Writing Exercise Part Two

The phone vibrated in her hand just as she was gathering up her bags in the check-out lane at Target.

“Hello,” she mumbled into the receiver, awkwardly pressed against her shoulder as she walked quickly through the parking lot. Her car key hidden in her fist, in attack mode. All those silly chain emails her mother forwarded onto her, about young women being abducted in shadowy car ramps and empty Walmart lots.

She was prepared.

As if anyone would want her.

The rain was incessant, all week the sky hemorrhaged, flooding the sidewalks and pooling into small puddles on the roads. The ground was soft and slick beneath her, and she let her hair fall over her ears, covering the phone from the moisture surrounding her.

“Hello,” she repeated.

There was only static and a click. The line went dead. She flipped the phone over and checked the call history.

“Unknown,” it read.

“Whatever,” she muttered, opening the trunk of her silver Toyota Camry and loading it with her groceries. With a swift glance behind her, she slid into her car and sped off toward the freeway.

*****

The dim light from a single bulb in the dining room greeted her as she fumbled through the doorway with her bags. She dropped everything on the floor with a sigh and looked around.

“Charlie!” she yelled, and a small bundle of white fur zipped down the hallway, nearly tackling her.

“Baby boy!” she smiled and picked up the Shih Tzu, who licked her nose and wagged his tail joyously. She let the squirming puppy fall out of her arms and dance around her as she sorted through the day’s mail. Cable bill. Student loan statement. Auto insurance renewal.

Lawyer.

She suddenly felt warm, and tossed the envelopes on the counter unopened. She grabbed the leash and looked at Charlie, who stared back at her expectantly. “Wanna go outside?” she asked him.

The weather prevented a long walk . Charlie pulled and whined as his coat flattened, wet and heavy from the rain. She let him run ahead of her, back to the apartment building, and she wondered how many times she’d gone up and down those stairs in the past year.

Too much. Not enough. Probably could do with some more exercise, she thought, but her legs were still strong and muscled from her track days back in high school. It was enough, for now. Someday she would have to get back into running again.