Saturday, October 11, 2014

ARC Writing Prompt #5: In a Parking Lot

"You are in a parking lot unlocking the door to your car when you realize the car was moved from its original spot." (From 'Writing prompts' by ARC Apps)
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Anna crossed the lot towards her car, cursing under her breath as the heel of her slightly too big boot wobbled, forcing her to devote more concentration than usual to the task of staying upright with both ankles intact.
Concentration wasn't something she had an excessive amount of at the moment, and it occurred to her as she stopped walking in order to fully focus on the task at hand- rummaging through her giant tote for her keys- that this had been the norm for quite some time.
That morning, she'd arrived in the cool, Seattle air in those boots, along with a dark grey blazer, a nice button up blouse and a pair of dark washed blue jeans, her makeup subtle but as close to perfect as she could get, her long hair brushed back into a sleek bun.
Now, ten hours later, her hair had rebelled, escaping from her simple bun in tendrils which tickled her face and blew in front of her eyes and mouth with the slightest provocation. Her blouse was wrinkled, her blazer was creased, her pants had stretched and- as she used her free hand to push her hair out of her eyes for what must have been the hundredth time- it was very clear that whatever makeup was left on her pale pink skin wasn't the same anymore.

It had been, all things considered, a pretty crappy day. But at least, she thought as her hand triumphantly closed around the elusive keys and she wobbled the last few steps to her car, it was almost over.

She took a deep breath and stuck her key into the door.

And then she saw the can.
The can of soda that had miraculously ended up unsquished between the front and back wheels on the drivers side of her car when she'd pulled into the spot that morning. She'd been irritated at how unscathed it'd been.
Except that that wasn't the case anymore. Now, the can was very near to the back wheel,  and it was flat as a pancake.

She swallowed and carefully settled the hand that wasn't holding her key to the side of her tote, gently feeling around for the outer pocket…

She froze at the sound of a pistol being cocked resonated behind her, then:
"Alright, so, where did I go wrong?"

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