Adventure
Mystery equals change
Mystery equals change. Saved by patience. The day started just as so many others but ended rather differently from anything I have experienced in the last few of my eighty years on this planet. I was woken by the light, did my stretches and all usual routine tasks, finally settling in front of my laptop, coffee gently steaming near my right hand. All so reassuringly similar to so many other days for the last year or so. The first indication that this was not going to be a normal day, came when my golden retriever, “Goldy”; originality was never my strongest asset; got up from her usual position by my feet and wandered to the front door. This made me sit up and listen intently. I heard the faintest of thumps, Goldy heard much more and started to bark. I hurried to the front door, but nothing disturbed the view from inside, no dark outline of a visitor’s presence clouded the frosted glass panels. Goldy still insisted something was amiss and refused to leave the doorway. I opened the door to show Goldy all was clear. She rushed out swerved to her left and sat, triumphantly, beside a package. A brown paper covered package. It was addressed to me in bold bright red marker pen handwriting. It was not heavy, less than a kilo, I guessed. No return address, no delivery carriers’ markings, no signature had been asked for. The first thing that puzzled me, was how had this arrived by my door, without setting off the gate and fencing alarms. I did a quick scan of the surroundings and just caught a glimpse of a small flying machine disappearing over the horizon, a drone. Someone knew how to invade my privacy, that was disturbing by itself, but that the person also knew the name I was using, and my present address was far more of a concern. I carefully examined the package without moving it, nothing alarming to see but that did not mean all was good. I warned Goldy not to touch and went to my workshop and found a thin sheet of plywood. The package was a cube twenty-five centimetres on every dimension. The outer wrapping was brown paper sealed with clear sticky tape. I stood an occasional table beside it. Since it was sitting on grass, I was able to slide my sheet of ply under it without disturbing it, and lifted with great care, ensuring that I did not tilt it in any direction, put it onto the table. So far so good, I carried the table and package round to the back of my detached house and into my workshop, lifted ply and package onto a turntable placed on the work bench and slowly turned the whole thing round for more detailed examination. I used a scalpel to slice open the layer of brown paper from the top of the mystery box, lifted the part with my address, clear and checked the underside of this. It was thick paper, far thicker than normal wrapping stuff. I do not have chemical analysis facilities here so just had to press on. I used a stethoscope to listen for any sign of anything, but all was silent. Only fools rush into the unknown, so I made myself more coffee and drank this while thinking about how this strange box had arrived and who could have known where to find me. The result of my contemplation was not encouraging, those friends who knew enough, would have used my burner phone to warn me of its arrival; this only leaves enemies, none these were supposed to know how to reach me. Any clue had to be in the package or its covering.
By Peter Rose4 years ago in Fiction
Eli's Project
The shadows of a building are helpful when you are trying to hide, and tonight, the moving shadow of the young woman was very concerned about sticking to the darkness. Sarha slunk along, carefully avoiding the large circles of light underneath the parking lot poles. Moving as fast as she dared through the damp puddles, with the outer wall of the building at her back, her golden eyes were darting to and fro, scanning in front, behind, and all around her. Where WAS he?? She HAD to get off this Dock and away from the Port. She had to find the Greyhound station to get her to Vegas. But she had no idea where she was concerning the gate, entrance, or any other way out. She should never have come here. She should have just saved up the extra money and flown into Vegas Airport like any other normal person. But she had thought it might be fun to travel a bit. To see Los Angeles before going north to Nevada. LOTS of college-age people, all over the world, backpack, hike, travel by bus, or hitchhike. And when she found out that passage on the ship was ½ the price of airfare, well, it made the decision very simple. But, "Hindsight is 20/20" and all that. Stupid, stupid, stupid. That was a Fomorian at the Ship. She knew it. As soon as they made eye contact, she SAW him and she was certain that he SAW her. He had screwed up everything. But why and how could a Fomorian be in this place, escorting the passengers off the ship, in the transport van? This was supposed to be a secure place of safe passage. What was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime had just become way too adventurous.
By Angela Mabry4 years ago in Fiction
That didn't last long...
The elegant lines of a stingray glided past as my eyes attempted to burn holes in the glass of it’s home, unable to blink away the pain. I felt my mind emptying of all my thoughts and a dark cloud looming, ready to engulf me. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t blink, all I could do was stare.
By Matthew Grantham4 years ago in Fiction
Twin Souls
Chapter One: A Thorny Truth The enormous ruby dragon peered down at the altar, seeing to his surprise a human child, no older than two or three of their years, sitting by a crude fire. The child was staring into the flames as if in a trance, apparently oblivious to the fact that he was strangely alone on this old afternoon, with neither care nor caretaker in sight. The boy suddenly hiccupped and the dragon gave a nervous start, adjusting his weight slightly on the cliff overlooking the forest as he considered his options.
By Insinq Datum4 years ago in Fiction
THE QUEST FOR OUTCAST INVENTORS
“Oh no, where is it, where is it?” Royce Ashbluff muttered to himself as he frantically dug around his robe pockets and rummaged under the bed. He hadn’t been right since last Tuesday when an oversized flying contraption dropped a small package on his doorstep nearly hitting him squarely on the head.
By K.H. Obergfoll4 years ago in Fiction
The Warning
Times were turbulent in the aquarium. Born of the tank, Andrew did not know very much of the outside world. Occasionally a new fish, or rarely another critter, was introduced who had experienced life elsewhere. Andrew had once envied their adventures. And like all the young fish in this tank, his greatest wish was to someday live in the Big Tank.
By Beverley Ridley4 years ago in Fiction
Lyle’s Aquatic Adventure
It was a hot summer week in early August. I had been through extreme highs and lows, every day and night. I felt so hungry and stress made my stomach go into a rage through my belly. I tried to get through exams during summer school. Then, I did many shifts for my part-time job at the recording studio. I felt exhausted! Suddenly, I got a call from Liam, my best friend. I can't believe this is happening. He’s invited me for a trip to the aquarium. I asked him if I could bring Mio, my lover, and some of her sisters to come. I'm sure Liam had already asked his crush, Ayame. She’s one of Mio’s sisters, of course.
By Meghan LeVaughn 4 years ago in Fiction
EAST-BRIDGE SCHOOL FOR MISCREANT GIRLS
Jillian tapped her finger nervously on the edge of her desk, staring blankly at her phone. For the second day in a row she had received a text from an out of state number—“sorry we’ve missed you, please verify your address at the link below.”
By K.H. Obergfoll4 years ago in Fiction
A WIZ
A WIZ (complete) By Carmen R. Cross Intro..... With light music, easy listening with a touch of blues melody in the background, Dorothy mouthed words relaying her own blue funk. To the tune of The 5th Dimension's song ... "One Less Man," Dorothy crooned...
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Fiction
