creepshow (wattys2018)

Dont Judge a Book by its Cover

The door to the house shut without a sound. Birds were chirping high up in the full, green and orange trees. The wind, a light breeze, billowed through the leaves. The sun was bright. A normal day. At least it seemed so.

The blonde haired girl skipped down the steps of her front porch, waving to her elderly neighbor who was watering flowers, as she did everyday. Pausing briefly as she reached the end of her short drive way, she adjusted her shoe laces and head phones before dashing out onto the sidewalk and beginning her run.

She made it nearly two blocks before noticing the rusty, blue car parked on the side of the road. Being a subconsciously cautious person, she looked both ways down the empty street and crossed to the other side, avoiding the car without a single thought. 

She sucked in air, doing her best to calm her breathing as she ran, counting the steps she took as she went. A tapping on her ankle periodically caused her to glance down at her feet. Noticing her shoe was untied, she slowed her pace to a walk, coming to a stop near a faded, dented stop sign. She bent down, grasping the laces in her hands and twisting them together, over and under, until she had created a perfect bow.

The music from her phone filled her ears, preventing her from hearing anything that was going on around her, including the foot steps of a person rapidly approaching her. She rose back up to the full height just before the man touched her back. Gasping, she snatched the headphones out of her ears and took a step back.

"Woah, woah! Im not goin' to hurt ya!" The man in his what seemed to be early thirties raised his hands in mock surrender. "Is this yours?" 

She stared at the blue and pink square object in the strangers left hand before sighing. "Yes." She held out her hand as the man lowered his arms slowly, extending the left one to pass the wallet to her. "Thank you."

"I- uh- didnt mean to startle ya there ms."

"Emma."

"Well Emma, Im sorry I scared ya."

"Its fine." She replied with a shake of her head. Her hands flew to the straps of her sports bra as she noticed his wandering eyes briefly,  and tucking the wallet into the bag strapped around her waist." Well, thank you."

"Hey uh where ya headed?" He asked, stepping forward as though he was contemplating grabbing her arm to prevent her from abandoning the conversation, but he simply let his arms drop to his sides. 

"The gym. I left my jacket there yesterday."

"Wow, you sure work out a lot, so it seems." The man chuckled, smiling to himself as her eyes lit up at the mention of something she was clearly passionate about.

"Six days a week!" She replied. "Todays my off day though."

"So why not drive there, huh?"

"Cars in the shop." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm picking it up tomorrow, but the weathers calling for rain and that's my only good rain jacket."

"I see. Which gym ya headed to?" He asked.

"The one on fourth street." She replied without missing a beat.

"Whew!" He exclaimed suddenly. "That's quite a ways away, little lady!"

"It's not that far."

"On foot? It's at least eight blocks."

Her eyes widened a bit. "No way. I don't think so."

"Oh yeah! My sister works over there. It's far."

She shook her head slowly, brushing some loose hair out of her face, twirling the head phones in her fingers. "I guess I should get going then. Thanks again for the wallet."