Friday! And my preemptive strike on the potential cold building seems to have worked. The brain fog and lethargy seem to have faded, washed away on an effervescent sea of bubbles and lemon ginger tea and the aid of vitamin C tablets and iron infused foods. So for the first time this week I am feeling like myself, and somehow it is the end of the week. Such s life. i get the brain fog lifted just in time for the weekend Seems about right. So timers at the ready and lets see what we see for today’s sentence.
Okay I like this. I really want to turn this into a ghost story. A murderous ghost story. I haven’t written one of those i a while. Fun for a Friday!
Friday, February 9th: The door creaked open.
The door creaked open. I waited, my breath catching in my throat. No one was there. Still I waited. Nothing happened.
‘What did you think was going to happen?’ I asked myself. Inside my head, my tone was mocking, yet I couldn’t bring myself to say the words aloud. This place was strange. I walked over and pulled the door wider. The hinges squealed in protest. Nothing was there apart from the usual.
‘Just a bathroom.’ I told myself. There was the large tub, the commode, the vanity with my travel toiletries bag on the top. There was a pile of fresh towels and washcloths waiting for me to take my shower. There was absolutely nothing wrong.
“Although I do need to get out my hand sanitizer,” I reminded myself. I stashed it in my toiletries bag and knew I needed it for my meeting in the morning. I walked into the bathroom. Nothing was out of place. I took the toiletries case back to the bedroom, set it on the bed and opened it, taking my hand sanitizer out and putting it into my purse. My suitcase was still in the trunk as I had not taken the time to bring it up. I was only anticipating being in the room for a few minutes to freshen up. But the phone rang and my meeting was delayed by half an hour.
‘Sitting around idly is what’s getting to me,’ I decided. I zipped up my toiletries bag. I then put my purse inside of my laptop bag. I was already freshened up from my drive and ready for my meeting. I was absurdly grateful that the initial meeting would be tonight rather than in the morning. The way this inn creaked and groaned I suspected that I was not going to get much sleep. Still it was the only room available due to some local festival.
‘At least they will see me fresh instead of after a sleepless night.’
Bag in hand and room key slipped into the front pouch of my bag, I took a deep breath and walked out of the door, making sur it closed behind me. I was on the top of the landing when I realized I had taken not just my laptop bag, but the toiletries bag as well. ‘I’ll bring it back with my suitcase.’
As I went down stairs, I told myself the door opening on it’s own was just due to the tilted angles of an old building settling. I tried to tell myself that I hadn’t heard the click of the latch slipping from the metal. The door wasn’t locked, but it shouldn’t have opened without the knob being turned.
Yet it did.
‘Just loose on the plate or something.’ I told myself. I wasn’t sure it there was anything called a plate involved, but it sounded like a term I heard before. ‘And it isn’t like I heard the doorknob turn is it? So, something clearly slipped.’
The helpful clerk smiled at me as I made my way through the lobby.
“Good luck with your meeting,” she said.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I replied. I headed out of the door and let my smile slip. Had I mentioned my meeting to the clerk when I checked in?
Ten til Midnight 