Sweet and Sour Girl

She washed up on the shore out of nowhere.  I didn't know what to do at first, and looking back on it now I probably should have handled things a little differently.  Whether or not she was alive was the first question that I had.  The next question was whether or not this was actually a girl, because I've never actually seen one before.  I've seen pictures and what is played on the video screens, but I've never actually seen a real live girl. 

Her clothes were in rags, and they were barely covering her when I saw her lying there.  I brought her back to my flat, and laid her down in my bed.  She was out for quite a while, but finally awoke with a shutter.  She gasped, and couldn't form any words.  She looked afraid, and that's when I felt wrong for bringing her here.  I said, "It's ok!  You're safe!" and extended a hand with a glass of water in it.  She cautiously reached for it and took a sip.  The girl seemed to regain some life in her face, and became very sure of herself.  She studied me with her calculating hazel eyes for a moment, and finally spoke, "Wha' happened to me?  What is this place?"  

"This is my apartment.  I found you on the beach, and didn't know what to do so I brought you here.  Are you okay?"  I asked.  She squinted her eyes at me and questioned sternly, "You di'nt try anythin' funny while I was out didja?"  She nodded down to her still mangled shorts, and darted her eyes back at me with a glare.  It was at that moment I realized that I'd been blushing the entire time she's been up, and now my face was engulfed in flames.  "N-no!" I stammered a little too unconvincingly.  Her lips curled into a quick smile and giggled softly, and I figured she'd believed me because she continued on talking and smiling without any worries.  This was bad; she had known me only a minute and could already see right through me.  

As she continued poking fun at me, and asking about the apartment I was thinking to myself.  I wanted to ask her where she had come from, but it was hard trying to spit it out.  There's no way that she could have come from within the wall, where all of the rest of the women stayed to monitor the males.  She had to have come from somewhere across the sea.  If that were the case then it would mean that there were other cities besides this one that were still standing.

Coffee Shop Hero

I sure do love working at the coffee shop!  It’s the perfect place for a guy like me.  Other people with my “abilities” would rather be out there fighting crime, saving people, or hell maybe they’re the ones causing all the trouble in the first place!  I don’t know.  All I do know is that I’m not cut out for any of that.  I’m bred for making coffee, and damn am I good at it. 

            You see, my “super power” is telekinesis.  It makes it pretty easy to run the coffee shop on my own.  It actually makes a lot of things pretty easy now that I think of it.  Like this one day I had a group of really strange customers.  I think one of them was sick because he was all green, and another must have been handicapped because he wore this big mechanical suit to get around.  The other guy was just dressed really weird, like he was some god or something.  He also wouldn’t let go of that hammer.  Anyways, so these characters come in and totally start ordering up everything on the menu.  How is one guy supposed to take on that kind of order!?  Well I’m not your ordinary friendly neighborhood…  barista?  I don’t know, but I managed of course and got their order done in record time!  The kicker was right when it was done some loony guy wearing a flag barged into the shop and yelled at them to go and assemble somewhere, so they all ran out without paying!  How rude, right?

            Now that I think about it, things like this happen almost every day.  I really need to consider moving.  There are way too many weirdoes in this town.  Can’t a guy just telekinetically make some coffee in peace?  Then to top it all off, some new business moved in next door.  I don’t know what that guy does, but he’s up all hours of the night driving in and out of there with his stupid looking black car.  That thing is so loud!  I guess I can’t complain though.  He’s one of my best customers.  I just don’t really understand why he turned that nice piece of real estate into a cave.

            In other news, I heard some real big time super heroes were going to be in town.  Man that would be cool to meet one of those guys!  I just hope they keep their business away from my shop!  I can’t afford to have anything happen to my precious little hole in the wall.  Wherever those heroes go, trouble follows.

Office Beat

The lights have dimmed.  The smoke has cleared.  The exhilaration has subsided.  Everything has changed.  The dance floor has changed into an office floor.  The DJ spinning records has turned into a supervisor spinning files.  The crews and their members have transformed into teams filled with coworkers.  The phone rings off the hook instead of dancers finding the next beat.  The spotlights that illuminated the dancers movements are now just fluorescent lights blanketing an army of cubicles. 

Unexpectedly, his foot starts to tap.  He hears everything from the pencils sharpening, the printers printing, the computer mice clicking, and the desk chairs creaking.  A fluorescent light above him starts to flicker and buzz.  He glides his feet sliding his chair to the end of his desk, and with a kick to slide back he grabs the next file to process.  He moves his fingers on the keyboard to the rhythm of the office beat.  His foot keeps tapping, and his head starts bobbing.  A coworker behind him provides the breakdown by sending the fax machine on a digital hunt.  His typing slows to the musical tones of the information transmission.  The fax is successful!  A copy machine brings the beat back by scanning a flurry of papers. 

The rhythm of the office beat wets his appetite for his return.  He may have left the ecstasy of the nightlife, but it has followed him like a shadow.  The music and dancing have consumed his mind and soul, and will not relinquish their grasp to a mundane lifestyle filled with computer screens and manila folders. 

He leaves the office for the day.  His shadow follows him out the door, and the beat follows.  The record changes, and the traffic beat begins.  His head just keeps on bobbing.

Serenity

            Her auburn hair flowed gracefully in the tender breeze.  She looked towards the sky, and the moon reflected off of her deep brown eyes.  The few clouds rolled through the night sky unhurriedly.  All that was heard was the light splashing of waves behind her.  Parting her lips she gently blinked her eyes.  The air was cool and refreshing with a taste of dew.  Her bare toes nestled into their resting spot in a bed of grass.  The cool blades scratched at her ankles as the wind blew at her back.  Her gown was hanging loosely on her body, and it delicately brushed against her smooth porcelain skin.  It gave her goose bumps, but she didn’t notice. 

She couldn’t make sense of anything.  She didn’t want to.  She continued to stare at nothing, as the moon stared back at her.  The clouds swirled by without a notice.  The waves kept splashing, but she couldn’t hear them.  She took a breath, and exhaled.  She didn’t perceive the pleasure of the refreshing air kissing her lips.  The blades of grass were persistent in their scratching, but she couldn’t feel them.  She was completely and utterly tranquil. 

            Her serenity was intruded on by the crashing of thunder in the distance.  She could sense it all now.  She felt the slight gusts of wind picking up against her back.  Her gown flapped in an attempt to free itself from her body, but she clutched it against her chest.  The grass scratched mercilessly at her feet leaving scars of dew on her ankles.  A chill shuttered down her shoulders to her exposed legs.  She turned her back on the moon and her tranquility to face the oncoming storm.  The waves began to swell, and the air tasted bittersweet.  She looked to the night sky, and saw the army of clouds that were marching upon her.  Her toes dug into the ground, and she stood firm.  Lightning cracked to try and force her to surrender, but she did not waiver.  She couldn’t.  Her serenity depended on it.