A story that will be continued
I swear, I'll continue this. Possibly in the next day, even. Story is written in my head, I just have to turn it colorful on paper. Here is the first part.
“Alright, I'll see you in a few.” Harris clicked his phone off and put it back in his pocket, stepping up onto the curb next to his house. Pulling at his collar, he took a quick sniff of his shirt to make sure it wasn't too bad. Satisfied, he turned away from his front steps and began his walk to the library, brushing his fingers through his hair.
Kathy looked around at the oppressive tomes stacked all around her. Her nose wrinkled at the flits of dust falling through the single stream of sunlight falling across the books. Each time she took a breath, she was sure she was going to sneeze. Leaning forward and looking into the shaft of light was enough to send her over the edge, billowing new dust up through the room. When she opened her eyes again, Harris was walking between the stacks towards her, his slightly tilted gait causing him to brush his shoulder against the books, kicking up even more dust.
“Hey,” was all he offered.
“Hey Harris. Calc?”
“Sure.” He sat down next to her, bringing his chair close enough that his knee was just about brushing hers. He looked at her and gave her a queer smile, pulling his eyes away too quickly. “Got your books?”
“Yeah.” She dug into her book bag beside her and pulled out her textbook. When she sat back normally, his knee was definitely taking up more of her space, but she just let it go. With a quick smile to him, she opened her book and showed him where she was stuck.
After a quarter hour of him tutoring her a little more closely than she'd like, Kathy started working on some problems. The silence of her pen scratching made it feel like the shelves of books were about to fall in on her. She looked over to Harris trying to come up with something to talk about. Instead, she let her eyes follow his as he was staring intently at something directly over their heads. She let out a strangled squeak as she fell out of her chair while trying to get away from what she saw.
“Oh shit, Kathy, everything ok?” Harris was helping her up, his eyes looking at her in concern.
“I just thought I saw something flying at me. Scared the shit out of me.”
“Yeah, you scared the shit out of me too.”
“Sorry. I'm gonna grab a drink, you want one?”
“Umm...” Harris dug through his pockets for a moment. “Uh, no thanks.”
“It's ok, I'll grab it. I should pay you for all this help somehow, you know.”
“That sounds dirty. I'll just take a Coke, thanks.” Again, he smiled at her in a slightly queer way as she turned away to sneeze. She rubbed her nose as she walked down the stacks, searching her pockets. After turning at the end of the aisle, she stopped for a moment, thinking about what she thought she saw.
“That's just silly, it wasn't really there,” she thought to herself, but she still quietly turned around and poked her head around the stacks, looking back at where Harris was sitting. Her eyes slowly grew as she realized she hadn't imagined seeing things a few moments earlier. In the shaft of light that now shone down onto the table, she could see something barely moving in the dust, almost like something invisible disturbing it by dancing around through the light.
Holding back yet another sneeze, she stalked back down the stacks to get a better look. As she got closer, she could tell it wasn't something invisible moving the dust, but the dust moving itself, as if it had a life of its own. A few more steps closer, she could make out exactly what she was seeing.
In the shaft of light, a spider made of dust was fighting against four smaller human figures also made of dust. They were not solid, but rather just forms made from the sparkling dust. The people were attacking with swords or puffs of dust, jumping around like acrobats while the spider reared, its legs flailing all around it. Kathy didn't even notice that she started to talk.
“Harris, what...”
Suddenly the scene lit with fire, just for a brief moment, then the dust was again just normal dust, cascading down slowly through the light.
“Jesus, Kathy, I...I, Christ, you scared the shit out of me.”
“I think you've officially scared me a lot more. What was that?”
“What was what?” Harris was breathing a bit deeper than he should have been and his face was flushed. He couldn't quite look at Kathy.
“You know what. That spider, those guys. What was that?”
“Oh, that. Yeah. I guess, well...I guess I can't hide that huh?”
“No.”
“Well, that's just something I learned how to do. It took a while, but I got pretty good at it, so guess I just do it when I'm waiting or thinking. I can't really draw or paint or anything, but I can make those pretty realistic.”
“How? That's not really possible. How do you do it?”
Harris finally looked up at Kathy, right into her eyes. A resigned smile settled into his face as he looked at her. “I guess I can show you, once we finish your calculus.”
“Alright, I'll see you in a few.” Harris clicked his phone off and put it back in his pocket, stepping up onto the curb next to his house. Pulling at his collar, he took a quick sniff of his shirt to make sure it wasn't too bad. Satisfied, he turned away from his front steps and began his walk to the library, brushing his fingers through his hair.
Kathy looked around at the oppressive tomes stacked all around her. Her nose wrinkled at the flits of dust falling through the single stream of sunlight falling across the books. Each time she took a breath, she was sure she was going to sneeze. Leaning forward and looking into the shaft of light was enough to send her over the edge, billowing new dust up through the room. When she opened her eyes again, Harris was walking between the stacks towards her, his slightly tilted gait causing him to brush his shoulder against the books, kicking up even more dust.
“Hey,” was all he offered.
“Hey Harris. Calc?”
“Sure.” He sat down next to her, bringing his chair close enough that his knee was just about brushing hers. He looked at her and gave her a queer smile, pulling his eyes away too quickly. “Got your books?”
“Yeah.” She dug into her book bag beside her and pulled out her textbook. When she sat back normally, his knee was definitely taking up more of her space, but she just let it go. With a quick smile to him, she opened her book and showed him where she was stuck.
After a quarter hour of him tutoring her a little more closely than she'd like, Kathy started working on some problems. The silence of her pen scratching made it feel like the shelves of books were about to fall in on her. She looked over to Harris trying to come up with something to talk about. Instead, she let her eyes follow his as he was staring intently at something directly over their heads. She let out a strangled squeak as she fell out of her chair while trying to get away from what she saw.
“Oh shit, Kathy, everything ok?” Harris was helping her up, his eyes looking at her in concern.
“I just thought I saw something flying at me. Scared the shit out of me.”
“Yeah, you scared the shit out of me too.”
“Sorry. I'm gonna grab a drink, you want one?”
“Umm...” Harris dug through his pockets for a moment. “Uh, no thanks.”
“It's ok, I'll grab it. I should pay you for all this help somehow, you know.”
“That sounds dirty. I'll just take a Coke, thanks.” Again, he smiled at her in a slightly queer way as she turned away to sneeze. She rubbed her nose as she walked down the stacks, searching her pockets. After turning at the end of the aisle, she stopped for a moment, thinking about what she thought she saw.
“That's just silly, it wasn't really there,” she thought to herself, but she still quietly turned around and poked her head around the stacks, looking back at where Harris was sitting. Her eyes slowly grew as she realized she hadn't imagined seeing things a few moments earlier. In the shaft of light that now shone down onto the table, she could see something barely moving in the dust, almost like something invisible disturbing it by dancing around through the light.
Holding back yet another sneeze, she stalked back down the stacks to get a better look. As she got closer, she could tell it wasn't something invisible moving the dust, but the dust moving itself, as if it had a life of its own. A few more steps closer, she could make out exactly what she was seeing.
In the shaft of light, a spider made of dust was fighting against four smaller human figures also made of dust. They were not solid, but rather just forms made from the sparkling dust. The people were attacking with swords or puffs of dust, jumping around like acrobats while the spider reared, its legs flailing all around it. Kathy didn't even notice that she started to talk.
“Harris, what...”
Suddenly the scene lit with fire, just for a brief moment, then the dust was again just normal dust, cascading down slowly through the light.
“Jesus, Kathy, I...I, Christ, you scared the shit out of me.”
“I think you've officially scared me a lot more. What was that?”
“What was what?” Harris was breathing a bit deeper than he should have been and his face was flushed. He couldn't quite look at Kathy.
“You know what. That spider, those guys. What was that?”
“Oh, that. Yeah. I guess, well...I guess I can't hide that huh?”
“No.”
“Well, that's just something I learned how to do. It took a while, but I got pretty good at it, so guess I just do it when I'm waiting or thinking. I can't really draw or paint or anything, but I can make those pretty realistic.”
“How? That's not really possible. How do you do it?”
Harris finally looked up at Kathy, right into her eyes. A resigned smile settled into his face as he looked at her. “I guess I can show you, once we finish your calculus.”