Story-A-Day #233: Stalker

STALKER

I slithered through the grass like a snake, my heart pounding so hard in its ribbed cage that I am afraid it is trying to break free.

My breath comes in fast raspy gusts, each one more labored than the one before. I don' know how long I was running for but my muscles burn, so I know it was long enough, longer than I could endure.

I lost my weapon a while back; the knife would be useless against my pursuer, but it had given me some comfort.

I can hear him drawing closer, his heavy footsteps calm and measured. I worry that he will see the grass swaying around me, that he will spot me here in the grass, but my survival instincts push me onward, inching away from my would-be attacker.

My outstretched hand falls on a length of wood, a solid piece of two-by-four. I wait as he draws nearer, the board clasped firmly in my hand.

When the moment is right, I will spring upward and swing the wood. It might not be enough, but at the moment, it is the only hope I have.

I reposition myself and wait. When he is close enough I will strike, like a snake from the grass.

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Story-A-Day #78: Watcher

WATCHER

She hated the stark emptiness of the room. Every keystroke on the computer echoed hollowly through the open enclosure. Who builds a three-story funnel for a computer lab anyway? It didn’t make sense.

Still, she needed to finish her report and this was the only place she could since her stupid roommate had spilled lychee and rum slushee all over her lap top.

The one major benefit of her current predicament was that the lab was quiet. In fact, the whole campus was pretty quiet. She had only seen a handful of people on her walk over from the residences and the only other person in the lab was the woman from tech support.

She stared at the computer screen in front of her and wondered again why the stupid table wouldn’t do what it was supposed to be doing. She double checked the formulas and scratched her neck. It didn’t make any sense.

She leaned back in her chair and tilted her head backwards. For a moment, she thought she had seen someone peering down at her from the top floor. It had been a fleeting glimpse at best, almost as though the person up there had jumped backwards in order not to be seen. It was probably just her imagination playing tricks on her, a result of her frustration with the stupid formula.

She turned her attention back to the computer and focused once more on the stupid matrix. It was all there in front of her, but she just couldn’t get it to click. She decided that it might be best to pack it in fir the night so she saved the program to her USB stick and shut the terminal down.

As she made her way out of the computer lab and down the corridor, the feeling of being watched returned, like a trickle of fingers across the back of her neck. She glanced behind her, but the empty hall stretched away, deserted.

She picked up the pace, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable. She pushed open the metal door and stepped out into the blustery night. Snow swirled around her and she jogged lightly across the parking lot and towards the dorms.

She glanced over her shoulder again and skidded to a stop. A shadowy figure stood just outside the building, right next to the door she had just exited. She turned and fled, sprinting as fast as she could along the snow covered walkways, pushing herself hard through the dark patches and feeling only mild comfort in the pools of light that illuminated the way.

She reached her door and through it open, sliding wildly across the linoleum floor in her wet boots. She regained her balance and quickly slammed the inside door, making sure it was locked.

Through the small glass opening, she could see the deserted courtyard. There was no one out there.