Finish the Fiction Story Contest - Week #14

Into the Woods

The clouds rolled in as Sharon parked in her driveway. She sat there for a few minutes before going inside, pondering the immensely bad day she’d had.

It started off with her being late for work, the first time in nine years. Her boss had been waiting for her reports, and her lateness made him late which made him unhappy. No, unhappy wasn’t the word. Unhinged fit better. She’d left his office feeling assaulted and ashamed at having performed so poorly, even though she had been the top sales manager for five years running.

Walking back to her office she thought it all felt a bit off - too intense for being a mere ten minutes late.

But before she could think about it for long, she was hit by a cart full of old desktop computers the IT guy was taking to recycle. The metal cart had ripped her nylons and left her with a bloody gash on her left calf and bruising on her thigh and hip. He hadn’t even apologized but instead glared at her as he picked up the equipment that had fallen to the ground.

The rest of the day continued like that. Everything went wrong from the vending machine taking her money without dispensing her granola bar to the afternoon coffee burning her hand. The harrowing drive home topped it off, and she considered herself lucky to have just lost a fender to a drunk, uninsured motorist.

Finally opening the car door, she glanced up at the sky. The clouds looked thick, but WeatherBug had said the rain would hold off until tomorrow. Not that she cared. She needed to run and shake off the day even if it poured and even if she was bruised and sore.

She changed into her workout clothes and grabbed her headphones before going back outside to the road. Her usual playlist blasting a little louder than usual, she headed north to the trail. It was her usual 10 km route she ran when she needed to think - or de-stress. Her body would move on autopilot while her brain sorted everything out so that by the time she returned home she’d feel normal and relaxed.

The trail into the woods looked a little darker than usual, but she thought it should with the clouds coming in. She didn’t even pause as she went from pavement to forest floor. Another half kilometer and the trees opened up onto a large pond, a swamp really except for the beavers that had built their dams to fill it up. She always slowed a little on this part of the trail to see if she could catch them working. She admired their persistence and ingenuity.

The mound that made their lodge wasn’t too far from the trail, but she had difficulty seeing it. She slowed even more but was unable to focus on it - as if it were twilight when the shapes and shadows blended together. But it wasn’t that late. She looked behind her, and she could see everything just fine.

Stopping, she stared at the beaver lodge and thought she could see a black haze swirling around it. Then she noticed the water. It too was black and seemed to have a dark fog floating just above the surface. Concerned more than worried, she started running again along the trail that continued into the woods. She thought she'd get a better view from the other side of the pond.

My entry:

Sharon kept running until she got to the other side of the pond. She could still see the dark fog floating on the water. Only she heard something in that direction. A piano?

It started to rain. Her day had been horrible to this point. Only now with her running shoes on at the edge of the pond, Sharon decided to be bold. She stepped into the water.

She walked gingerly along the rocks in the shallow murky water that smelled like ducks. Rain splattered off the surface of the pond. She could taste the fresh clean water, purifying.

The piano got louder. She got goose bumps, entered the fog, and stepped onto the beach of an island. She saw a lizard sitting at the piano. The lizard continued playing.

When the music stopped, Sharon began clapping, and the lizard turned around.

Only then did she realize she stood in front of a “LIZARD” sopping wet from the rain and pond water on the other side of the dark fog. Still she clapped and cried as if she’d been here before.

“Sharon!” The lizard said. “How’s it going? Haven’t seen you in forever.”

The lizard stood up and walked toward her. Her mind screamed “YES!”

Only it stopped and looked her over for a second, then started shaking its head.

“You don’t remember me do you?” It said taken back a little.

“What? Well, I never thought I’d forget a lizard. And you do seem awfully familiar. It’s been a rough day. Don’t you see this cut on my leg? I’ve got bruises too. Please forgive me.”

“Can you remember my name?” The lizard asked.

“It begins with . . . R?” She said surprising herself.

“That’s right. It’s Reynold. It’s been years Sharon. You’ve really grown into a strong young woman. As you can see, I’m the same as always, just sitting around playing Lizard Music.”

“Lizard Music? That’s right, now I do remember. It’s like a dream Reynold. When I was a little girl, I came out here to the island. It’s invisible to everyone else. Yet I could see it and we were friends. Only something happened? How could I forget?”

“It’s nothing Sharon. You were just seeing us too much and your family started worrying. We almost got caught one day when they were looking for you. We had to make you forget. Not that we didn’t want to see you. It’s just that we didn’t want to explain why human sized lizards live on an island in a pond in the woods that can talk and play music.”

“So that’s all it was?”

“Yes Sharon. That’s it. However, you do look like you’ve had a really bad day. I’m sure it’s nothing to get too upset about. Maybe I could play another song for you and cheer you up?”

“That would be fantastic. It’s raining outside anyways.”

“It’s OK. You can stay out of the rain here.”

Thank you,

Cyrus Emerson

Fear and Loathing in the State of Jefferson
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B079R5KLPN&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_GsURAbAVDYNEM

Lizard Music – Sketchy Angel

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