In Parched Gardens: Book 1

Chapter 15: Before the End and the Fire

She sat in her room, reading. The book didn't particularly interest her, but she wanted to finish it. Occasionally she dotted down a note in the small notebook she kept in the bed beside her. The window nearest her was open slightly, and she felt the breeze brush against her as she laid there, head propped up on several pillows. A small candle burned on her dresser and she could smell the lilac of it floating on the breeze around the room. It crackled slightly every so often. Every once in a while, as she read, she stopped to rest her eyes and look out of the window. She could see the light green of the leaves of several trees, the top of some brick buildings beyond, and the wispy clouds above them. It was late evening, but the blue orange of the sky still illuminated the world.

Thinking she heard a knock at the door, Maria waited to see if anyone else would answer it. After a moment, she thought she heard the gentle knocking again, so she put her book down on the bed and sat up. Aagin, she waited for a moment, but realized that either she was alone, or none of her roommates were going to the door. Standing up, she walked to her bedroom door, opened it, and started down the hallway. At the end of it, she could see the front door clearly. She walked to the door casually, thinking that maybe one of her roommates had locked themselves out, or just didn't feel like searching for their key. Opening it, no one was there. She looked out at the orange soaked world, taking it all in. She gazed at the brick buildings around her and a few lonely people walking down the sidewalks. She heard music playing in the distance and she saw a car turn around a corner a block away. Overall, it was a peaceful evening, and she stared out at it and took several deep breaths in the refreshing air.

Shrugging, she closed the door and turned back into the house. "Liz," she called down the hallway. "Becca," she called, walking closer to the hallway's doors. Nothing. No response. She knocked on the first door, and opened it slowly. The room was dark, save the faint light that spilled in under the dark window curtain. She closed the door and walked to the next room. Knocking, she opened this door too, but it was also empty. She closed the door and walked to her room, the last in the hallway. Opening the door, she walked to the bed, slipped on a pair of socks, and grabbed her book, notebook, pen, and candle. She walked with them back into the living room of the house, near the front door. There was a comfortable sofa there and she sat down on it. She put her book, notebook, pen, and candle on the short table beside the sofa and threw a fuzzy blanket over herself.

Picking up the book and flipping to her place in the notebook, she began to read again. Occasionally she looked out of the windows to the living room, above the TV on its stand, to the streets and the sky beyond. Fewer and fewer people walked the sidewalks. Sometimes a car would pass by, its headlights dull in the twilight, but only every once in a while. Mostly, it was peaceful as she read.

Nearing the end of the chapter she was on, Maria focused on the book more intensely. When she was done with this chapter, she thought she'd quit reading for the night. When she was done, she was going to walk into the kitchen, get a snack and something to drink, and watch something on TV. She liked when her roommates were home, but being by herself on a warm evening watching a TV show under a fuzzy blanket sounded very relaxing.

Underlining something in one of the last paragraphs, she heard a noise in the house. She listened. And the noise happened again, like a subtle thud, somewhere toward the hallway. She sat up and there it was again, a soft banging sound from the back of the hallway. What could that be, she thought to herself. The pipes maybe? They had been loud, especially when she'd first moved in, but not quite like this. Maybe it was a neighbor doing something outside their house? She sat up fully now, taking the blanket off, and the thump happened again, slightly louder now, distinctly near the back of the hallway.

She got up and set her book and notebook on the short table. Slowly making her way toward the hallway, she craned her neck so that her ear faced the end of the hallway. Bang. It happened again, slightly louder. Opening the first door, nothing was disturbed. Liz's room was exactly as she had seen it earlier, except now, almost no light streamed into the room under the window curtain. But she could see it well enough with the hallway light to know that nothing was wrong. Bang, she heard again.