The Writing Lab invites writers from all over the world to come and contribute to the story line. Our endeavour is to create an interesting melange of cultures, writing styles and genres. Contribute a line, a paragraph or a complete chapter- it is upto you. We are starting the story but the end is in your hands. Leave whatever you would like to contribute as a comment. We would update the blog periodically to tell you which way the story is headed. We look forward to an interesting journey with writers from all over the world. Here it goes:
Dressed in her drawstring pyjamas, a body hugging vest and her trainers, she stepped out of her house for her daily jogging routine in the neighbourhood park. With a tall and lean frame, Annie was the gifted sort who seldom put on weight. But still, she followed her workout regime religiously. Her dusky complexion and her toned physique would make you think she would be attracting a lot of male attention, not to mention the CEO status that she enjoyed. But she had a certain kind of masculinity about her which was intimidating to most; and she enjoyed it.
As she stepped into the park, she noticed that the park was empty as usual. After all, hardly anybody wakes up at 4 in the morning. The air smelt fresh, the birds had just started chirping and there was the usual quietness you would associate with early dawn. After 2 rounds of brisk walking, she began increasing her pace until she was literally galloping like a horse. As she ran harder, drops of sweat and the early rays of the sun made her olive skin shine like golden sand.
Running gave her a high that nothing else could, not even sex. She always felt happier, the harder she ran. But today, somehow, there was a voice in her which told her that something was wrong. She had not had this foreboding feeling for a long time now. The last time she encountered this feeling; she was kidnapped and molested by a group of teenagers looking for some fun. Maybe it was that incident which made her develop a masculine streak to ward off potential threats. The thought of that incident made her cringe and unknowingly, her pace of running started getting slower.
“What could go wrong this early in the morning?” she thought. “Maybe it is because I did not sleep last night. I should learn to relax”.
She tried to divert her attention away from the negative thoughts but in vain. They kept coming back at her, almost pricking at her skin like a thousand needles attacking the body at the same time.
Suddenly a dark figure appeared out of the bushes to her right. Annie stopped, trying to decide whether to run or fight. But the stranger made no move toward her, so she remained in her position.
ReplyDelete"Hello, Annie," he said in a warm voice. "I've come to take you home."
"Home?" she said, the danger forgotten for a moment. She could not remember every calling any place home. In fact, she had no real memories before the orphanage, and she was eight then.
"I don't know you, and I don't care to. So kindly move out of my way, or get acquainted with my mace."
He laughed, and while it was not a menacing sound, it still disturbed her. She knew that laugh. From where, she could not begin to guess...but she knew it all the same.
"I don't think that will be necessary," he said good-naturedly.
A flash of blinding light seemed to fly at Annie, and before she could move out of the way, it had enveloped her. She felt as if she were floating, weightless, and the only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat.
Suddenly a whooshing sound drowned out her pulse and she landed with a thump on her posterior. Annie couldn't see anything through the thick fog that surrounded her, but she heard that voice again - right next to her ear.
"Welcome home, Annie. We've been waiting for you."