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Food

Lorrie looked up at the twelve story building and gulped, her hands clammy and cool with sweat in the chilly September air. How she hated Hights. How the buildings seem to sway in the late summer breeze. One blow from toppling over. How the ground seemed to swim before her eyes looking down at the little figures below. She normally wouldn't dare to walk into a building like this, all glass windows and no bricks, but she has to suck it up. She's hungry.

Lorrie's mom, a hard working woman who has no time, usually left thirty bucks on the table for food, but today she was running late and forgot.

She must be against me, Lorrie Anya the Poison Mage. Sister of no one, a wandering soul with no last name. thought, she exhaled and shuffled towards the door.

She reached for the handle of the crystalline window and yanked on it, but it doesn't budge. Lorrie tries again, yanking again and again and again, but the stupid door wouldn't open. She took a deep breath and put her strength into it, but again it doesn't even squeak.

Lorrie felt a light tap on her shoulder, she turned around to see a middle aged woman with too much make up on standing slightly behind her.

She smiled sweetly, forming a curve of firetruck red lipstick. "it says push, dear." she said in an amused voice, pointing at a push sign above the gold handle.

Great. Now I look stupid, Lorrie pouted as she watched the lady saunter inside the office building. She pushed the door open and stomped inside.

The lobby looked better then a five star hotel, with shiny black marble tiles, potted exotic plants, plush leather couches, and a front desk that looked like it was carved out of the same black marble as the floor. The air smelled of sanitary chemicals, and sounds of heels clacking on stone, and hushed murmurs of co-workers.

Behind the front desk stood a man and woman in expensive looking suits. The man held an office phone up to his ear and is making notes on a petit book in front of him, the woman speaks quietly to a taller woman wearing the same suit. Lorrie walks up and waits for assistance patiently, she has never been in the building so she had no idea where her mom works, let alone where the elevator is.

The lady looks at her with a snotty look, and turns back to her friend. The man glances over his shoulder, but then returns his eyes to the booklet. They have noticed me, now I just have to wait, she thinks standing awkwardly.

She stares down at a little gold bell resting on the glass surface of the desk intently. She has a strong urge to use it, to hear the satisfying ding.

She needs to do it, like a child needs to touch a do not touch labelled thing. It's an urgency that needs to be full filled. Someone clears their throat, and Lorrie jumps back with a squeak, startled.

"How can I help you?" Questions the brunette secretary in the fancy suit. She seems annoyed being disturbed from chatting with her friend for a nuisance of a child.

Lorrie freezes for a moment, and then clears her throat. "I need to know where Elyse Krammer works please."

The brunette frowns down at her, "what's your name?"

"Loren Krammer, her daughter. "

"oh, well Mrs. Krammer has a client right now, so you'll have to wait." she says.

Lorrie begins to get impatient, all she wants is money! "OK, well can I at least have the floor and room number?" Annoyance creeping into her voice.

The lady scowls, "top floor, room 667." She snaps and stalks off.

Lorrie sighs and stalk off to the other side of the desk towards the man, who just hanged up the phone and is rubbing his forehead in stress.

"Excuse me sir, but do you know where the elevators are?" she asks.

The man doesn't even look up from his desk. "uh yeah... Right around the corner over there." He points over to a wide entry that splits off down two hallways.

Lorrie mutters her thank you, and walks briskly over to the entry. The first Hall way she looks down is endless lined with office doors, and the other has two gold elevator doors. Lorrie walks up and presses the up button, and nearly immediately she heard the quiet ding, and the doors slide open.

She walks in the elevator quickly, knees shaking. Elevators go up, and there is a chance of crashing down. Before she starts to panic Lorrie pulls out her music player and earphones and put on some dub step.

Nodding to the beat she looks around, up at the ceiling, at the numbers growing at the top of the door: 6, 7, 8... Her hands get clammy as the numbers grow higher, even music can't keep her from noticing that she is escalating. She looks down to avoid watching the numbers grow, Lorrie looks down at the floor. Bad idea.

The floor is made out of glass. Lorie can't tell if she is looking down at the floor, or if it's an endless black pit. Her legs threaten to give out, she grabs the cool railing, gasping. I need out, she panics. She runs toward the door and presses her back against it. Glass breaks easily, it will crank and break, and I will fall to my death. She gasps trying to breathe. Suddenly she hears a quiet ding and falls on her face in the quiet hallway with a screech. She stands up, dusting herself off, looking down the long hallways making sure no one is there. In front of her is a sign that reads:

<--- Rms 630-667 Rms 629-600 --->

Lorrie smiles to herself, last room on the left, easy enough for me, she thinks. She starts to walk down the hall when her mom walks out of a room with the click of a door. Mrs. Krammer looks up and her mouth drops.

"Lorrie, honey, why are you up here? You hate the thought of being more than two floors of the ground! Did something happen? Did the dog die? You could have called the office you know." Elyse says pushing up thin rimmed glasses.

Lorrie looks at her mother baffled, she never sounds this concerned about her, not even when the school bully pushed her in the sand box. Oh, brush it off, is what she had said.

"No, Billy didn't die. It's just that you forgot to leave me money and I was hungry..." Lorrie's voice trailed off, now that she said it out loud it sounds kinda stupid.

Elyse laughs loudly and patts Lorrie's frizzy blonde hair. "Oh dear, what teenagers do for WiFi and food is beyond me! Here I'll tell you what, we can stop by a burger drive thru on the way home, my shift ended early today. Last client just left."

Lorrie suffers the awful descent, and in no time her and Elyse are in their shiny silver car driving down Somerset Rd. The two chat more than usual in these moments, Elyse seems happier and more alive, liked she was before her husband died.

Mr. Krammers death was quite tragic, causing great grief in mother and daughter. He had been a construction worker, and he had been working on the roof of a newly built twenty story apartment building. Somehow he had fallen over the unrailed edge, it was never verified because there was no witnesses.

The death resulted in a fear for Lorrie, and overworking, and shut-in attitude from Elyse.

Lorrie was looking out of the window talking to her mother as the waited for the intersection light to change. The light turned green and Elyse turned, looking ahead of her. Lorrie was listening, gazing out at her reflection in the mirror, out of the corner she saw a figure approaching them. Lorrie turned her head and saw a black car speeding through the intersection from the other direction. Towards them.

"watch out! Mommy-! "Lorrie screams, but it's too late.

The last thing she sees is her mom's terrified face, the last thing she hears is a horn honking and a crash. No pain, just blackness, a welcoming dark void.