Welcome to writing Wednesday! I've very excited to prompt with you all today. I'm using a prompt from my creative writing class, and I have to warn you, mine is pretty long. But I had such a great time writing it and I hope you all join me!
I wake up to the noise of barking from downstairs. Red must have to go to the bathroom. Begrudgingly,
I stumble out of my comfortable, warm bed and slip on my favorite black moccasins.
Red barks again, and I take the stairs two at a time to shut him up before he
wakes my landlord, who already hates me with a burning passion. The last thing
I need is him kicking me out mid-semester.
I slip and slide on
the wood floor, but make it to the door without ever having to truly open my
eyes. Truth be told, I plan on falling right back into bed after Red does his business.
I open the door, and Red—my little fox-like terrier—happily darts out to door.
I lean against the frame, and rub my eyes, finally letting them open when I
notice that outside has a faint red color to it.
I look to my left
and right and see my world completely different than when I fell asleep no more
than seven hours ago. A large crater takes over the entire road, white fog
erupting from the center like molten lava. Sirens wail in the distance, and the
street overflows with people running, overfilled suitcases in their hands.
“Red!” I scream,
searching my destroyed front yard for my best friend. There’s rubble
everywhere, pieces of brick and wood and rock. I run out the door in my
slippers, my skin instantly heating in the open air. Something is very, very wrong. Red darts into my line of vision and
I grab him by the collar, tugging him into my house.
“What do you
have?” I ask Red as I see a weird stick-like thing sticking out from his mouth.
I go to grab it when I see the faint black hair covering most of it. I look
farther down it and notice a set of five fingers poking off the limb. “DROP!” I
yell at Red. When he finally lets the arm go, I kick it out the door and slam
it shut. My heart pumps a mile a minute.
Immediately, I
run into the kitchen to check my ancient phone line. The dead tone taunts me
like it’s laughing in my face. I slam the phone back in its holster and sprint
up my stairs to my cell phone. I find it on the night stand, vibrating with
fervor.
“Hello?”
“Maggie, it’s me.
Are you safe?” my boyfriend, Jace, asks.
“What’s happening?”
I cry into the phone, cradling it like it might burst into flames on the spot. Red
jumps onto the bed, curling into my side, a slight sigh as he rests, completely
oblivious to the world around us.
“Invasion. They think
they’re from another world. I’m coming to get you. Don’t move.”
“Wha—” The line goes dead and I drop the phone
on my floor. Immediately, I text Leo, Jace’s twin brother. The message doesn’t
even say delivered and my heart sinks. Something happened to him.
A million questions pop into my brain and I can’t
even muster the control to file through them. Absently, I pat Red on the head,
the familiar gesture soothing.
If Jace was right about an invasion, then we
need to get out of here. We have to get safe. I need to change. I run to my
closet and throw on a pair of jeans and a short sleeve shirt since it’s
apparently not November cold weather anymore. I find a backpack on the top
shelf and throw it on my bed. I start to fill it with the basic necessities I
think I’ll need—toothbrush, toothpaste, dog food, pop tarts, three ice cold
bottles of water. I throw in a change of clothes just for the hell of it and
then a sweater, in case the cold weather returns.
“Mag?” His voice settles my heart and I run down
the stairs and jump straight into his arms. Emotions bubble from within me, and
I can’t hold back my fear any longer. I cry into Jace’s chest, his warmth the
only thing I can concentrate on.
“It’s okay, Maggie. We’re together now. But we
have to move. Everyone is going to town hall basement. We should go there, too.”
“What about Leo?”
“His phone is going straight to voicemail,” Jace
replies with worry in his tone.
“We need to check if he’s okay, Jace. We can
stop on the way.” I nod my head to myself, knowing that it’s the right thing to
do. Jace’s twin is a pain in the ass, but he deserves to be safe. I know that
he won’t want to be alone. I can’t leave him.
I love him, too.
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