Starting the Words

The morning wore on. The streets crowded with people and traffic.

Rainy days in the city were a grey endless drudgery where people forget to look around them and focus only on the ground beneath their feet. Umbrellas prevented the ability to see the sky, but then who would want to on a day like this? Thunder rolled nearby and lightning added a spark of electricity to the atmosphere.

The city flowed for the morning then began to calm down once the initial rush to the office had finished.

Cieran and Mikey sat in their own little world watching people come and go. They knew the movements of some people more than they let on. The watched the movements of the certain people closely. Mental notes were made and they went about their business of begging and getting their next score.

They huddled in out of the rain on their sodden cardboard. A worn and filthy sleeping bag was keeping Mikeys feet warm while Cieran gazed out on the street. He nodded, back to Mikey.

“Nobody around to pay attention” he said.

“Who would have thought it would happen here eh?” said a voice that did not sound like it should have come out of Mikey’s mouth. It was eloquent, polite and educated.

“I know I can’t believe it’s already started” was a response in a similar tone.

Oddly enough nobody looked at the pair. Usually they avoided them and kept walking, today was especially so. Nobody wanted to deal with two drunks when they were already miserable from being cold and wet.

“Do you think he’s going to show up?” Cieran asked of his partner

Mikey shrugged his answer

“So has the judge been chosen? It shouldn’t be left to just one side to pick.” He asked

“Well the one side have selected their representative so it makes sense that the other should pick the judge.”

A Garda walked passed and the two fell back into their regular routine of general grumbling about the world. The words “feckers” and “shower of wankers” were all that was audible above the grumbling.

The Officer was in no mood to move them along and he was well used to the pair. They were a harmless enough and caused no problems for him so for today he left them be .After all it was a miserable day. A call came across his radio which drew his attention away from the drunken duo.

The man in the white suit had a prime view of the scene. The body cascaded from the window. It had a look of fear on his face and utter surprise. Once it struck the ground it became a bloody wreck.

There was a moment of silence. The world stopped for a moment, long enough for an inward breath. Then the scream. Traffic stopped as people began to rush about and watch the scene as it unfolded. There were several small crashes as cars hit one another. A cyclist was knocked off their bike and sprawled over the bonnet of a car.

The man in the white suit finished his coffee, folded his paper in a single move rose from his chair. By the time he was a foot from the coffee shop door he could hear the sirens converging on this array of people.

He glanced upwards and a person by the broken window. He was looking down with a look of horror on this face, his hands held in front of him covered in blood. The man in the white suit looked at Dermot for a long moment then looked at the pigeon who was perched on a street light nearby he nodded then walked off.

The dream was the same dream she’d had for months. It used to frighten her but now it didn’t. She’s adjusted, become accustomed.

The room was bare. The paint was flaking off the walls to reveal the grey plaster underneath. It was a horrible place. It felt like it should smell of damp but it didn’t. It smelled like cigarette smoke and sweat.

The creature was there too. It was writhing around on the floor, a tangle of flesh and bone, intestines dragging on the floor between its wretched stunted legs. Its blood was oozing and brown, at least she thought it was blood.

When the dreams came first she was scared at what they meant but now it was different. She was used to them and could even manipulate them slightly. It wasn’t much use, the same thing always happened. The creature shuffled across the dusty floor. Each step caused it pain, that was obvious from the way it moved, yet it still approached her. Slowly ever so slowly.

She went for the door. Locked, locked again. There was a sound of people outside, she screamed but they didn’t stop the people never stopped. Now she was scratching at the door, the figure moving closer ever closer. What appeared to be hands moved closer to her? The last thing she saw was the grain in the wood of the door before waking.

Now she was awake, her heart was beating the way it did when she had the dream. Sweat trickled down her back and the sheets stuck to her thighs. Her head throbbed as the hangover came to roost.

The clock read twenty minute to go before she was due in work. The rain poured outside and already she was beginning to regret the night before. She worked as an administrative assistant for one of the Professors in the main universities of the City. It was mostly making sure that he made it to classes on time but afforded her the opportunity to brush up on her skills and get extra classes at night. This was always really meant to be a temp job but after two years it hadn’t really changed.

She picked up her phone and dialled the office. She left a voice mail explaining that she would be late and reminded her boss of his meeting and where to find the files he’d need. Not a good day to pull a sickie so no matter what she had to go in really. “Damn weather” she thought as she went for her second shower of the day. A flash of lightning filled the sky.

By the time she had arrived in the office her feet were soaked, her umbrella was inside out and she was soaked through to the skin. Third shower of the day she thought. She rooted around her desk for a moment and pulled out some painkillers, the type that most women have hidden some place in their desks. Her computer was not co operating either. She sighed; it was going to be one of those days.