Post by tarasummerville on Jun 25, 2014 18:34:58 GMT -5
The post-mortem adventures of Gurgle
She woke up in the parking lot of a Kmart next to a dead fish. The fish was wearing a small red and blue plaid neck tie with a sticker on his side that read ‘Hello, my Name is: Gurgle.’
“What an unusual way to start one’s day.” She said, and directed her attention back to Gurgle. “But it couldn’t be any worse than your morning, Gurgle. What kind of mess did you get yourself into last night?”
Looking around, there were no cars in the parking lot. The sun was just beginning to pop over the horizon, and the street lights were still on. The grass that met the parking lot was a muted shade of green and covered in frost. Everyone else in the world was sleeping and paid no attention to the girl sleeping in a parking lot with the dapper yet deceased Gurgle, king of all the parking lot fish.
She thought about standing, but before she did she wanted to take inventory of the contents of her purse. What caught her eye first was her cell phone with the black and blue plastic case. If there were anything there that would give her answers- it was going to be on that phone. But, like in all good stories that aim to create mystery and drama, the battery was dead. Next was the wallet. It was small and square with the leather peeling around the edges. Inside was a California drivers license to a man named Jake Linden who was 33, 220 pounds and an organ donor. She wondered where his organs were and why she had his wallet.
There were other unimportant miscellaneous things, such as Bonne Belle Dr. Pepper chapstick, loose and wrapperless pieces of what smelled like spearmint gum, dull yellow pencils with chewed off erasers, tye dyed rubber balls, receipts from McDonalds, and a neon green Bic lighter. As she was fondly reading though the documented food items that she had bought at McDonalds, she noticed that there was pen bleeding through the back of her receipt for her Quarter pounder with cheese and vanilla milkshake.
“Meet us at the library before the sun goes down again” It read. Without hesitating, she stuffed her things back into her purse, slung it over her shoulder, grabbed Gurgle by his tail and stood up. She squinted her eyes, looking to the end of Kmart’s parking lot for a road out. She didn’t know where the library was, but she knew that if she could find a main road there would be signs leading her there.
As she approached a more urban area, the town changed from being sleepy to being abandoned. There were cars that were parked diagonally down the center of the road and were covered in a thick layer of dust and trash. Windows were boarded, and the sidewalks were filled with broken furniture and tires. There weren't any birds chirping, or crickets, or dogs barking. There were no sounds of engines, no radios, no air conditioning units humming. There wasn’t even a breeze. It was as if she had literally walked into a photograph.
Just as her unease was at its peak and her stomach began to tremble, there was a loud noise that sounded like the lid of a trash can hitting cement that came from the far end of the street. It had startled her so much that Gurgle fell from her hands and made a soft squish sound as he hit the asphalt.
She slowly kneeled down, picked him back up and walked over to where the sound was coming from. Huddled around a large barrel with a small fire emanating from the top was a man in faded black slacks and a heavily stained and wrinkled white button down shirt. He was frantically throwing things into the barrel, and when he turned to grab an empty paper bag behind him he noticed her standing there.
Frightened, she inhaled quickly- first because she didn’t know if he was going to harm her or not, and secondly because of his face. THAT FACE. That distant part in his black hair, that deep and furrowed brow, and that trademarked abbreviated mustache. “Are you---”
“Nein.” He said slowly through clenched teeth. His brow grew even more narrowed as he looked her up and down, and he lunged at her when he noticed Gurgle. Once she realized that it was Gurgle that he wanted and not her she willingly gave him away.
“I’m sorry, i’ll leave you alone if i could just have him---”
The man began shouting at her in a language that she couldn’t understand, and waving his arms and stomping furiously on the sidewalk. And he continued to do so until she had ran away nearly 2 city blocks before stopping to catch her breath.
Most of the afternoon she spent looking at buildings and signs, trying to find one labeled library. It wasn’t until she decided to flip over signs that had fallen over that she was able to direct herself to the large brick building with the parking lot labeled 'library parking'. The building was completely boarded for the exception of a door in the back. She knocked on it reluctantly, peering through the glass, only able to make out a small lobby with a school desk and an empty bottle of water before her attention was directed to the large man walking to the door. He opened it, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside.
“Do you remember what happened?” He said, sternly, yet she could sense sympathy in his eyes.
She shook her head.
“Do you remember who you are?”
She shook her head again.
“Good. Welcome to the end.”
She woke up in the parking lot of a Kmart next to a dead fish. The fish was wearing a small red and blue plaid neck tie with a sticker on his side that read ‘Hello, my Name is: Gurgle.’
“What an unusual way to start one’s day.” She said, and directed her attention back to Gurgle. “But it couldn’t be any worse than your morning, Gurgle. What kind of mess did you get yourself into last night?”
Looking around, there were no cars in the parking lot. The sun was just beginning to pop over the horizon, and the street lights were still on. The grass that met the parking lot was a muted shade of green and covered in frost. Everyone else in the world was sleeping and paid no attention to the girl sleeping in a parking lot with the dapper yet deceased Gurgle, king of all the parking lot fish.
She thought about standing, but before she did she wanted to take inventory of the contents of her purse. What caught her eye first was her cell phone with the black and blue plastic case. If there were anything there that would give her answers- it was going to be on that phone. But, like in all good stories that aim to create mystery and drama, the battery was dead. Next was the wallet. It was small and square with the leather peeling around the edges. Inside was a California drivers license to a man named Jake Linden who was 33, 220 pounds and an organ donor. She wondered where his organs were and why she had his wallet.
There were other unimportant miscellaneous things, such as Bonne Belle Dr. Pepper chapstick, loose and wrapperless pieces of what smelled like spearmint gum, dull yellow pencils with chewed off erasers, tye dyed rubber balls, receipts from McDonalds, and a neon green Bic lighter. As she was fondly reading though the documented food items that she had bought at McDonalds, she noticed that there was pen bleeding through the back of her receipt for her Quarter pounder with cheese and vanilla milkshake.
“Meet us at the library before the sun goes down again” It read. Without hesitating, she stuffed her things back into her purse, slung it over her shoulder, grabbed Gurgle by his tail and stood up. She squinted her eyes, looking to the end of Kmart’s parking lot for a road out. She didn’t know where the library was, but she knew that if she could find a main road there would be signs leading her there.
As she approached a more urban area, the town changed from being sleepy to being abandoned. There were cars that were parked diagonally down the center of the road and were covered in a thick layer of dust and trash. Windows were boarded, and the sidewalks were filled with broken furniture and tires. There weren't any birds chirping, or crickets, or dogs barking. There were no sounds of engines, no radios, no air conditioning units humming. There wasn’t even a breeze. It was as if she had literally walked into a photograph.
Just as her unease was at its peak and her stomach began to tremble, there was a loud noise that sounded like the lid of a trash can hitting cement that came from the far end of the street. It had startled her so much that Gurgle fell from her hands and made a soft squish sound as he hit the asphalt.
She slowly kneeled down, picked him back up and walked over to where the sound was coming from. Huddled around a large barrel with a small fire emanating from the top was a man in faded black slacks and a heavily stained and wrinkled white button down shirt. He was frantically throwing things into the barrel, and when he turned to grab an empty paper bag behind him he noticed her standing there.
Frightened, she inhaled quickly- first because she didn’t know if he was going to harm her or not, and secondly because of his face. THAT FACE. That distant part in his black hair, that deep and furrowed brow, and that trademarked abbreviated mustache. “Are you---”
“Nein.” He said slowly through clenched teeth. His brow grew even more narrowed as he looked her up and down, and he lunged at her when he noticed Gurgle. Once she realized that it was Gurgle that he wanted and not her she willingly gave him away.
“I’m sorry, i’ll leave you alone if i could just have him---”
The man began shouting at her in a language that she couldn’t understand, and waving his arms and stomping furiously on the sidewalk. And he continued to do so until she had ran away nearly 2 city blocks before stopping to catch her breath.
Most of the afternoon she spent looking at buildings and signs, trying to find one labeled library. It wasn’t until she decided to flip over signs that had fallen over that she was able to direct herself to the large brick building with the parking lot labeled 'library parking'. The building was completely boarded for the exception of a door in the back. She knocked on it reluctantly, peering through the glass, only able to make out a small lobby with a school desk and an empty bottle of water before her attention was directed to the large man walking to the door. He opened it, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside.
“Do you remember what happened?” He said, sternly, yet she could sense sympathy in his eyes.
She shook her head.
“Do you remember who you are?”
She shook her head again.
“Good. Welcome to the end.”
