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A World of Night-Chapter 1 |
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A World of Night |
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A World of Night-Chapter 1
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 Created on 12-17-07
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 Story Rating G
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I woke up to hear the rain spitting against the glass of my window. I didn’t sleep very well last night. Restless. The consistency of the wind and rain pounding outside kept me from sleeping, even after the fact that I had put my pillow on top to my head, then pulled the covers over. It wasn’t until the rain died down to a gentle mist that I actually got a few hours of sleep. But even at that I was still tired.
Still groggy, I stared at the ceiling, not really wanting to get out of a warm bed. Forcibly I rolled over onto my side and looked at my alarm clock. The red numbers blinked furiously at me. 7am.
I woke up at 7 in the morning, on a Sunday, on my day off. Great.Mornings weren’t something that I was very fond of. Much less having been woken up by the rain at 7am on the weekend. But after laying there staring off into space and not able to get back to sleep, I painfully kicked off the covers, sitting up vertically. Stretching and yawning, I swung my self around so that I was facing my only window in my bedroom and stood up, feeling the cold wooden floor beneath my feet. I trudged over to the window pane and looked out. I noticed that the rain from the night before had become snow, and there was now a light, soft blanket of it that covered the front yard.
I wrinkled my nose. I really didn’t care much for the cold either. Which was another thing that I didn’t get about myself, considering the fact that I’d lived in Alaska most of my life, and had never really been to anywhere sunny.
Taking a last glance at the gray sky and white yard, I noticed a pair of foot prints from the side of the house, under my window that disappeared into the road. Harry must’ve left for work already.
My dad worked down at the docks, renting out boats to the local fishers. Ever since I’d moved in a year ago, I’d become is crutch. He fed himself hamburger helper, macaroni and cheese, and hotdogs, which was okay I guess but sometimes I wondered how he could survive on that alone. I started to cook for him, because I liked variety in my foods. Honestly, my father couldn’t cook a homemade meal without burning it. I’d picked up a few skills from the food network, and my mother, so it came in handy.
I decided to head down stairs and grab some breakfast, before I went out. Harrys’ kitchen was small, but still cozy enough. My dad thinking that he was Mr. Handyman, had tried to install new cabinets to make his kitchen more up to date an “modern”, but they hung crooked on their brackets and creaked when you opened them. But you had to admit, he tried. The fridge was running on empty with food.
I grabbed the last of the bread and had toast for breakfast since that was the only “breakfast” food we had left over. I took it over to the table, grabbed the sticky notes that were on the corner, and started to scrawl down a list of foods that we needed.
After I’d finished the list and my breakfast I went back up to my room and went to my closet. My wardrobe was very plain. A lot of jeans and sweaters. Tee shirts and my 2 year old converse. Mindlessly flipping through my clothes, I decided on a plaid flannel shirt and jeans. I grabbed them along with my toiletries, and went to the bathroom. The shower didn’t last as long as I wanted it to, but untied the knots in my muscles anyway. I stepped out, dried off, and got dressed. I stepped in front of the mirror above the sink, looking at my pale skin. I wasn’t blonde, or tall, or tan. Instead I had an ebony colored hair, and ocher eyes. And I was only a measly 5’1. But no one ever seemed to be interested, and it didn’t really phase me. I reached for the blow drier, and dried my hair enough to the point where I could go outside and not freeze.
I went back to my bedroom and snatched my coat and bag off of my chair and slipped on my chucks. I skipped a stair at a time going down, and tripped at the end. Before I left I left a note on the table for Harry, in case I wasn’t home by the time he got off work.
It had snowed another half inch since I’d woken up. I shrugged into my coat and half ran to my car, trying to avoid a long wait in the cold. The car door cranked open and I waited impatiently for the heat to kick in. And it wasn’t until ten minutes later that I pulled into town, that it started to get warm.
“Stupid piece of metal.” I muttered mindlessly.
The town of Ketchikan had a population of no more than 14,000. Sure the people were nice but, nothing really exciting ever happened. No escapee from prison ever ran through here, no one new moved in. It seemed like every day, was the same, the biggest news being about the local fishermans’ catch. And the way the sky was always gray and the evergreens surrounded you, it felt like a small cage.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that I returned home with the groceries, noticing that Harrys’ pickup sitting in my spot.
“Alice?” I could here the local game scores being announced over the t.v as I walk into the kitchen.
“Yeah dad, I’m in the kitchen. I went out to get some food. Alfredo sound okay for supper?”
“Well, Dan invited me over to watch the game tonight. I’ll probably just eat over there, so your free tonight.” I could hear only the faintest hint that Harry wanted me to go out tonight. “You know Ali, you could call Rachel or Angie tonight. Hang out.”
I never really hung out with kids from my highschool. Sure I had a few good friends, but I honestly didn’t mind the alone time. Harry took it to heart, and often nudged me along, wanting me to get out and enjoy my “youth”, as he put it. People often said that I was born to old. Mature.
“That’s okay dad, I’ve got a lot of homework I have to do, and I need to get the rest of my laundry done.”
“Are you sure, Als?”
“I’ll be fine, dad.”
“Okay, I’ll be home around 9;00.”
“I’ll be waiting…” I said with a laugh.
I noticed my dad was standing in the door way. “See ya, Ali.”
The rest of the night past quickly, as I got the laundry done plus the rest of my english essay. I heard Harry pull into the driveway, come in the house and go into his room. I sat up not, able to get to sleep for some reason.
As much as I hated the way the outside always looked, always gray and dreary, I loved the night. Away from the city lights, you could see the moon. It was an amazing thing, in a strange way. I hopped up out of my bed and walked over to my window. I opened it, breathing in the cold air, stinging my nostrils.
Then from the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw a shadow. I looked a moment later and saw nothing. For some reason, chills were sent up and down my back. As though some one had been watching me…
You just imagined it, Alice. You just need some rest.My “inner voice” was probably right. It had been a long and slow going day, and I hadn’t been getting much sleep. I shut my window, and crawled back into bed. I stared off into the dark, finally falling to sleep.
Comments
Please Login to post comments| On February 29th 2008 Laralei Said : | |
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You have exceptional word choice. Do keep this story up :-) |
| On January 11th 2008 lequime Said : | |
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wow nice, sounds exactly like my friend, lol |
| On December 17th 2007 username685 Said : | |
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i like it very good |
