Kelly rubbed the bandage on her right leg and winced. She had no spare energy to heal the wound. She hated this stretch of 331, where there were no streetlights between podunk towns, and every reflection might be him. Hell, for all she knew, every reflection was him. He managed to infect everything. In back, Amber shifted in her carseat and Luna hummed with the radio.
“Mom, stop.”
“What, Luna?”
“He’s ten miles ahead.”
“You’re sure?”
Luna didn’t answer. Kelly didn’t know why she had asked.
There was a chance to change course, head for Destin instead of Pensacola. But he surely knew that, too. If Luna could find her father, then he could find her, had probably done it much sooner. If he was standing after the fork, he wanted Kelly to take it.
He was herding her away from the haven of her sister’s house. But if she diverted, he would have to move to catch them. Anything that delayed him bought Kelly time. If she couldn’t get to Jane, she might reach the Gulf. Salt water made powerful magic.
Amber squirmed. “I can’t sleep.”
“You have to.” Kelly began a resting spell.
“No. These things are making my butt numb.”
“What things?”
“Daddy’s crystal balls.”
“Amber did you take your father’s…”
“I just wanted to play with them!”
“How many…”
Luna said, “All seven. She took all seven.” Kelly checked the rearview and saw Luna rooting under her still buckled sister.
“I’m sorry…”
“No. Good girl. Throw one out, Luna. Pitch it hard.”
“Do you think he’ll follow them?”
“I have to hope so. And their size will make them hard to find in the dark.” It was an edge she hadn’t realized she held. “Chuck one every few miles, but keep the last one. I want to I sink it.” She turned at the fork and flexed her fingers on her bandaged leg. For the first time since Birmingham, she hoped they might reach the ocean.
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Since it’s week sixty nine at Trifecta, I thought of doing a kinky love scene. But I’ve had a sore throat and this particular nasty nightmare drifted through me a few weeks ago. I’ve been looking for something to do with it, and “infection” was the perfect addition.
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Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order. |
I like how the leg is like a characters. Your details and quick movements were excellent. well written,Jes.
Hop over and visit Lance’s recent post Trout
A kinky love scene would have been pretty funny for an infection themed prompt. Wicked. I liked this though. Crystal balls and women getting away from men. Nice!
Hop over and visit Marie Nicole’s recent post BoomBoom!
Great piece. Your writing brought a sense of urgency to their escape, an urgency I felt in the pit of my stomach as I read. Nice work. Thanks for sharing.
Intriguing story line. I hope there’s more to come. I like the characters already.
Hop over and visit Renee’s recent post Needle Shy
I will forgive you the lack of a kinky sex scene because your writing is so awesome (:
Gorgeous writing and I love the dark night and the car ride and the idea of a search and those crystal balls. But I’ll take a kinky love scene some other time, for sure!
Hop over and visit ilene’s recent post Love and Taxes
Great take on the crystal balls – in fact a very interesting piece altogether.
Hop over and visit Sandra Crook’s recent post Prairie Devil (Friday Fictioneers, March 2013)
Knowing where this is taking place, makes me feel like I’m in on some wonderful secret. I hate 331 too.
Hop over and visit Tara R.’s recent post Out of the mist
My brain went to bad places when I first read crystal balls 😉
Small critique: wasn’t the word “infect”?
Hop over and visit Carrie’s recent post Going Under by S. Walden {Book Review}
Yikes it was!! And that’s a mistake of the highest order. DOH!!!
Replied over at Trifecta, but in case you don’t check: can you reword it a bit to use “infect” instead of “infection”? Something along the lines of: He managed to infect everything. It’s really a fantastic little piece. I love the energy of it – the feel of a chase.
Hop over and visit Christine’s recent post Triage
I like your wording. It sounds less contrived than what I was coming up with. Thanks!
Hop over and visit jesterqueen’s recent post Balls
Loved it from the word go-a crisp & racy piece,had me holding my breath:-)
Hop over and visit Atreyee’s recent post Snake in the grass
Great piece, Jessie. I love the crystal balls as homing devices. Rather ballsy.
Hop over and visit Andra Watkins’s recent post Too Large for an Insane Asylum?
Family on the run, gotta love it! Terrific dialogue, Jessie!
Hop over and visit KymmInBarcelona’s recent post Neighbors
Oooh, sinking the seventh one sounds all kinds of wonderfully ominous. And the powerful magic of salt water? That gave me a little thrill.
Hop over and visit Cameron’s recent post The Little Sparrow
congratulations on your win. I really want to know what happened with her leg and why they are on the run. Intriguing.
Hey… is this part of a story? I like it!
Hop over and visit tedstrutz’s recent post Friday Fictioneers: HORSE SENSE
Wow, the title along was ballsy! An excellent road story; the balls not turning out to be what I expected, perhaps because of my filthy little pastor’s wife’s mind, hee he.
If this came from a recurring nightmare, I know it sounds selfish, but have more!! A story within a story, and the magic of the crystal balls – dark magic – is intriguing. Brava! Amy
Hop over and visit Sharp Little Pencil’s recent post Wild Child
Great basis for writing a bit more – like a full novel! 🙂
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