Standing there in the cold and rain, huddled underneath the street lamp beside the theatre the lone person stood smoking, the pale blue smoke had a slight orange tinge to it from the light above. The man’s jacket shone in the misty rain and the fact that one of his hands was in his pocket clearly indicated that he was cold. To his right was the parking lot for the movie theatre, there was a grand total of three cars in it at the moment but it was still early, only around 4:30 and the evening traffic hadn’t really started yet, though being Christmas it wasn’t likely to be very busy at all.
Suddenly side door to the theatre popped open, and a girl stuck her head out to look at the light, she was wearing black pants and a bright blue shirt with a nametag. Noticing the figure under the light she ran towards him, “Hey Mike, can I get a drag?”
Mike looked over at the sound of the door opening even though he had been in his own little world he had heard it. Julie didn’t smoke very often; she mostly just bummed a drag off someone or the odd smoke. She was seventeen had a decent family, did well in school, didn’t party too much and was generally a pretty nice person. She always went for smokes with Mike even though she had a boyfriend of a year or so, though he didn’t seem to care that she occasionally flirted with him. “Hey Jules, yeah sure” Mike replied as he handed her the smoke.
“Merry Christmas.” Mike said in a bit of a monotonous tone, “Had a good one so far?”
Julie took a drag of the smoke, and hugged herself with her arms, “It’s been alright” her tone clearly said it had been not quite alright, but Mike decided not to push it just yet, that might involve another smoke and if he was cold Julie must be freezing.
Taking another drag off the smoke and handing it back to Mike Julie asked, “So how’s your Christmas been?”
Mike looked at her and matter of factly responded, “I’ve had better”, and then took a drag and as he exhaled, “Lets get inside you’ve got to be freezing and I should probably punch in”. With that they entered through the door Julie had come out, leaving the parking lot that much emptier.
Tags: cold,snow,Christmas,smoking,melancholy
Monday, November 28, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Chance Encounters (Short)
Frank sat and watched a red pickup drive past the window, a woman was driving it, it was a bright red color with the sun making it seem brighter still. The woman had looked into the store as she drove by, she was young in her early twenties, had auburn hair and was wearing sun glasses.
I wonder who she is? Frank though to himself, I wonder what she’s like, if she has a family, if she’s married. I wonder if I’d like to meet her? Frank had been pondering a question all day now and he had been sitting in the coffee shop all day thinking about it. He was wondering if it really made sense to meet new people and get to know them, especially women. If you get to know someone Frank argued with himself, you eventually get to know all the things about them you don’t like. Like his friend Tommy, well not really his friend. He started hanging out with him and it turned out that Tommy was talking about him behind his back to the guys at work. What a two faced son of a bitch.
Frank sighed, just then the door to the coffee shop opened and the bell on the door made a noise. Looking up Frank saw the woman from the pick up that had just passed. His eyebrow raised, did it make sense to get to know this person? All her secrets, good and bad. All her desires and goals for life, good and bad? All her thoughts?
Frank’s thought trailed and he started daydreaming. He daydreamt of getting up talking to this girl, getting her phone number, dating her, sleeping with her, getting married, kids, a house, a car, summers at the lake, then being betrayed by her adulterous ways and finally getting a divorce and sitting in this very coffee shop wondering if it was worth it. He was lost in thought when he heard a voice, “Excuse me?”
Startled Frank looked around to hear where the voice was coming from and it was the woman from the truck again, she was sitting in the pair of chairs opposite him. He looked back at her and tilted his head to one side and replied with a question, “yes?”
“I was just wondering what you were thinking about. When I sat down you were staring off into space smiling, then your expression changed to anger then to sadness and you were elsewhere the whole time”
“Well… “
“I hope I’m not intruding I was just curious, you don’t see that very often”
Frank studied her for a sec before answering, she was very attractive and her sunglasses were off her face and she had very beautiful blue eyes and she was smiling at him. “Well I was thinking about what the benefits of meeting a new person are, all the good and the bad, and I think I’ve come up with there is good but the risk is just not worth it… I don’t think”
Her expression changed from a smile to a more stern expression, “You should always want to meet new people, they provide you with insights and ideas you would never have come across yourself. Not to mention experiences that you could never have experienced yourself, those ideas and experiences will shape who you are and what you do, without them you could sit in this coffee shop wondering what ifs all day long every day of your life till you died.”
Frank thought about it, “That’s a very interesting point” He thought about his daydream for a sec and a different ending appeared, this one with a happy ending. “You know I think you might have a point at least its worth a try and I can see if it’s worth it later.” He got up and took his coffee and walked over to where the girl was sitting and stood beside her, “Hi, my name is Frank what’s yours?”
“Hi Frank, my name is Michelle. It never hurts to try something out, care to join me?” She looked up at him smiling and gesturing to the empty seat beside her. “You’ll always learn something new from someone new you meet.”
Technorati: meeting new people,ideas,chance encounters,meeting
I wonder who she is? Frank though to himself, I wonder what she’s like, if she has a family, if she’s married. I wonder if I’d like to meet her? Frank had been pondering a question all day now and he had been sitting in the coffee shop all day thinking about it. He was wondering if it really made sense to meet new people and get to know them, especially women. If you get to know someone Frank argued with himself, you eventually get to know all the things about them you don’t like. Like his friend Tommy, well not really his friend. He started hanging out with him and it turned out that Tommy was talking about him behind his back to the guys at work. What a two faced son of a bitch.
Frank sighed, just then the door to the coffee shop opened and the bell on the door made a noise. Looking up Frank saw the woman from the pick up that had just passed. His eyebrow raised, did it make sense to get to know this person? All her secrets, good and bad. All her desires and goals for life, good and bad? All her thoughts?
Frank’s thought trailed and he started daydreaming. He daydreamt of getting up talking to this girl, getting her phone number, dating her, sleeping with her, getting married, kids, a house, a car, summers at the lake, then being betrayed by her adulterous ways and finally getting a divorce and sitting in this very coffee shop wondering if it was worth it. He was lost in thought when he heard a voice, “Excuse me?”
Startled Frank looked around to hear where the voice was coming from and it was the woman from the truck again, she was sitting in the pair of chairs opposite him. He looked back at her and tilted his head to one side and replied with a question, “yes?”
“I was just wondering what you were thinking about. When I sat down you were staring off into space smiling, then your expression changed to anger then to sadness and you were elsewhere the whole time”
“Well… “
“I hope I’m not intruding I was just curious, you don’t see that very often”
Frank studied her for a sec before answering, she was very attractive and her sunglasses were off her face and she had very beautiful blue eyes and she was smiling at him. “Well I was thinking about what the benefits of meeting a new person are, all the good and the bad, and I think I’ve come up with there is good but the risk is just not worth it… I don’t think”
Her expression changed from a smile to a more stern expression, “You should always want to meet new people, they provide you with insights and ideas you would never have come across yourself. Not to mention experiences that you could never have experienced yourself, those ideas and experiences will shape who you are and what you do, without them you could sit in this coffee shop wondering what ifs all day long every day of your life till you died.”
Frank thought about it, “That’s a very interesting point” He thought about his daydream for a sec and a different ending appeared, this one with a happy ending. “You know I think you might have a point at least its worth a try and I can see if it’s worth it later.” He got up and took his coffee and walked over to where the girl was sitting and stood beside her, “Hi, my name is Frank what’s yours?”
“Hi Frank, my name is Michelle. It never hurts to try something out, care to join me?” She looked up at him smiling and gesturing to the empty seat beside her. “You’ll always learn something new from someone new you meet.”
Technorati: meeting new people,ideas,chance encounters,meeting
Monday, November 21, 2005
Chrismas Cheer - Part 1
The streets glistened in the early evening light, everything was covered in a film of water from the rain that had been falling since noon. The streets were completely barren, it was almost depressing to be walking in them. Everyone was at home sitting by their TVs enjoying the day off, Christmas day, rarely a soul came outside. Today was one of those Christmas days that no one really enjoys, the temperature in the morning was a balmy 2 degrees and had hung that way all day long with a nice steady rain. But now it was snowing and pretty soon the snow would start to stick.
The weather people were calling for 30 centimeters over the next couple days. Though they’re wrong about as often as they’re right it seems that they might actually be correct this time. I’m not sure that they’ll be dead on the money, but we’re probably going to get a bunch of snow and blizzard like conditions. Should be a fun walk home.
A gust of wind burst around me as I walked between the buildings, who the hell works on Christmas day? Why would anyone be outside at all?
People would, though the weather might keep them inside today. The movie theatre always did good on Christmas day, for some reason people liked to get out of the house to see a movie. Maybe it was suspension of disbelief that they just spent way too much money buying gifts that weren’t all that great or not liked, or if liked, overpriced. This season brought out the best and the worst in people but over the years as I went from high school into university the trend seems to be towards the worst in people. Who cares about this holiday anyways.
Ah, the threatre, its start outside completely drenched and glistening in the light. It’ll be ice by the time I make it outside, Oh well nothing I can do about it. At least it’ll be nice and warm inside. Maybe I’ll be able to sneak in and watch part of a movie.
Might as well have a smoke before I get there, it’ll be disgusting later and I don’t want to have to ask for a break. None of the managers liked that, taking a bathroom break was one thing but taking one for a smoke, they didn’t like that at all, especially in the winter when you needed to get all bundled up. Pulling the pack out of my pocket I noticed it was rather light, I hope the convenience store will be open on the way home.
Of course it will dumbass, the Chinese guy that runs it is smart, he knows everything else will be closed, and people always run out of stuff last minute. Not to mention I don’t think it’s a holiday for him. Putting the smoke to my lips, lighting it with the trusty Zippo the wind whipped at my fingers, snow pelting my face and glasses. A couple minutes then warmth. Ah, nicotine, maybe I should quit one day, fuck it who cares. At least I’m getting paid to be out in this shit away from the stupidity of the season.
Fuck I hope they don’t make us wear those stupid elf hats again.
Technorati: cold,snow,Christmas,smoking,melancholy
The weather people were calling for 30 centimeters over the next couple days. Though they’re wrong about as often as they’re right it seems that they might actually be correct this time. I’m not sure that they’ll be dead on the money, but we’re probably going to get a bunch of snow and blizzard like conditions. Should be a fun walk home.
A gust of wind burst around me as I walked between the buildings, who the hell works on Christmas day? Why would anyone be outside at all?
People would, though the weather might keep them inside today. The movie theatre always did good on Christmas day, for some reason people liked to get out of the house to see a movie. Maybe it was suspension of disbelief that they just spent way too much money buying gifts that weren’t all that great or not liked, or if liked, overpriced. This season brought out the best and the worst in people but over the years as I went from high school into university the trend seems to be towards the worst in people. Who cares about this holiday anyways.
Ah, the threatre, its start outside completely drenched and glistening in the light. It’ll be ice by the time I make it outside, Oh well nothing I can do about it. At least it’ll be nice and warm inside. Maybe I’ll be able to sneak in and watch part of a movie.
Might as well have a smoke before I get there, it’ll be disgusting later and I don’t want to have to ask for a break. None of the managers liked that, taking a bathroom break was one thing but taking one for a smoke, they didn’t like that at all, especially in the winter when you needed to get all bundled up. Pulling the pack out of my pocket I noticed it was rather light, I hope the convenience store will be open on the way home.
Of course it will dumbass, the Chinese guy that runs it is smart, he knows everything else will be closed, and people always run out of stuff last minute. Not to mention I don’t think it’s a holiday for him. Putting the smoke to my lips, lighting it with the trusty Zippo the wind whipped at my fingers, snow pelting my face and glasses. A couple minutes then warmth. Ah, nicotine, maybe I should quit one day, fuck it who cares. At least I’m getting paid to be out in this shit away from the stupidity of the season.
Fuck I hope they don’t make us wear those stupid elf hats again.
Technorati: cold,snow,Christmas,smoking,melancholy
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Cafe (Short Story)
John sat down at the table at the back of the dim café where the comfortable couches were. The deep purple of the couches fit very nicely with the dim atmosphere of the place. He was there to meet with his old friend from school; they got together about once or twice a year to catch up on their lives.
John sat there quietly drinking his latte playing with his wedding band, he was still getting used to it even after being married for 3 years. He was a happily content man, he liked his job, he liked his home, he loved his wife. Everything was pretty simple for him. He was lost in thought when the bell on the door from the front of the café rang, distracting him. Looking up he saw Ed stamping the snow off his feet looking around for him. Noticing he waved and headed over to the bar to buy himself a coffee.
John was looking at him, Ed hadn’t changed very much from school. He still wore that worn out old jacket with all those patches, the shoes though they looked new were still the same type, skater shoes. John was again lost wondering if Ed was still up to his same old tricks when he heard footsteps coming up to his seat.
“Hey John! How are ya?” came a deep unmistakably male voice as the footfalls of boots on the hardwood floors grew in volume.
John stood up as he turned his head and shook Ed’s hand, “I’m good, and you?”
Ed took off his beaten up jacket and threw it over the chair and sat down and asked enthusiastically, “So how’s Molly doing?”
John took a sip of his latte and shifted in his chair, “she’s doing great, she got a new job as a marketing manager for a pharmaceutical company. She’s pretty excited.”
“And you? You still working for the Ad agency?” Came another question between sips. Ed was obviously still fanatical about his coffee and would drain it in a couple minutes.
“Yep. What about you?” John responded calmly, knowing it was best not to excite Ed too much, two years of living with him at university had taught him that much.
“I’m still with ITCore, it’s a nice cushy job and it gives me a lot of time to talk to Janet”, Ed’s face lit up with an unsure but happy smile at the mention of the name.
John shifted in his seat and crossed his legs. He knew this was what Ed had wanted to talk about when he set up their meeting. It was always like this, Ed either wanted to show off with something or something was bugging him and they met up. It was a good excuse to catch up and typically didn’t last long, but this was a girl so this might be different.
“And who pray tell is Janet?”, John asked keeping a close eye on his old roommates gestures and mannerisms as they often told more of the real story.
Ed was positively beaming, “Well she’s my girlfriend, we’ve been going out for 3 months now. She’s amazing we talk all day long and don’t get bored of each other. Kind of like you and Molly”
John was a little surprised for Ed wasn’t the most personable of people to be around. He was good in small doses until you got to know him a bit, then he was alight. John new he had to go through the motions and let Ed show her off, “So tell me about her”
“She’s a student, she’s doing her masters thesis in meteorology and wants to work for the weather network. Its kind of cute actually. But she really knows her stuff about the weather. Other than that she’s sweet and nice and has this very cute voice. We haven’t had an argument yet and I’m totally happy.”
And happy he was, Ed was simply beaming by this point, which is good for him. About time that he found himself a girl and settled down a bit, but there almost had to be some kind of a catch here, John thought to himself.
“So Ed, how is it that you can talk to her all day long?”
“Well its pretty simple, you know how we occasionally chat online? Its pretty much the same thing, we use online chat all day long while I’m at work and sometimes in the evenings. Though we normally talk on the phone now”
‘Now?’ John thought to himself, that’s a very odd way of putting it; this might be the catch or quirk he sensed earlier, it was time to explore this some more. “So where did you meet Janet?”
“In a chat room on Lavalife”
John watched Ed playing with his coffee cup, which was now all but empty. Still a caffeine junky, which is normal.
“So how many dates have you guys been on?” John knew he was going to get an answer out of Ed.
“Well,” there was a pause as Ed shifted in his seat looking much more uncomfortable than before, “none”
“None? You haven’t met this girl yet?” The reality of the answer took John for a bit of a surpise.
“Not, yet. But I will ask her on a date soon enough.”, Ed was clearly trying to regain his composure. He had obviously set this meeting up for some kind of approval or support but it wasn’t quite going how he had expected it.
“Ed, how could you be going out with someone you haven’t met yet?”, John’s tone had a bit of humor to it being almost rhetorical in nature.
“Its an online relationship,” Ed was getting a bit flustered and shifted in his seat grabbing at the armrests, “I really like her personality and we get along great so I figured there was no point in rushing”
“You really should meet her Ed, you might not even like her when you meet her” John realized that his acquaintance had come for some support, but also needed a bit of reality.
“Not like her? John I love this girl” Came Ed’s startled reply to the question.
“Ed, you’ve never met her” John knew he had hit a button the moment he said it. Ed stood up and grabbed his jacket. “I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later” Ed proceeded to storm out of the café.
John quietly sat there and finished his latte then put on his jacket and headed to the door. He noticed he was the only one in the place other than the girl behind the coffee bar.
As he was walking towards the door the girl asked, “what was that about? He left in a hurry”
John stopped and started to put on his jacket as he looked at the girl, “He was upset because I questioned how he could have a girlfriend without meeting her, he called her an online girlfriend”
The girl shifted on the stool she was standing on, “Doesn’t make sense to me either, but I’ve seen more and more of it. Though I do have to say the internet is an interesting way to meet new people”
“I agree, but that will never replace the physical side of a relationship” John finished zipping up, “Have a good night”
John started to turn towards the girl behind the counter to give her a smile as he noticed her name tag, it read Janet.
Technorati: short story, friends, virtual girlfriend
John sat there quietly drinking his latte playing with his wedding band, he was still getting used to it even after being married for 3 years. He was a happily content man, he liked his job, he liked his home, he loved his wife. Everything was pretty simple for him. He was lost in thought when the bell on the door from the front of the café rang, distracting him. Looking up he saw Ed stamping the snow off his feet looking around for him. Noticing he waved and headed over to the bar to buy himself a coffee.
John was looking at him, Ed hadn’t changed very much from school. He still wore that worn out old jacket with all those patches, the shoes though they looked new were still the same type, skater shoes. John was again lost wondering if Ed was still up to his same old tricks when he heard footsteps coming up to his seat.
“Hey John! How are ya?” came a deep unmistakably male voice as the footfalls of boots on the hardwood floors grew in volume.
John stood up as he turned his head and shook Ed’s hand, “I’m good, and you?”
Ed took off his beaten up jacket and threw it over the chair and sat down and asked enthusiastically, “So how’s Molly doing?”
John took a sip of his latte and shifted in his chair, “she’s doing great, she got a new job as a marketing manager for a pharmaceutical company. She’s pretty excited.”
“And you? You still working for the Ad agency?” Came another question between sips. Ed was obviously still fanatical about his coffee and would drain it in a couple minutes.
“Yep. What about you?” John responded calmly, knowing it was best not to excite Ed too much, two years of living with him at university had taught him that much.
“I’m still with ITCore, it’s a nice cushy job and it gives me a lot of time to talk to Janet”, Ed’s face lit up with an unsure but happy smile at the mention of the name.
John shifted in his seat and crossed his legs. He knew this was what Ed had wanted to talk about when he set up their meeting. It was always like this, Ed either wanted to show off with something or something was bugging him and they met up. It was a good excuse to catch up and typically didn’t last long, but this was a girl so this might be different.
“And who pray tell is Janet?”, John asked keeping a close eye on his old roommates gestures and mannerisms as they often told more of the real story.
Ed was positively beaming, “Well she’s my girlfriend, we’ve been going out for 3 months now. She’s amazing we talk all day long and don’t get bored of each other. Kind of like you and Molly”
John was a little surprised for Ed wasn’t the most personable of people to be around. He was good in small doses until you got to know him a bit, then he was alight. John new he had to go through the motions and let Ed show her off, “So tell me about her”
“She’s a student, she’s doing her masters thesis in meteorology and wants to work for the weather network. Its kind of cute actually. But she really knows her stuff about the weather. Other than that she’s sweet and nice and has this very cute voice. We haven’t had an argument yet and I’m totally happy.”
And happy he was, Ed was simply beaming by this point, which is good for him. About time that he found himself a girl and settled down a bit, but there almost had to be some kind of a catch here, John thought to himself.
“So Ed, how is it that you can talk to her all day long?”
“Well its pretty simple, you know how we occasionally chat online? Its pretty much the same thing, we use online chat all day long while I’m at work and sometimes in the evenings. Though we normally talk on the phone now”
‘Now?’ John thought to himself, that’s a very odd way of putting it; this might be the catch or quirk he sensed earlier, it was time to explore this some more. “So where did you meet Janet?”
“In a chat room on Lavalife”
John watched Ed playing with his coffee cup, which was now all but empty. Still a caffeine junky, which is normal.
“So how many dates have you guys been on?” John knew he was going to get an answer out of Ed.
“Well,” there was a pause as Ed shifted in his seat looking much more uncomfortable than before, “none”
“None? You haven’t met this girl yet?” The reality of the answer took John for a bit of a surpise.
“Not, yet. But I will ask her on a date soon enough.”, Ed was clearly trying to regain his composure. He had obviously set this meeting up for some kind of approval or support but it wasn’t quite going how he had expected it.
“Ed, how could you be going out with someone you haven’t met yet?”, John’s tone had a bit of humor to it being almost rhetorical in nature.
“Its an online relationship,” Ed was getting a bit flustered and shifted in his seat grabbing at the armrests, “I really like her personality and we get along great so I figured there was no point in rushing”
“You really should meet her Ed, you might not even like her when you meet her” John realized that his acquaintance had come for some support, but also needed a bit of reality.
“Not like her? John I love this girl” Came Ed’s startled reply to the question.
“Ed, you’ve never met her” John knew he had hit a button the moment he said it. Ed stood up and grabbed his jacket. “I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later” Ed proceeded to storm out of the café.
John quietly sat there and finished his latte then put on his jacket and headed to the door. He noticed he was the only one in the place other than the girl behind the coffee bar.
As he was walking towards the door the girl asked, “what was that about? He left in a hurry”
John stopped and started to put on his jacket as he looked at the girl, “He was upset because I questioned how he could have a girlfriend without meeting her, he called her an online girlfriend”
The girl shifted on the stool she was standing on, “Doesn’t make sense to me either, but I’ve seen more and more of it. Though I do have to say the internet is an interesting way to meet new people”
“I agree, but that will never replace the physical side of a relationship” John finished zipping up, “Have a good night”
John started to turn towards the girl behind the counter to give her a smile as he noticed her name tag, it read Janet.
Technorati: short story, friends, virtual girlfriend
Welcome
Welcome to 500 Words or so a blog that I'm starting up for the purposes of writing once or twice a week, most likely once to start with. What do I mean by writing? Is this just another personal blog with a bit of this a bit of that and not a whole lot of very much at all? Nope this blog is fictional writing... short stories, stories that'll continiue over a number of posts.
These are my stories, please respect that. If you'd like to use a section, please give credit. If you'd like to use something commercialy, please contact me (bootsector at gmail.com). This is mostly for me to write little short stories and things like that though if in the future I decide to expand... that's my call.
So a bit about me: My name is Tank (I've got a real name but this is what I'm writing under... for now) and I live in Toronto, Canada. I'm male, about 28 or so working in computers (generally). I've been writing short stories for years though there's been a gap lately and I'd like to remove that. None of my works have been published though it would be nice if they were one day. That's the 10seconds on me... if you want to know more just email me.
Technorati: Writing, Short Stories,Stories, Novella Fiction, New Blog
These are my stories, please respect that. If you'd like to use a section, please give credit. If you'd like to use something commercialy, please contact me (bootsector at gmail.com). This is mostly for me to write little short stories and things like that though if in the future I decide to expand... that's my call.
So a bit about me: My name is Tank (I've got a real name but this is what I'm writing under... for now) and I live in Toronto, Canada. I'm male, about 28 or so working in computers (generally). I've been writing short stories for years though there's been a gap lately and I'd like to remove that. None of my works have been published though it would be nice if they were one day. That's the 10seconds on me... if you want to know more just email me.
Technorati: Writing, Short Stories,Stories, Novella Fiction, New Blog
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