Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Unfinished short story. Title pending. Any thoughts?

Hazel stared at her cellphone, clutched tightly in her left hand, willing it to ring. In her other hand, a lit cigarette dangled absent-mindedly, and brought up to her lips and sending a rush of nicotine to her brain. She stared some more, flipped it open a few times "just to make sure it was working" and waited. She slipped it into her pocket, imagining the inanimate object to be stubborn, thinking perhaps it may ring if she stopped willing it to so impatiently.

The sun moved higher in the sky, forcing the little patch of shade Hazel stood in to get smaller and smaller, until she was completely exposed. Despite having half of her face obscured by dark sunglasses, Hazel squinted her eyes as the sun's rays, unwelcome yet indifferent, hit her square in the eye.

"Fuck it," she muttered, throwing her unfinished cigarette in a gutter, adding to the already growing collection of discarded rubbish and debris. She checked her phone again, sure there must be something wrong with the networks. Was it possible that he hadn't called her yet? He had said noon. It was fourteen minutes past. Could there have been a mix up at the drop off point? She looked around hurriedly, making sure she wasn't being followed or recognized and lit another cigarette. Inhaling deeply, she looked up at the sky where oddly enough, a crow circled overhead.