Welcome to Wednesday. Is it me or is this week just flying by? Maybe it’s just me. It just feels like I turn around, blink and the day has evaporated. Maybe it is the pre- new year’s rush. Either way we are continuing with our prompts. If you are joining me in this one then set your timers to fifteen minutes and let’s get going.
Okay I like this one. I am going to have to write this story out. I may actually jot down a few notes once i am finished posting actually. I really like this one.
Wednesday, December 29th: The bedsheets snapped in the wind.
The bedsheets snapped in the wind. When I hung them out to dry, the sun was bright overhead and the sky a bowl of deep blue. There was no wind and the sheets hung straight down. I remembered checking them as I was worried that they might drag the ground as the line was lower than I was accustomed to seeing.
They were freshly washed and I didn’t want to see them soiled again. I thought the sun would do them a world of good. The dryer had a damp musty scent to it as though old water was sitting somewhere in the drum. I would need to run bleach through it before washing the clothes. With luck that would kill the scent. For now I hoped the sun would dry the sheets and bring a fresh scent to them.
That was several hours ago. I hung the sheets and returned to the house to continue my chores, thinking the sheets didn’t need my attention to dry. When I looked up from my task it was to see that the sky was darkening, the sun nearly swallowed by dark clouds. The wind kicked up and caused the sheets to flutter, tugging at the clothespins I used to keep them on the line. Picturing everything from incoming rain to sheets broken loose and being whisked off into the growing storm, I dropped my dust rag and raced out to the line. The wind was stronger that it looked and it had looked pretty fierce. I reached the line just as one of the sheets tore free from the pins.
I went racing after it, determined to capture it, even if I did have to wash it a second time. There were no spare sheets in the cabinet and if I didn’t reclaim it then one of the beds would be shorted. I could make sure it was mine so that no one noticed, but I would have no way to replace the sheet and so the shortage would be a permanent one.
I raced across the yard but the windborne sheet managed to stay one step ahead of me. No matter how fast I moved, it was faster. I grit my teeth and bent all my energy into catching the sheet. Finally I managed to grab a corner and tug it back to earth. I clutched the fabric to me. It still had the scent of sunshine in its folds. A scent I realized was no longer a part of the air around me. The wind blew it all away. The scent of an incoming storm filled the air.
My chase took me away from the house and into the edge of the woods at the back of the property. I was certain that the trees actually aided in my capture of the runaway sheet as the wind seemed less here than it was in the open land near the house. I took a minute and leaned against one of the trees as I caught my breath. I was panting heavily and some of my hair worked its way out of my clip to straggle over my face and down my neck. I was a mess.
I knew it didn’t really matter, not today. Everyone was gone from the house today and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, or possibly the following day. No one had been very clear on the time line. I was surprised by that. It wasn’t too uncommon for me to have the house to myself for a day or two at a time, but I was always given a clear itinerary before. This inaccuracy with returns was unexpected.
As I caught my breath I noticed there was movement up by the house. I blinked and pushed off of the tree. There were people at the house. ‘No,’ I thought. ‘Not at the house. Surrounding it.’ As I looked a the visitors fanned out encircling the house. They looked intimidating. I heard orders barked in a gruff tone but could make out none of the words. Moments later a torch was brought forward. Someone threw something in through the front door, then tossed the flaming torch in through the door afterwards, closing the door a moment later. Even before conscious thought hit me, I eased myself deeper into the woods, looking to get away without drawing attention to my movements.
Ten til Midnight 