Mwahaha
I just wrote more.
*
An hour later, and the two were watching a TV movie in the living room. Beth had another can of ginger ale perched in her lap, and Anthony's legs sprawled over the coffee table in front of him.
The movie ended predictably, which led to a disappointed conversation about the trends of the industry lately. Another film, one Anthony and Beth both agreed was a pretty solid piece, started up, and they settled in to watch it.
After another thirty minutes, they began to shift and fidget, growing restless. Anthony came back from his quick bathroom trip with a suggestion.
“Want to go out somewhere?” he asked, plopping back into his Anthony-shaped slump in the love seat.
“Yes.” Beth replied instantly. “Are there any Best Buys around here?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the fanciful envelope. “I’ve got around 450 dollars with me to buy a laptop.”
Anthony leaned toward her incredulously. “Wow- yeah, there’s a Best Buy a few miles out. If you’re lucky you might be able to get one for cheap. We can fish around some of the other computer stores around here as well.” He ruffled Beth’s hair and stood, turning off the TV.
In the car, Beth couldn’t help but grinning. “It’ll be great to have a private email. I’ve missed talking to you so much.” She rifled through the envelope, recounting the stack of bills inside.
“Are you that nervous?” Anthony asked at a stoplight.
Beth smoothed back a bang. “Well, I won’t be able to hide it from mom. But I plan on password-protecting it as soon as the receipt's in my hands.” She flipped through the bills. “I don’t know how she’ll react.”
A silence filled the car, and Anthony quickly pulled into the lot of Best Buy. “She doesn’t hate you. Everything’ll work out.” They walked into the store quietly.
After finding nothing too cheap in the Best Buy, Anthony drove around to all the other computer stores, finally finding a good deal at Circuit City. Beth walked out with a large box under one arm and 410 dollars less in her pocket, smiling widely.
As she placed it in the trunk of the car, she caught a glimpse of a swath of white, falling aimlessly to the sky. “Hey, Anthony, do you see something weird in the sky?” He looked up.
“Well, it’s a lot less cloudy then it was, but I can’t say anything stands out. What do you see?” He closed the trunk and stared at the sky longer.
“Well, it’s kind of…ridiculous.” Beth explained the earlier day’s strange happenings, and slid the paper out of her pocket, holding it up for Anthony. He leaned in to peer at it. “It gave me this piece, the last of one of the clouds it disintegrated.” Beth felt hair at the back of her neck rise, and she glanced up. The shadow was there, perched on a long stretch of cloud, watching her with wide eyes (what is it waiting for, she wondered).
Anthony hummed under his breath. “It seems a little delicate for regular paper. Smells nice, though.” Beth refolded it and tucked it away. The shadow closed its eyes and disappeared softly.
“I’m sorry. This must sound weird. I’m probably making it up.” Beth stalled and looked at the shadow’s previous bench. The siblings seated themselves in the car and Anthony began to drive back.
“You’re not the one to make stuff up. I don’t doubt what you saw. I just can’t see it, is all.” Anthony smiled warmly at her.
Her father came to pick her up around quarter of seven, and lingered in the apartment’s entrance lobby for a few moments, chatting idly with Anthony as Beth gathered her laptop and its peripherals.
Anthony stood in his door, waving goodbye, as the two drove off. Beth had hidden the computer in the trunk, and sat in the backseat. “So you’ve been saving for that laptop for how long?”
“Almost a year. A few times I had to use the money for something else, so it took a bit longer than I hoped.” Beth twiddled her thumbs as the car rolled to a stop in front of Stephanie’s home.
“I’ll try to distract your mother so you can sneak it upstairs.” Her father said out of the side of his mouth as his wife slipped into the car with a smile.
“Hi honey, Beth.” She greeted everyone. “How was your afternoon?” The car took off down the road, hitting almost no traffic along the way.
Once home, Beth’s father and mother went ahead, leaving the girl time to sneak her laptop out of the trunk and under her jacket. She paused before entering the house to look at the stars.
A few clouds lingered here and there. She noticed a discoloration seconds before the shadow was in front of her. She had no way to tell how large it was, or where exactly it stood. The mottled green eyes bored into hers, and what mouth she could make out was turned down in a frown.
There was a faint rustle and the shadow held out another sheet of the cloud paper to her. Beth accepted it, and looked up to find the empty space where the cloud had been. The shadow pointed at the paper, and mimed writing.
“What should I write?” Beth whispered the question, keeping an eye on the front door. The shadow opened its mouth, but no sound emerged, and it deflated violently. It pointed to its open mouth, and then to the paper with jerky gestures, almost bouncing on its (somewhere) heels.
Beth nodded. “You want me to.” She was cut off by her mother’s curious cry. The shadow faded away.
“Beth?” Her mother stood in the open doorway. “What are you still doing out here?”
“Sorry.” Beth headed toward the house. “The sky’s really clear tonight, I had to stop and check out the stars.” She slipped by her mother, holding jacket and laptop flat against her body, silently hoping for a quick retreat.
She was lucky, and heaved a sigh of relief upon closing her bedroom door behind her. She set the laptop on her desk, trying to clear off some space for it.
With everything set up, she opened it and logged on. At Anthony’s she had set up a free email account, and checked it now. One message, from Anthony, was waiting for her. She saved his email address with a grin and shut it down, gathering her pajamas and exiting the room to take a quick shower.
*
I included the last paragraph from the prior post, which I'll probably do from now on as a placeholder. Good thing I reached a stopping point; I have to go to bed soon like my old lady self. Also my run of Joseph Nothing music was running out (apparently I have the perfect timing because "Fishhead" started playing during the shadow's last scene). This story thing is just spilling onto the ninth page, at 3,668 words. Please please don't let this burn out.
Good night to you all~
*
An hour later, and the two were watching a TV movie in the living room. Beth had another can of ginger ale perched in her lap, and Anthony's legs sprawled over the coffee table in front of him.
The movie ended predictably, which led to a disappointed conversation about the trends of the industry lately. Another film, one Anthony and Beth both agreed was a pretty solid piece, started up, and they settled in to watch it.
After another thirty minutes, they began to shift and fidget, growing restless. Anthony came back from his quick bathroom trip with a suggestion.
“Want to go out somewhere?” he asked, plopping back into his Anthony-shaped slump in the love seat.
“Yes.” Beth replied instantly. “Are there any Best Buys around here?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the fanciful envelope. “I’ve got around 450 dollars with me to buy a laptop.”
Anthony leaned toward her incredulously. “Wow- yeah, there’s a Best Buy a few miles out. If you’re lucky you might be able to get one for cheap. We can fish around some of the other computer stores around here as well.” He ruffled Beth’s hair and stood, turning off the TV.
In the car, Beth couldn’t help but grinning. “It’ll be great to have a private email. I’ve missed talking to you so much.” She rifled through the envelope, recounting the stack of bills inside.
“Are you that nervous?” Anthony asked at a stoplight.
Beth smoothed back a bang. “Well, I won’t be able to hide it from mom. But I plan on password-protecting it as soon as the receipt's in my hands.” She flipped through the bills. “I don’t know how she’ll react.”
A silence filled the car, and Anthony quickly pulled into the lot of Best Buy. “She doesn’t hate you. Everything’ll work out.” They walked into the store quietly.
After finding nothing too cheap in the Best Buy, Anthony drove around to all the other computer stores, finally finding a good deal at Circuit City. Beth walked out with a large box under one arm and 410 dollars less in her pocket, smiling widely.
As she placed it in the trunk of the car, she caught a glimpse of a swath of white, falling aimlessly to the sky. “Hey, Anthony, do you see something weird in the sky?” He looked up.
“Well, it’s a lot less cloudy then it was, but I can’t say anything stands out. What do you see?” He closed the trunk and stared at the sky longer.
“Well, it’s kind of…ridiculous.” Beth explained the earlier day’s strange happenings, and slid the paper out of her pocket, holding it up for Anthony. He leaned in to peer at it. “It gave me this piece, the last of one of the clouds it disintegrated.” Beth felt hair at the back of her neck rise, and she glanced up. The shadow was there, perched on a long stretch of cloud, watching her with wide eyes (what is it waiting for, she wondered).
Anthony hummed under his breath. “It seems a little delicate for regular paper. Smells nice, though.” Beth refolded it and tucked it away. The shadow closed its eyes and disappeared softly.
“I’m sorry. This must sound weird. I’m probably making it up.” Beth stalled and looked at the shadow’s previous bench. The siblings seated themselves in the car and Anthony began to drive back.
“You’re not the one to make stuff up. I don’t doubt what you saw. I just can’t see it, is all.” Anthony smiled warmly at her.
Her father came to pick her up around quarter of seven, and lingered in the apartment’s entrance lobby for a few moments, chatting idly with Anthony as Beth gathered her laptop and its peripherals.
Anthony stood in his door, waving goodbye, as the two drove off. Beth had hidden the computer in the trunk, and sat in the backseat. “So you’ve been saving for that laptop for how long?”
“Almost a year. A few times I had to use the money for something else, so it took a bit longer than I hoped.” Beth twiddled her thumbs as the car rolled to a stop in front of Stephanie’s home.
“I’ll try to distract your mother so you can sneak it upstairs.” Her father said out of the side of his mouth as his wife slipped into the car with a smile.
“Hi honey, Beth.” She greeted everyone. “How was your afternoon?” The car took off down the road, hitting almost no traffic along the way.
Once home, Beth’s father and mother went ahead, leaving the girl time to sneak her laptop out of the trunk and under her jacket. She paused before entering the house to look at the stars.
A few clouds lingered here and there. She noticed a discoloration seconds before the shadow was in front of her. She had no way to tell how large it was, or where exactly it stood. The mottled green eyes bored into hers, and what mouth she could make out was turned down in a frown.
There was a faint rustle and the shadow held out another sheet of the cloud paper to her. Beth accepted it, and looked up to find the empty space where the cloud had been. The shadow pointed at the paper, and mimed writing.
“What should I write?” Beth whispered the question, keeping an eye on the front door. The shadow opened its mouth, but no sound emerged, and it deflated violently. It pointed to its open mouth, and then to the paper with jerky gestures, almost bouncing on its (somewhere) heels.
Beth nodded. “You want me to.” She was cut off by her mother’s curious cry. The shadow faded away.
“Beth?” Her mother stood in the open doorway. “What are you still doing out here?”
“Sorry.” Beth headed toward the house. “The sky’s really clear tonight, I had to stop and check out the stars.” She slipped by her mother, holding jacket and laptop flat against her body, silently hoping for a quick retreat.
She was lucky, and heaved a sigh of relief upon closing her bedroom door behind her. She set the laptop on her desk, trying to clear off some space for it.
With everything set up, she opened it and logged on. At Anthony’s she had set up a free email account, and checked it now. One message, from Anthony, was waiting for her. She saved his email address with a grin and shut it down, gathering her pajamas and exiting the room to take a quick shower.
*
I included the last paragraph from the prior post, which I'll probably do from now on as a placeholder. Good thing I reached a stopping point; I have to go to bed soon like my old lady self. Also my run of Joseph Nothing music was running out (apparently I have the perfect timing because "Fishhead" started playing during the shadow's last scene). This story thing is just spilling onto the ninth page, at 3,668 words. Please please don't let this burn out.
Good night to you all~