Original Fiction: The Rocking Horse
TITLE: The Rocking Horse
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: That was the third leak this week, if it didn’t stop raining soon the whole roof was going to cave in. It was official; the Rocking Horse was without a doubt falling to pieces.
GENRE: General, Young Adult
STATUS: Complete - One Shot
COPYRIGHT: This is a piece of original writing. All characters and concepts pertaining to The Rocking Horse are the property of wintervixen86.
AUTHORS NOTE: Written for challenge 5, prompt 9 @ writerverse. Also written for Day 9 @ adventchallenge (25 stories - 25 days)
***
The roof was leaking.
Ava stared up at the water mark on the ceiling. She could barely even see the stain amidst the rock posters that were plastered to every inch of the white plaster. But there was no mistaking the steady drips of water that fell from the dirty roof and buried themselves in the moth eaten carpet at her feet.
“Crap,” Ava breathed.
That was the third leak this week, if it didn’t stop raining soon the whole roof was going to cave in. It was official; the Rocking Horse was without a doubt falling to pieces. The indie music store was known for its grungy interior, but this was ridiculous.
At least it was dripping all over the carpet and not all over the vinyls. Most of them were only sitting there gathering dust, but still. Manoeuvring around the worst of the wet carpet, Ava walked the four steps to the stores tiny staff room and rummaged through the cupboard on her hands and knees for something to catch the water. She already had a bucket behind the counter, two bowls in the indie section and a large circular container by the heavy rock; at this rate she was going to run out of crockery. Casting aside mismatched plates and scratched pans, Ava reached deep into the recesses of the cupboard and pulled out a cake tin.
Wait... a cake tin?
Ava lifted her eyebrows at the sight of it. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even considered baking a cake let alone purchased a tin for that specific reason. To say her cooking skills were nonexistent was putting it nicely.
“James!” Ava yelled to her co-worker, her voice carrying easily through the empty store despite the rain that stormed down against the roof and the loud rock music that blared from the sound system. “Since when do we have a cake tin?”
“What’s a cake tin?” he called back, his voice laced with amusement.
Ava pushed herself off the ground and strolled back into the main store, sidestepping the pot and bucket, to where James sat on the counter sorting through a large stack of CDs.
James was in his mid twenties and played lead guitar for a local band called Highly Evolved. Ava had seen him play a couple of times and she had to admit that the guy had talent - even if he did play in a band that as a unit didn’t possess a single ounce of it.
They did all right though. They were a local band, and because of that everyone under the age of thirty with any interest in live music had claimed them as their own. As a result, the band got a fair bit of radio play and was relatively popular around the state.
James was a cool guy; the first day they worked together he had quizzed Ava on her musical tastes. She must have passed the test because they had been good friend ever since. A persons musical taste was apparently the only thing James needed to know about a person to consider them friend or foe.
Ava held up the tin with a flourish and smirked. “Were you planning on baking me a cake?”
James glanced up from his stack and squinted at the tin. He looked the exact same way when he was up onstage during sound check; squinting into the light trying to locate the sound guy. “Never seen one of those in my life,” he deadpanned.
Ava whacked the tin on the counter with a clatter. “We have another leak.”
James pointed at her. “Don’t say it. Don’t say what you’re thinking. This store is sensitive. It has feelings.”
“You’re only saying that because you called it the Shit Shack two days ago and then the toilet clogged.” Ava padded back across the store and positioned the tin strategically under the leak. The drops pinged down into the tin every two or three seconds.
This rain was getting ridiculous. Ava glanced out the front window; the sky was still covered in thick black storm clouds. She had never seen anything quite like it - it had been raining for days. The clouds cast a deep gloom over the city and the rain sent everyone running for cover to wait out the worst of it.
Strolling over to the front entrance, Ava opened the heavy glass doors and traced her eyes over the sidewalk. The gutters were completely flooded and spilling over the walkway, the few people who had braved the rain to shop were huddled under umbrellas and hopped over the worst of the puddles in gumboots they had probably pulled from the deep recesses of their wardrobes. As a general rule, Ava liked the rain, but this was ridiculous.
“Are you working tomorrow, Ava?” James asked.
Ava stepped back inside and let the door slip closed behind her. “Nope. It’s three lovely days off for me.”
“You know that Mike would give you more hours if you wanted them,” James said.
“Maybe,” Ava shrugged. She walked over and boosting herself up on the counter beside him. “But I’m not paying rent at the moment and three days pay is enough to get by and save whatever is left. Why work more hours if I don’t have to? Besides, from the looks of things the whole town is going to flood. Where’s Noah’s Ark when you need it?”
“He’s off rounding up the animals,” James smirked. “I don’t think we should expect him for another few days.”
“We’ll be swimming with the fish and sharks by then. I’ll finish a shift one day, go to walk outside, and this torrent of water will rush through through the front door. Then winter will come and we’ll all be frozen in the store for a couple of months.”
“Chilling with the fishes.” James paused. “Hey, that’s a good song title.”
“How about... the day the Rocking Horse flooded.” Ava suggested.
“Too long. Chilling with the fishes is way better.”
“Well,” Ava clapped him on the shoulder and slid off the counter. “You have your next number one hit. I can’t wait to hear it.”
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: That was the third leak this week, if it didn’t stop raining soon the whole roof was going to cave in. It was official; the Rocking Horse was without a doubt falling to pieces.
GENRE: General, Young Adult
STATUS: Complete - One Shot
COPYRIGHT: This is a piece of original writing. All characters and concepts pertaining to The Rocking Horse are the property of wintervixen86.
AUTHORS NOTE: Written for challenge 5, prompt 9 @ writerverse. Also written for Day 9 @ adventchallenge (25 stories - 25 days)
***
The roof was leaking.
Ava stared up at the water mark on the ceiling. She could barely even see the stain amidst the rock posters that were plastered to every inch of the white plaster. But there was no mistaking the steady drips of water that fell from the dirty roof and buried themselves in the moth eaten carpet at her feet.
“Crap,” Ava breathed.
That was the third leak this week, if it didn’t stop raining soon the whole roof was going to cave in. It was official; the Rocking Horse was without a doubt falling to pieces. The indie music store was known for its grungy interior, but this was ridiculous.
At least it was dripping all over the carpet and not all over the vinyls. Most of them were only sitting there gathering dust, but still. Manoeuvring around the worst of the wet carpet, Ava walked the four steps to the stores tiny staff room and rummaged through the cupboard on her hands and knees for something to catch the water. She already had a bucket behind the counter, two bowls in the indie section and a large circular container by the heavy rock; at this rate she was going to run out of crockery. Casting aside mismatched plates and scratched pans, Ava reached deep into the recesses of the cupboard and pulled out a cake tin.
Wait... a cake tin?
Ava lifted her eyebrows at the sight of it. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even considered baking a cake let alone purchased a tin for that specific reason. To say her cooking skills were nonexistent was putting it nicely.
“James!” Ava yelled to her co-worker, her voice carrying easily through the empty store despite the rain that stormed down against the roof and the loud rock music that blared from the sound system. “Since when do we have a cake tin?”
“What’s a cake tin?” he called back, his voice laced with amusement.
Ava pushed herself off the ground and strolled back into the main store, sidestepping the pot and bucket, to where James sat on the counter sorting through a large stack of CDs.
James was in his mid twenties and played lead guitar for a local band called Highly Evolved. Ava had seen him play a couple of times and she had to admit that the guy had talent - even if he did play in a band that as a unit didn’t possess a single ounce of it.
They did all right though. They were a local band, and because of that everyone under the age of thirty with any interest in live music had claimed them as their own. As a result, the band got a fair bit of radio play and was relatively popular around the state.
James was a cool guy; the first day they worked together he had quizzed Ava on her musical tastes. She must have passed the test because they had been good friend ever since. A persons musical taste was apparently the only thing James needed to know about a person to consider them friend or foe.
Ava held up the tin with a flourish and smirked. “Were you planning on baking me a cake?”
James glanced up from his stack and squinted at the tin. He looked the exact same way when he was up onstage during sound check; squinting into the light trying to locate the sound guy. “Never seen one of those in my life,” he deadpanned.
Ava whacked the tin on the counter with a clatter. “We have another leak.”
James pointed at her. “Don’t say it. Don’t say what you’re thinking. This store is sensitive. It has feelings.”
“You’re only saying that because you called it the Shit Shack two days ago and then the toilet clogged.” Ava padded back across the store and positioned the tin strategically under the leak. The drops pinged down into the tin every two or three seconds.
This rain was getting ridiculous. Ava glanced out the front window; the sky was still covered in thick black storm clouds. She had never seen anything quite like it - it had been raining for days. The clouds cast a deep gloom over the city and the rain sent everyone running for cover to wait out the worst of it.
Strolling over to the front entrance, Ava opened the heavy glass doors and traced her eyes over the sidewalk. The gutters were completely flooded and spilling over the walkway, the few people who had braved the rain to shop were huddled under umbrellas and hopped over the worst of the puddles in gumboots they had probably pulled from the deep recesses of their wardrobes. As a general rule, Ava liked the rain, but this was ridiculous.
“Are you working tomorrow, Ava?” James asked.
Ava stepped back inside and let the door slip closed behind her. “Nope. It’s three lovely days off for me.”
“You know that Mike would give you more hours if you wanted them,” James said.
“Maybe,” Ava shrugged. She walked over and boosting herself up on the counter beside him. “But I’m not paying rent at the moment and three days pay is enough to get by and save whatever is left. Why work more hours if I don’t have to? Besides, from the looks of things the whole town is going to flood. Where’s Noah’s Ark when you need it?”
“He’s off rounding up the animals,” James smirked. “I don’t think we should expect him for another few days.”
“We’ll be swimming with the fish and sharks by then. I’ll finish a shift one day, go to walk outside, and this torrent of water will rush through through the front door. Then winter will come and we’ll all be frozen in the store for a couple of months.”
“Chilling with the fishes.” James paused. “Hey, that’s a good song title.”
“How about... the day the Rocking Horse flooded.” Ava suggested.
“Too long. Chilling with the fishes is way better.”
“Well,” Ava clapped him on the shoulder and slid off the counter. “You have your next number one hit. I can’t wait to hear it.”