A Collection, Vol. I

Lucy

Her head throbbed with an annoyingly persistent pain. She rolled over and checked the time on her clock: Tuesday, 8:33 a.m. She groaned. Today was her day off – and here she was waking up at eight-thirty in the morning hungover from a late night party. Her boyfriend snored in bed as she stood up and nearly fell over. She pulled a blanket from the bed and draped it over her shoulders on her way into the kitchen. Clothes took too much effort. The coffeemaker warmed up as she filled the pot with water. The view from her apartment was a dazzling, high-up post far above the busy streets of New York city – certainly a sharp contrast from back home. The two massive towers in the skyline stood with pride - a modern feat of technological prowess looming high above the busy streets below. She ignored its splendor and walked over to a small, dry aquarium with some dirt and tree branches inside. A small creature stretched as it woke up in the enclosure.

"Good morning, you. Sleep well?" she cooed as the little ball of fuzz crawled into her hand. She placed the spider-like creature onto her shoulder. It draped its four legs over her shoulder and yawned. The little fangs protruded out of its mouth for a second.

"He's still asleep, so you're going to have to help me make breakfast." she muttered to the little guy as she took a carton of eggs out of her small fridge. The little creature's eyes blinked slowly as it watched her butter a pan over the stove. She picked a single grape from the dwindling fruit bowl on the table and held it to her shoulder. He grabbed it with his little, tentacle-like legs and nibbled on the succulent treat as she cracked an egg into the pan.

"Asleep, my ass." her boyfriend yawned to himself as he sat at the table behind her.

"Good morning to you, too." she chuckled, "Mind pouring some coffee?"

Trent walked over to the warming coffeemaker and opened up the top of it, "I would, if you put coffee in it."

"Eh, I got distracted."

He scooped some coffee grounds into the top of the machine and placed a couple of mugs next to it before giving her a quick kiss on the head, "How is he this morning?"

"He's a little tired and hungry – much like me."

Trent pet the little guy on the head with his finger, "How can you tell? He doesn't ever talk or, well, make any noises at all actually."

She pulled two plates out of the cupboard and put two pieces of bread into the toaster, "His eyes! You can practically read his thoughts based on his eyes."

Trent shrugged, "If you say so, Dolittle. Oh...you wanted me to remind you to call your family this morning."

"Shoot! Can you finish the eggs? Thanks, babe!" She mumbled as she ran across the kitchen to the phone and started dialing a number.

He chuckled as he poured two cups of coffee. One black, one with a few spoons of sugar. He looked to his girlfriend as she dialed the phone number and saw the little creature on her shoulder innocently blink at him. In all the time he's known her he's never figured out what that creature is. She called it a tarantula growing up, but he's never seen a description of it in any book he's read. He often wondered if she even knew what that little guy was.

"Hey, mom!" She said into the phone.

"Oh, good morning birthday girl! You're up early." her mother said on the other end.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep that well. What time is it there, 7:43?"

"Its six for-...yeah, its her...alright hold on – your father wants to say hello." the phone went quiet for a minute, "Lucy! How are you?"

She laughed, "I'm fine, dad, just a little hungover."

"Ah! Celebrating a little early, huh? Did you get our card?"

"Yeah, me and Trent went to a bar by the apartment after work last night...some sports bar he heard about. And yeah, I got your card. Thanks, guys."

"No problem. Sports bar? Is he still into that stuff?" her father muttered.

"Not as much as he used to be. His friends only recommended it because they had cheap beer."

"Can't go wrong with that."

Lucy chuckled, "Right? You know, Michael sent me a card too. Does he still have the same number? I was going to call him and see how he's doing."

Her father went quiet for a few seconds, "Well, if you can get a hold of him...let him know I forgive him and want him to stop by some time. He isn't answering our calls."

She groaned and wiped her brow, "What did he do now?"

"Nothing bad, we just got into an argument a couple weeks ago. He's just going through a hard time, he..." Her father sighed through the phone, "He didn't leave on a good note – neither of us." Her mother said something she couldn't hear. Her father continued, "Just let him know we worry about him and want to see him for dinner some time."

"Alright – I'll go ahead and call him right now. It was nice talking, dad. Say bye to mom for me."

"Will do. Have a good day, kiddo." the phone clicked as her father hung up.

Trent handed her the mug of black coffee, "Everything good?"

"Yeah." She took a sip of the coffee, "Just my brother. Again. I'm going to give him a call."

Her boyfriend smiled, "Alright. Eggs are ready - no rush."

"Thanks." She smiled back.

The phone beeped as she buttoned in the phone number and put the corded plastic device to her ear. The line rang for almost a whole minute before someone answered. Funky music blared in the background as someone coughed and picked up the phone, "Yeah?"

"Good morning, is Michael there?"

The person said something to the room over the music before returning to the phone, "Yeah, here he is." The phone passed to someone else, "This is Michael."

"Hey, Mikey. Its Lucy."

Her brother yelled at his roommate. The music got quieter, "Hey, sis. Been a while, huh?"

"You're telling me! I got your card yesterday. I'm...I'm glad to hear from you."

"Yeah, I saw it at the store and it just reminded me of you too much. How's life on the east coast?"

She nodded, "Its good, its good. They weren't lying when they said this city never sleeps. How's LA?"

He coughed over his roommates talking in the background, "Its actually pretty good. I got a new job at the port." A lighter flicked as some girl laughed, "But life's good here, its looking up. What time is it there, like 8:45 or something?"

She didn't look at the clock, "Yeah. The port of LA? Dang, bro! That's some serious money there!"

"Yeah, they got me unloading freight. I haven't gotten my first paycheck yet, but this gig makes some serious dough. Maybe I'll fly out there for thanksgiving in a couple months, who knows? We gotta catch up...its been way too long."

"Yeah, that'd be great!" she scratched her head, "Look, I uh...I talked to mom and dad this morning." He didn't say anything. A door slammed in the background and the music became inaudible.

"They didn't tell me anything, they just told me to tell you that they miss you. And dad says he...forgives you. Mom wants to see you, Mike."

She heard the sigh through the phone, "Yeah, I flew over there a couple weeks ago before I started the new job. I...had a little too much to drink. Me and dad got into it, said some things. You know how he is."

She chuckled, "Yeah, I know how you both are. Look, they just wanted me to tell you they're over it."

He was quiet for a few seconds, "Thanks, Lucy."

Trent whispered across the kitchen, "Hey, babe..."

Lucy replied, "No problem, Mikey. Hold on just a sec." she turned to her boyfriend, "Yeah, what's up?"

Trent was staring through the window, transfixed on something outside. She turned to look at the city's skyline. One of the two tallest buildings was on fire.