Morning all. I don’t know about you but i was rattled out of bed by thunder this morning. A few minutes before my alarm went off it boomed directly overhead, shaking the windows and setting off the neighbor’s car alarm. I’m pretty sure the entire neighborhood got up at the same time today. The rain is pinging the glass like little stones. I don’t know about you but i always love writing when it rains. I think it is sort of like the you get the best ideas in the shower sort of vibe. Maybe it is just me. Regardless, lets get started with today’s prompt. Set those timers and let’s go.
I like this one. Again I like the character, but not sure of the story. It seems to be more of a character week than a story line one for me. But I do want to find a place for him.
Thursday, August 10th: He had never been that cold.
He had never been that cold. Raised in southern Louisiana, he spent his childhood learning to deal with heat and humidity. The one time in his childhood that he could remember snow it was viewed as an almost apocalyptic event. The world ground to a halt, no one left their homes while it still fell for fear of being trapped somewhere. And when it finished everyone played for the few hours the two inches managed to stay around before melting.
Then life went back to normal.
When he was grown his work took him to other parts of the world. It seemed that winters landed him in sub-tropical and tropical environs. It was the summers he often thought cool as those were times he ended up in areas with cooler climates. When there others wore shorts and short sleeved shirts while he still wore pants and long sleeves, their summer was just a little warmer than the winter of his childhood.
But somehow wires were crossed and now he found himself here. He was supposed to onlty be here for a few weeks. It would have been the tail end of summer here and even that was too cool for his preferences. But then the job spun out, weeks became months and still the project rolled on. He had to buy clothes and for the first time in his life experienced snow that lasted more than a few hours and people who tended to ignore it like he would a mid afternoon rainstorm.
He did his job, he bought new clothes. They felt uncomfortable on, his body ill-accustomed to their weight and movement. He maintained his calm and easy demeaner, but he was counting the days until this project was completed. Every delay felt like a personal attack. He had never been this cold, had never known this sort of cold was real outside of movies.
It snuck into his bones and made them ache. His lungs burned with each breath, and he felt as though he was constantly on the verge of some sort of illness.
He was miserable, but did his best to keep his misery to himself.
The project ended and he was congratulated on his efforts. The local branch even offered him a permanent position so that he could cease his constant moving about and settle down. The thought of staying permanently here filled him with indescribable horror. The snow was piled high, filthy with dirt and sand and god only knew what else, and he was hoping that the plane would still be able to take off.
He told everyone he appreciated the offer and would consider it, but needed to check in with family first. He had no family left among the living, but as nothing was going to keep him in this frozen land longer it was the most polite thing he could say. And his family may no longer be among the living, but they had raised him to be polite and respectful and he was certain they wouldn’t mind the deception.
When he boarded the plane had did so with a stoic demeanor. He would not celebrate, even internally until he was once more thawed out completely, the trip behind him. The plane was delayed take off by over an hour as it was de-iced. It was a concept that made him tremble inside. Finally, they were airborne.
Ten til Midnight 