LJ Idol, Topic 15: "Preoccupied"
The bathroom door flung itself shut with such force that tiny flecks of plaster wafted down from the ceiling, exacerbating the powdery wounds of an aging house. If anyone were home, it surely would've caught their attention, but Ginny had made sure that everyone was gone for the day. The owner of the home was a tall woman with a snooty nose and a tendency to ignore the people she bumped into while walking. She had bumped Ginny not once, but three times, and never even said a word of apology; just brushing on by like she hadn't even seen her there!
Ginny shivered, scowling, and pushed her long, sopping wet, black hair behind her ears. From the amazingly fluffy grey kitten draped over the crook of her right arm came a mournful mrooowl. Obligingly, she set him down and stroked his back. "Poor Sergeant Jingles," She crooned, "I know you hate being wet, but you'll learn to love it." Sergeant Jingles plopped down on the bathroom rug and watched Ginny with cold blue eyes, his puffed-out tail twitching back and forth impatiently.
The mirrored medicine cabinet to her left gleamed with a flash of sudden movement - and *crunched* as Ginny threw it open, revealing rows of makeup and pills. Irritably, she swept all of its contents into the sink, causing a grand racket with all the pill bottles rattling together, protesting their violent mistreatment. When the mirror-door tried to swing back into position, she slammed it open again, and again, and again, until the top hinge finally buckled under the stress, and the door hung uselessly at a skewed angle. Seeing this, Ginny smiled with a serene satisfaction. Things were looking better already, "But that's not why we're here, is it, Sergeant?" She asked of the kitten, who had already seen enough of her outbursts to not be startled.
"Mew," Sergeant Jingles agreed, turning his attention to grooming himself.
Ginny crouched down beside him, leaning against the wall, and for awhile she drifted through her petty pleasure, content to watch him do kitten things. Yet, as she watched, her thoughts invariably drifted back to the woman who owned the home. Ginny wasn't unreasonable. One bump was a mistake, maybe even two - but three times, without ever saying sorry - well, that was crossing a line. It was just good manners to watch out for other people, wasn't it? The situation wasn't helped by the fact that this was her biggest pet peeve: Being ignored. Ginny would just have to make sure that today's visit couldn't be ignored like she had been.
Creeping forward, on her knees, she reached forward and grasped the sink with all ten of her pale, spidery fingers - and wrenched. As the seal between it and the wall was cracked, she was rewarded by a highly pressurized spout of water that spritzed the entire room. Clapping with delight, she glided to the bathtub and turned the water on at full force. As it began to fill, Ginny returned her attention to the morose feline sprawled on the bathroom rug, looking completely and utterly miserable in the rapidly moistening environment.
"Time for your fifth swimming lesson!" She cried, sweeping him up in her arms and then depositing him unceremoniously in the tub. Sergeant Jingles began to complain almost immediately, his leap to freedom interrupted by Ginny's quick interference. "Be brave, or you'll never be promoted!" She scolded him, climbing into the filling bath of lukewarm water. Sulkily and loudly, he meowed without ceasing, but didn't try to jump out again. As the water rose, Ginny took care to support him whenever it looked like he was floundering, but for the most part, he gamely paddled around the limited space, glaring at her all the while. When a thin sheet of water began to slop over the tub's edges, Ginny declared the lesson complete and hoisted him back out and onto the slick linoleum floor, which was now featuring huge puddles of its own and threatening to spread beneath the door and into the hallway.
Perfect. No one could ignore that for long.
When Ginny moved to stand up from the water, though, she glimpsed something strange and muddled on its surface; something pale and riddled with decay. She squinted at it uncertainly, a sickening feeling beginning to twirl in her innards. That was her reflection. She shakily reached up a hand to touch her split lips and the rags of flesh that hung from her cheekbones - and began to scream. The shriek grew in volume, louder and louder, as the debris from her earlier vandalism began to hurl itself at the walls with unrelenting force. She beat at the water with both arms, which displayed barely a ripple at the impact of her transparent limbs. Time lost its meaning in her wild frenzy. The force of her destruction crept through other rooms in the house, ripping pictures from the walls and senselessly shredding pillows into useless fibers of fabric and fluff. She continued in this way until sundown, when she was abruptly returned to her senses by a demanding "MIAO." Ginny blinked. Sergeant Jingles stood at her feet in the kitchen, glowering up at her with pure vexation. "MIAO." He repeated, stalking over to the home's fridge and rubbing against it pointedly.
"I'd be hungry after a swimming lesson like that too!" She gushed, opening every cabinet in the room. "Let's see if she has any tuna..." Sergeant Jingles purred, unperturbed by the chaos around him, awaiting his reward from a stranger's cupboards.
This has been a fictional entry for the fifteenth topic of LJ Idol's eighth season, which is "Preoccupied."
Constructive criticism is encouraged, appreciated, and welcomed.