Grand Central

Chloe sipped her espresso, looking around the shop, waiting. Out in the terminal, she spotted an older man walking purposefully towards the shop. She set down her drink and waved at him without getting up. Seeing her, he forced a smile and made his way to her table.

“Thanks for agreeing to see me,” he said, taking a seat.

“Don’t you want something to drink, Noah?” she asked.

He ignored her question, but put on a pained expression. “How many times do I have to ask you to call me Dad? When are you going to give me that?”

Chloe was icy. “When you admit that you don’t deserve it.” She looked away from him back out to the terminal. She raised her eyebrows at what looked like a rabbit leading a mole wearing sunglasses to the ticket agent. The two of them appeared to be looking at the departure times and destinations, with the rabbit whispering in the mole’s ear.

Chloe looked back at Noah. “Do you see that?” she said, pointing at the pair outside, silently marveling that nobody yet had noticed them or stepped on them. “That rabbit is being more fatherly to the mole than you ever were to me.”

Noah turned to look, confused. “I don’t see any animals out there,” he said, and reached out to cover her hand with one of his own. “I think your imagination is getting away from you again.”

She stood up abruptly, pulling her hand away from his, her chair sliding back with a teeth-grinding screech. “This is what I’m talking about,” she said, her voice rising. “You never listen to me!” Leaving her coffee sitting on the table, and her father protesting, she ran out of the shop to where she had seen the animals. There was nothing there.

Frantically, she stared around at the different tunnels, hoping to see some glimpse of them. She finally spotted them near a ticket booth. She was about to run over to them when a strong hand seized her wrist.

She yanked her arm, but to no avail. “I’m sorry I have to do this, honey,” said Noah’s voice. “But if you’re seeing things again, I have to put you back in the institution. It’s for your own good. Look at these people staring.”

Chloe yanked harder, but she could see the truth of his words. They were causing a scene. She had to tell them to look at the animals. The rabbit and the mole were just over there. “Look!” she cried, getting hysterical. “They’re right there, don’t you see them?” She pointed in the direction of the ticket booth, where she could clearly see the rabbit hop up and pay the ticket agent and receive two tickets in return.

The commuters’ gazes turned to the booth, then back to her. Some faces were puzzled. Others were scared and started moving away from her. The worst were the pitying faces.

“You see?” said Noah in her ear. “You can’t be in society. They’ll tear you apart, my Chloe.” She felt a pinch on her arm. Looking, she saw the needle, and her eyes went to her father’s face. It blurred a bit, and she struggled to look back at the rabbit with his blind friend.

“But they’re right there,” she wanted to say. No words came out, and all became blackness.

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So that's one scene in the bank! I want to thank Laura Egmon and Beth Egmon for their contributions to today's post, and I encourage all of you to give feedback on it, either in the comments below, or by shooting me an email!

For next week, suggest a scary situation to be in. I'll choose my five favorites and use those for next Monday. Please have submissions in by 9 pm Central Time on Thursday, again, either in the comments below, or in an email.

See you next time!

#scene #create #writing