This is a fragment of a story I submitted as part of a writing contest for a local newspaper. It didn’t get selected, but I enjoyed writing.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019m gonna have to go into the office,\u201d said Brad.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Daddy, what about ice skating?\u201d said Clara, herself now on the verge of tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Grandma can take you?\u201d answered Brad. \u201cI\u2019m sorry but I really have to go in to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she can\u2019t skate backwards like you can Daddy,\u201d said Clara.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Grandma will do a fine job,\u201d said Brad. He knew it wasn\u2019t really about skating, just like it wasn\u2019t really about him going to work during the week. Ever since her mother went to Afghanistan, he couldn\u2019t leave the house without Clara putting up a fight. He just could not convince her that he would not be going away like mommy had.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be fun, sweetheart,\u201d said Martha, putting her arm around Clara. \u201cWe can even stop at the Creamery afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d said Clara with a sniffle.<\/p>\n
After a swift goodbye, Brad was out the door and into his car. He turned onto Stony Batter and then onto Axemann Road, the Logan Branch his only companion on his way to Pleasant Gap.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t believe he had to go to work on yet another Saturday, and yet he knew he shouldn\u2019t be surprised.\u00a0 The company\u2019s web server was being held together using his digital equivalent of spit and duct tape. It needed replaced.<\/p>\n
Brad knew that wouldn\u2019t happen any time soon, though. \u00a0The company had recently instated in the office such cost cutting measures such as the \u201cbring your own roll\u201d program in the restrooms.\u00a0 If they lacked the funds for toilet paper it was doubtful they were going to spring for a new server. With the company\u2019s growing online sales, however, the bean counters would eventually have to do something. He hoped that didn\u2019t mean outsourcing IT.<\/p>\n
Brad jiggled the cord on his satellite radio receiver. It too had outlived its lifespan and needed replaced, and just like his company he lacked the funds to do so. Brad looked up just in time to see her, standing in the middle of the road.\u00a0 He applied his brakes hard, turning the wheel slightly toward the side of the road, forcing himself against the wheel. Had he looked up one second later, he would not have been able to stop in time.<\/p>\n
After taking a moment to compose himself, Brad switched on his 4-way flashers and exited his car. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d he said, baffled why somebody would be standing in the middle of the road.\u00a0 The girl, well now that he got a closer look, woman, still did not look up from the pavement.<\/p>\n
He had expected someone younger, perhaps with ear buds dangling from their ears, oblivious to the outside world, as the youth so often seemed.\u00a0 Instead he found a woman about his age, clearly disheveled from living, at least recently, a hard life. He couldn\u2019t help notice, however, that she had a strikingly pretty face, and eyes that seemed oddly familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s walk over here,\u201d he said, ever so lightly nudging her to the side of the road, taking care not to scare her even further into harm\u2019s way. To his relief she complied.<\/p>\n
He had never picked up a hitchhiker before but couldn\u2019t just leave her there on the side of the road. She would surely wander into traffic again, and who knows if the next driver would notice in time.\u00a0 She would have to come with him. \u201cAre you hungry?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Without raising her head, the woman nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, good,\u201d said Brad. \u201cThere\u2019s a little diner just up the road. If you get in the car, I can take you there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman didn\u2019t answer, but started for the car.\u00a0 It was good enough for him.<\/p>\n
Brad attempted to introduce himself to her as they drove past his office on their way to the restaurant, but she did not answer. Midway through the drive, he rolled down his window ever so slightly and discreetly. She had clearly not showered in some time.<\/p>\n
As Brad pulled into the parking lot of the diner, he wasn\u2019t sure what his next move would be and he struggled to remember where he had seen those eyes before.<\/p>\n
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This is a fragment of a story I submitted as part of a writing contest for a local newspaper. It didn’t get selected, but I enjoyed writing. \u201c\u2026I\u2019m gonna have to go into the office,\u201d said Brad. \u201cBut Daddy, what about ice skating?\u201d said Clara, herself now on the verge of tears. \u201cMaybe Grandma can take you?\u201d answered Brad. \u201cI\u2019m sorry but I really have to go in to work.\u201d \u201cBut she can\u2019t skate backwards like you can Daddy,\u201d said…<\/p>\n