust from others made me struggle to not let the giggles out.  In their own realms this was good in mine not so.  I put my hands on the table and lowered my head also, permitting him to sit.  I raised my hand and ordered a black coffee with water for him.  When the waiter brought it over, I saw the look of disgust in his eyes and the concern for me, I waved it away nonchalantly.

I sit and let him talk, to passers-by it would appear we were just looking lovingly into each other's eyes, however the information was intense.  I nodded my head in understanding, put my hands on the table and lowered my head, put some money under my water and left.  I know had to go lie down and absorb what I had seen and learnt.  I walked the few miles to my flat and climbed the stairs, the warning in the message was clear don't use the closed doors. By the time I reached my flat door, I felt drained.  I spied through my spy glass and saw something drift by, it was dark and shadowy - "Shiite" I thought, "Just what I want!"

I left quietly and walked to my office instead which were only two streets away.  Looking at the building from the outside you would not think of it as being one of the highest selling journals in the world, and that was why I loved it, it kept its roots and its heritage. The only person in the office was Pete my editor.  He acknowledged me through the glass and then continued on with his call; everyone else was out on assignments.  I went to my desk and sit down and sighed.  I opened my top drawer and took a couple of paracetamol dry.  

I typed up the message and the images saved it to my personal drive named Women's' stuff and then opened up Lotus to start typing up this week's article, the joy of local cafes and relationships.  I loved my work it gave me time to think absorb, digest and evaluate.  I opened up Outlook and sent an email to Vesta with one word Athena, then deleted it from my sent out items.  My screen flickered, blacked and then rebooted.  The message was delivered.

"Hey, is your PC okay, mine has just shut down"
"Yes I just an update and so am rebooting.  Run a virus check you might have picked up a virus" I smiled knowing how strong the interference could be, but also knowing that things were safe was far more important.  The sky went dark and I feared they would come to try and hunt me to get what they wanted, but not here.  In my drawer I flipped on my earth bracelet, except this was different, it had an iron metal insert.  There was suddenly a high pitched scream, a scream only found if one were in complete pain and agony.  Against the window, battered black rocks and below ash fell on the pedestrians below.  Then nothing, the air was clear and bright, the window looked like it had been attacked by a thousand bugs and the ground has if a volcano had erupted somewhere but no evidence of its body was anywhere to be seen.

Pete looked traumatised and had a nose bleed.  Not that uncommon when you are not used to that scream.  Me it was not the most unpleasant thing I had come across, but still it was ear blistering and deafening.  "You okay?" I asked
"Yes.  I think.  What was that thing?"
"What thing?" I questioned as I raised my eyebrow, I was also rankled when I lied even it was questioningly like this, but I know I could not reveal their presence unless the individual disclosed it to me first
"You mean you did not see it?"
"I think you must have banged your head" I said
"Go home rest up and get your head checked out" I said and rest.  I know he would go home sleep and forget all about it thinking it was only a dream.  During the night others would come and clean up.  It would make the headlines in the morning and then be forgotten about, like so many other un-reconcilable events.

I packed up went home.  Still nervous and with the warning still in my head I used the stairs still.  I checked my flat through the spy hole, opened the door and sighed at the destruction inside.  "Oh well" I thought "It could be worse".  I closed the door behind and fell into the pile of destruction that was my living room and laid there and slept.

I dreamt of the friend who I had met earlier that day with the images of thanks portrayed.  Athena was there smiling.  Vesta was there too, I knew therefore all was well until next time.

The next morning the sun was shining.  The headline on the Metro read freak volcanic ash cloud hit London yesterday.  I smiled to myself and went back to my cafe to people watch and complete the article for work.
Another brief story leaving questions and ideas behind
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MoreaGaara's avatar
interesting, but i'm not entirely sure what's going on....