14. No ideas, but in things
A drop of water hits a distant pool. Lola freezes mid-step. Her hand snakes around her hip resting on the hilt. Another drop of water echos. She relaxes her grip and takes a tentative step, feeling the hard earth though her thin leather shoes. The drop echos and the sound of shuffling of footsteps follow. Lola finds a boulder along the cave wall and kneels behind it. She drops a rucksack and her nose wrinkles from the dust. Rocks grind against each other further down the cave. Lola flips though a stack of colored papers in her rucksack. Steady rhythmic breathing fills the area. Grabbing a bright orange and red paper, she jumps out and flashes it. A white outline of a printed flame catches the light. She closes her eyes to the heat. A dagger clangs on the rocky floor and a charred corpse falls on top of it. The paper turns to ashes. Her hand smothers screaming faces carved into bone handle as she draws her sword.
She picks up a small stone with her free hand and follows the cave to a bend. She puts the sword shoulder height and throws the rock around the corner. A drop of water echos. A short shadow moves around the bend and she thrusts. Blood jets over the cave wall. A body falls, the dagger clanging next to her feet. Around the bend a stalactite drips another drop of water into the puddle bellow it. Flipping the body over, Lola searches the pockets. She pulls out a dull iron key.
Trevor pushes back from the keyboard. Orange fingerprints stain the left side. He brushes Cheeto dust off his belly and stands up. He bumps in to the desk sending Mountain Dew cans across the floor. He kicks them as he walks into the kitchen.
©Chris Richards 2009