Prompt #1
I looked at my watch. Eight-thirty, it read. I sighed, resigning from my post at the empty diner booth and deciding to call it a night. There was no point in waiting for someone who couldn't show up within an hour of a set date. I put my leather jacket back on and called the waitress to bring me the check. She had been trying to keep me company all night, but there was still an empty seat across from me.
"No show, huh?" she asked, leaning against the ledge that separated my booth from the one in front of me. I shook my head, rummaging through my pocket for my wallet.
"Don't worry about it," she said, taking the receipt from her apron pocket and crumpling it up. "They won't notice."
She was a pretty girl, no older than 25. She had long, curly brown hair that reached her mid-back and skin that had been kissed all over by too many hours in the sun. Her name tag had fallen off, but I knew her name. Jeanette.
"Thanks, Jeanette. I really appreciate it," I said, getting up from the booth. "And thanks for keeping me company. I needed it."
She waved me off. "Go watch the game. Everyone's crowding around Bru's Room to watch the Jets play the Cowboys tonight."
Before I left the diner, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. The mirror wasn't made out of real glass, so it twisted the image of myself that I could see. My head looked a little smaller than usual, but I could see everything that was there before--a guy trying too hard for a girl that would never show up. I wasn't the type to wear a nice jacket to a run-down diner, but here I was. Dateless and overdressed.
I left the diner and the sun was already gone from my view. The city was tired, and so was I. My car was parked behind the diner, and as I walked around to the back, I heard muffled cries. They were so distinct against the soundtrack of the cars right next to the street, standing out like popcorn on a ceiling. I followed the noise to the alley between the diner and the dry cleaner next door. They got louder as I got closer, drowning out the sound of the streets, and as I rounded the corner into the alley, I saw a man dressed in black holding my date by the hair, her mouth taped shut and her wrists bound together.
"Gina?" I said, startling the man and Gina herself. Her eyes opened wider and she tried to say something to me through the tape around her mouth. The man let go of her hair and made her begin to run to a car that was parked at the edge of the alley.
I looked at my watch. Eight-thirty, it read. I sighed, resigning from my post at the empty diner booth and deciding to call it a night. There was no point in waiting for someone who couldn't show up within an hour of a set date. I put my leather jacket back on and called the waitress to bring me the check. She had been trying to keep me company all night, but there was still an empty seat across from me.
"No show, huh?" she asked, leaning against the ledge that separated my booth from the one in front of me. I shook my head, rummaging through my pocket for my wallet.
"Don't worry about it," she said, taking the receipt from her apron pocket and crumpling it up. "They won't notice."
She was a pretty girl, no older than 25. She had long, curly brown hair that reached her mid-back and skin that had been kissed all over by too many hours in the sun. Her name tag had fallen off, but I knew her name. Jeanette.
"Thanks, Jeanette. I really appreciate it," I said, getting up from the booth. "And thanks for keeping me company. I needed it."
She waved me off. "Go watch the game. Everyone's crowding around Bru's Room to watch the Jets play the Cowboys tonight."
Before I left the diner, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands. The mirror wasn't made out of real glass, so it twisted the image of myself that I could see. My head looked a little smaller than usual, but I could see everything that was there before--a guy trying too hard for a girl that would never show up. I wasn't the type to wear a nice jacket to a run-down diner, but here I was. Dateless and overdressed.
I left the diner and the sun was already gone from my view. The city was tired, and so was I. My car was parked behind the diner, and as I walked around to the back, I heard muffled cries. They were so distinct against the soundtrack of the cars right next to the street, standing out like popcorn on a ceiling. I followed the noise to the alley between the diner and the dry cleaner next door. They got louder as I got closer, drowning out the sound of the streets, and as I rounded the corner into the alley, I saw a man dressed in black holding my date by the hair, her mouth taped shut and her wrists bound together.
"Gina?" I said, startling the man and Gina herself. Her eyes opened wider and she tried to say something to me through the tape around her mouth. The man let go of her hair and made her begin to run to a car that was parked at the edge of the alley.
