2/01/2010

Daily Detritus: Day Eight



“Good grief it's loud in here.” Cliff looked around, the club swimming with folks trying to engage by talking, yelling, over the sound system. “No way you can hook up with this noise.”

He turned back to the bar, grateful he had secured a stool but also despondent by the knowledge he had been hanging out at the bar since it opened. He took a pull on his beer and set the bottle down, careful to place it directly on the water ring it had formed.

“Hey.” He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned slowly, not wanting to seem eager to fight or converse, whichever was next. His eyes met the soft stare of Nicole Blanton, former friend, former human.

“Nicole?”

She leaned in so he could her her say, “Yep.” She just smiled, her face or voice offering nothing else.

“But, you died!” Cliff was trying to process through the beer haze but his mind was not currently a well oiled machine.

“Did I?” And she laughed.

“Well, yeah... I mean, I went to your funeral!”

{This story isn't complete! Continue the narrative in the comments by adding on to the previous comment. Come back as often as you want and see where the story has traveled. Go! It’s your turn...}

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"It's crazy, huh?" Nicole shouted to be heard. "You've gotta be careful of the drugs around this place."

Cliff, still bewildered says, "What about Brad? Does he know about all this?"

"Haha...Does he know? He's the one who gave me the drug! It's kind of a long story. You wanna go somewhere and talk?"

Turning to swig the rest of his beer, Cliff bails from his seat to lead Nicole out of through the maze of the club.

tim said...

Through the door and onto the street, the world - according to Cliff, at least - began to spin like that wild ride at the fair where they strap you in and twirl your guts around forwards and backwards.

When Nicole looked at him, Cliff's face turned the kind of green that suggested that his insides would soon be on their way out.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

Cliff didn't respond, his eyes affixed on the cracks in the sidewalk five feet beneath him.

"Hey - Cliff! Talk to me!" she tried again.

But whether he couldn't hear her or just couldn't respond, Cliff's face remained blank.

His body became limp, as if all of his bones had suddenly vanished, and he was lucky not to hit his head as he collapsed and crashed onto the sidewalk.