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smackenzieAnd now she was done, or at least she was as done as she could be. Tomorrow she'd pack the van, pray everything fit - and make it fit if she had to - and she'd roll out of town. She'd stop at Cass' apartment and give her the spare key and say goodbye. She had some maps in the glove compartment of the van and she wasn't worried about being able to find her way. She just hoped her dad was still there.
She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself now, though. She made a last circuit through the house to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, but while she was looking in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, the lights went out. And because there were no lights on around the house - not other house lights, not the street lights - it was really dark.
"Great," Marya muttered. Oscar barked. "Hush," she told him reflexively. She put her hand out and felt around for him to calm him down and make sure she knew where he was, so when she left the bathroom to try and find a flashlight, she wouldn't walk into him or step on him. She got a hold of his collar, maneuvered around him, and kind of dragged him out of the bathroom with her. She let go once they were in the hallway and just put her hand on his head. "Don't go anywhere," she said.
She made it though to the kitchen very carefully, only kicking one chair once, and felt her way to the junk drawer, which she hadn't bothered to go through when she was packing up, because there was a flashlight in there and now she couldn't remember where exactly she'd put the mag-lite. She dug around in the junk drawer, found the flashlight, did not impale herself on the random screwdriver, and flicked the thing on. Light sweet light. Now she could see.
Marya used the junk drawer flashlight to find the mag-lite flashlight, which was a lot stronger, found Oscar's leash, and took him and the flashlight out for a walk. If she couldn't do anything in the house, and she really couldn't in the dark, she could do something out of the house. Maybe she'd find someone else still around, or she'd go back to Annette's house and possibly meet the as-yet-unseen Phil. Or she'd just walk Oscar around, tire him out, and get him to pee before bed, so when they got back to the house and she got in bed to read or something, she wouldn't have to get out of bed to let him out.
If Marya thought the empty neighborhood was eerie during the day, that was nothing compared to the neighborhood at night. Without street lights or lights on in the houses the place looked abandoned. There seemed to be more stars in the sky than Marya had ever seen, though. She figured that was just because there was no ambient city light to wash them out. The few times she'd been hiking with her dad overnight, they'd seen the sky the way her dad used to say it was meant to be seen - just stars and planets and the moon, bright without the lights of men to hide them. But it seemed as if she could see more stars now, and she didn't recognize all the constellations.
Weird, she thought. Maybe I don't remember them all. But she'd always been able to find the Big Dipper, and she couldn't now.
"This is weird," she said out loud to Oscar. Her neighborhood suddenly seemed a little creepier.
words: 527
total words: 26,817
She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself now, though. She made a last circuit through the house to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, but while she was looking in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, the lights went out. And because there were no lights on around the house - not other house lights, not the street lights - it was really dark.
"Great," Marya muttered. Oscar barked. "Hush," she told him reflexively. She put her hand out and felt around for him to calm him down and make sure she knew where he was, so when she left the bathroom to try and find a flashlight, she wouldn't walk into him or step on him. She got a hold of his collar, maneuvered around him, and kind of dragged him out of the bathroom with her. She let go once they were in the hallway and just put her hand on his head. "Don't go anywhere," she said.
She made it though to the kitchen very carefully, only kicking one chair once, and felt her way to the junk drawer, which she hadn't bothered to go through when she was packing up, because there was a flashlight in there and now she couldn't remember where exactly she'd put the mag-lite. She dug around in the junk drawer, found the flashlight, did not impale herself on the random screwdriver, and flicked the thing on. Light sweet light. Now she could see.
Marya used the junk drawer flashlight to find the mag-lite flashlight, which was a lot stronger, found Oscar's leash, and took him and the flashlight out for a walk. If she couldn't do anything in the house, and she really couldn't in the dark, she could do something out of the house. Maybe she'd find someone else still around, or she'd go back to Annette's house and possibly meet the as-yet-unseen Phil. Or she'd just walk Oscar around, tire him out, and get him to pee before bed, so when they got back to the house and she got in bed to read or something, she wouldn't have to get out of bed to let him out.
If Marya thought the empty neighborhood was eerie during the day, that was nothing compared to the neighborhood at night. Without street lights or lights on in the houses the place looked abandoned. There seemed to be more stars in the sky than Marya had ever seen, though. She figured that was just because there was no ambient city light to wash them out. The few times she'd been hiking with her dad overnight, they'd seen the sky the way her dad used to say it was meant to be seen - just stars and planets and the moon, bright without the lights of men to hide them. But it seemed as if she could see more stars now, and she didn't recognize all the constellations.
Weird, she thought. Maybe I don't remember them all. But she'd always been able to find the Big Dipper, and she couldn't now.
"This is weird," she said out loud to Oscar. Her neighborhood suddenly seemed a little creepier.
words: 527
total words: 26,817
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 08:11 pm (UTC)!!!
Maybe I'm desensitized by all the schlock horror I watch, but the cat-thing didn't get me... THIS gets me. Officially Creeped Out.