It was a dark and stormy night
danushaj
Round 1
It was a dark and stormy
night. I was wiping down the benches, the last of my customer’s had
almost finished their meal, both had ordered my homemade delicious
vanilla slice with a mug of flat white, including soy milk and 3 tsp
simulated sweetener each. Shudders. How anyone could stomach
soy milk in coffee, let alone with fake sugar to boot….. topped off with
the sweet custardy goodness of Aunt Jessie’s (secret recipe) vanilla
slice, I’ll never know. Mine is not to question the order, I just make
it and serve it.
I
just wish they would hurry up and leave, I should have locked up half
an hour ago. “Enough talking, more eating” I could hear my mum saying
in my head, I subliminally was trying to project this phrase to them.
It must have worked, or it was my incessant huffing, but 5 minutes
later, they got up to leave. YAY! I noticed the wind outside was
picking up, fallen leaves from the autumn trees were swirling around the
street outside. Not wanting more cleaning with an entrance way full of
water and leaves, I followed my customers to the shopfront and quickly
locked the door behind them. I clicked the lock, I sighed deeply as my
back slumped against the door. Oh boy, what a day, but little did I
know what a night this would end up turning into!
My
small café “Express Ur Bean” was my pride and joy. I purchased this
tiny space just over a year and a half ago. I wanted to escape the
hustle and bustle of the big city nearby, I desperately needed a sea
change. My shop is situated at the end of the main street, in the
centre of Sailsbury, a small town located along the south east coast of
Australia. For tourists, Sailsbury is best known for its working
lighthouse and an old convict gaol. Sailsbury is not huge, it is one of
those, and everyone knows everyone, kind of places. I discovered it
while out driving one day. I had a large cheque, which had just cleared
from my recent divorce; I had a few dollars splurge on something FOR ME.
Express Ur Bean, my spur of the moment purchase, has become a favourite
among locals as well as the tourist buses that stop by.
Just
as my thoughts were turning to a relaxing evening of me enjoying a bath
with a nice glass of wine, there was a knock at the door. I got such a
fright as I was still leaning against it!! I slowly turned and
unlocked the door, when I opened it, I discovered the most surprising
and unexpected visitor.
It was a Dark and Stormy Night
Round 2
Tigerlily2110
It
was the guy who lived a few doors away, looking very wet, bedraggled
and scared out of his wits! 'You have to let me in,’ and he pushed past
me into the hall. 'What is going on?' I asked, slightly disgruntled that
he had pushed past me into my own café, when it was closed without
being invited, even if he was a bit of a 'hottie'. 'The Bunyip! the
Bunyip was in the garden looking at me', 'and then it came and looked in
at the window, it smiled at me'. With all thoughts of the bath and
wine going out of my head, I grabbed my gun - not that it would do any
good against an Australian mythical figure. (The Bunyip is an Aboriginal
mystical creature of myths and legends that is supposed to dwell in
swamps, creeks, billabongs and waterholes.) The guy who had rudely
invaded my evening, as was called Morgan, lived very close to the creek
that skirted the back of the houses. I have a gun ready in a hiding
place in the café, just in case I get any 'undesirables', which doesn't
happen too often.
'Where
did it go? did you see?' I asked Morgan. 'Not sure, I legged it, and
yours was the only place with a light on, so I came here first'. So,
with more bravado than bravery, I ventured out. Nothing was stirring,
not even the dog down the street that barks at everyone and everything.
In fact there was an eerie silence about the place, and it would have
been deathly if not for the howling wind and teeming rain. I skirted
the houses, trying to keep to the dark areas,
Morgan reluctantly bringing up the rear. I crept around the side of his
house to be confronted with - nothing! Damn, I wish that I'd brought a
torch.
As
I was about to turn around to speak to Morgan, briefly, from behind a
cloud the full moon came out and I caught sight of a shadow. No! That
could not be happening, it was not real. The shadow that Morgan was
casting was not human; it was in fact, the shadow of a Bunyip. I slowly
held the gun out and tried to back away, but I tripped over the edge of
the patio and went sprawling, I must have it the back of my head
because when I woke up, I was in a room that I'd never seen before, and I
was lying on a couch that was not my own......
It was a Dark and Stormy Night R2????
Silverbirch (sorry for the tardiness!)
...The
room was not what you'd expect after such a harrowing event. There was a
bright, gleaming, airy feel to the space. It was modern, clean cut
corners, rounded and tidy, neutral colours. I could tell the rhythm of
my breathing had changed, my chest fluttered with the uneven breaths as I
tried to keep my composure despite my intoxicating fear. I tried to
maintain the illusion that I was still unconscious. As I surveyed the
lines of the room, quietly, and as still as I could, the silhouette of
thin white bars on the bright windows caught my eyes through sheer
curtains. I could hear the sound of wind in the trees and birds on par
with us. We must have been high on a hill. The room was uncomfortably
humid, so much so that dew condensed on the surfaces of the room,
mirroring reflections all around. ...What little there was to reflect
anyway. So far the only object other than your very basic furniture (the
white couch I was on, and a cold marble coffee table in front of me)
was an oversized aquarium containing a single fish in murky water. A
fish I had never seen before. One that didn't even seem of this world.
I
could hear a sink running in a connecting room and the delicate
clinking of china teacups. Morgan entered the room and placed the dish
in front of me on the table. There was a cup of wine, and a slice of
Aunt Jessie's Vanilla slice, messily filling the plate. Morgan was in
the same wet clothes; and despite the humidity his skin looked dry and
about to crack. I knew he knew I was awake. My eyes met with his, green
baubles reflecting light, fine tuned for lurking. Black inky lines
cutting them straight down from top to bottom. Morgan’s body was here,
but he certainly wasn't....at least, not anymore.
It was a dark and stormy night
Round 3
Apelser
I
knew I should, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his gaze. It was
as if the eyes hypnotized me so that I couldn’t look away and he knew
that. It was as if I was feeling myself getting lost in the eyes. It
pulled me in and there was no escape. I jolted back to reality as Morgan
turned away. I sat up and blinked my eyes a few times.
“I
am sorry that I scared you last night. I really didn’t mean for you to
get such a fright. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt,” he
said with his back still turned to me. I was trying to clear my head to
find something to say. “Oh,” was all I muttered and the instant it was
said I got upset with myself. Of all the things I could say, how can I
only think of saying that. What was I thinking? Am I a complete idiot? I
should tell him exactly what I think of him, that he has to let me go,
that he can be lucky that I didn’t shoot him last night. Mind you, where
was my gun? Well, it is useless to think that he will have left it
anywhere close to me…… “Why are you keeping me here? What are you going
to do with me? Where am I? I should have shot you last night,” I started
mumbling. “You don’t have to be afraid, I won’t hurt you. I understand
that you are in shock. I am grateful that you didn’t shoot me last night
and yes, I didn’t leave the gun anywhere close by. I don’t like guns,”
he said turning around and looking at me all the while talking to me.
But it was strange……
As
I looked at him…..I could hear his voice…..not in my head……no it was as
clear as the wind in the trees and the birds outside. His mouth didn’t
move and his eyes remained cold and distant. He must have seen the
puzzled look on my face as his armed moved and pointed to the fish in
the murky water. I looked at the fish for some time before I realized
that Morgan has left the room, yet his voice still remained…..his voice
were actually coming……..Morgan’s voice were coming from the
……..aquarium, from the weird fish. But how……..
It was a dark and stormy night...
Round 4
Round 4
ScrapHappyGabi
I
looked closer, the fish.. Was it even a fish? Surely it was, but unlike
anything I could ever imagine. The voice... was I in a trance? I
blinked several times hoping that I would wake from this dream but soon
realised I was here in the now and this was no dream. The "fish" in the
tank, not 2 minutes earlier had appeared to grow 15 cm! As long as it
was daylight I felt I still had a chance. What did it want with us? What
had it done to Morgan? Wait. I stood recalling the change in Morgan's
demeanour and his eyes... looked so cat-like. What had it done to him?
Was I truly hearing Morgan's voice coming from the creature in the
tank? I stood and though for a few minutes before it came to me.
Couldn't be. I glanced into the tank once again and right before my eyes
it seemed that the 'fish-thing' had grown another 5 cm!!
I wanted out of there. I tried the door and it was locked. There were bars over the windows but I knew it there were still several hours until dark. I was bound and determined to get out of there. This 'thing' was the cause of all of this chaos. It was using Morgan as a vessel, but for what?
I wanted out of there. I tried the door and it was locked. There were bars over the windows but I knew it there were still several hours until dark. I was bound and determined to get out of there. This 'thing' was the cause of all of this chaos. It was using Morgan as a vessel, but for what?
It reminded me of the fabled Bunyip but tiny in comparison, after all... those were huge, right?
I sat on the couch, buried my head in my hands and thought real hard about the next steps I would take.
It was a dark and stormy night Round 5
Apelser
How
do I seem to always end up in weird and strange situations? “I am not
planning on hurting you. You are the only one who can put an end to this
and who can undo what has been done. There are still a few hours before
dusk. You need to remember…….you need to undo what your ancestors has
done…..” the fish said. I just couldn’t comprehend what the creature was
telling me. What on earth was it saying? What ancestors was he talking
about? Remember what………what was going on? Surely this was some kind of
nightmare and I would be waking up soon…..and I will be laughing at this
and………..Ouch….wait….if I was asleep and having a nightmare…… would I
have felt that…….I looked down at my hand and saw the blood on my finger
tip. I actually pinched myself so hard that I opened up the cut on my
finger which has been healing quite well. I looked up and saw Morgan
walking towards me holding a kitchen towel out to me. I took it and
looked up at him, into his eyes. The green baubles reflecting light with
the black inky lines cutting them straight down from top to bottom
looked back at me. I turned to look at the fish and for the first time I
noticed its eyes. It had……….human eyes. How could a fish have human
eyes? How could a fish talk…..and grow?
Nothing
made sense to me. Then it started…….I started feeling weird…as if I was
starting to get dizzy. I looked at the fish again.
“Remember…….remember…” it kept on saying. Something strange was
happening. I felt lightheaded and my hands and feet started tingling.
All kinds of images started flooding my mind. None of them made sense
however. It was as if I was in someone else’s dream or rather nightmare.
I saw a hill…….a cottage…..this place…….people arguing……..flashes of
lightning……..screams………
I
could feel someone picking me up and holding me. The coldness was
replaced by warmth. The arms around me made me feel safe. Slowly I
opened my eyes. Looking back at me was Morgan. “Hey you! You gave me
quiet a fright there! What on earth happened?” he asked. He slowly
helped me up. My head was sore as if I got a major whack on it. Morgan
helped me to the nearest seat. “Now I remember,” I said. Morgan held my
hand as I sat down on the chair. “There were two customers here that
took forever to finish and when they eventually did I was locking up the
front door. There was a knock at the door and as I was opening it up
the wind gushed in, pulling the door out of my grip and slammed it
against me, hitting me against the head and then I must have fainted.”
“I’m
sorry, I knocked and when you opened the door, before I could react
there was a sudden gust of wind that came past me pushing the door open
and that was when it hit you on the head. I should have tried holding
the door,” Morgan said looking very apologetically up at me. “I was on
my way to come and fetch you. You shouldn’t be walking home alone in
this terrible storm. Who know what is lurking out there? The last thing I
wanted was for you to get hurt.” He smiled up at me as he was sitting
in front of me, still holding my hands in his. I felt so safe. This man
was making me feel safe, something I haven’t felt in a long time. I
looked into his eyes and noticed what lovely eyes he had.
Outside unbeknownst to us, we were being watched by a figure which slowly faded away into the wind.
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