HIRE A FICTION WRITER - USA - EXPERIENCED
Jars
She took the jar off the
shelf and fixed the plastic mask over her nose. She inhaled deeply. She smelled
nothing but felt the mild euphoria take over. The pain lifted instantly.
As she put the jar back in
its holder on her bathroom shelf, she caught a glimpse of herself in the
mirror. The stress and creases in her face were noticeably softened. As usual,
the gas had worked. She covered the jar carefully to disguise it and put it in
a small cabinet designed with a faux face. No one who visited her bathroom
would ever suspect it was there.
Josh didn’t see the pain in
her eyes before she visited the bathroom to take the pill. He did notice she
looked visibly happier when she returned. He was glad. He hated to see her in
pain and knew her headaches had only worsened over the last couple of months.
She did seem to feeling better emotionally too.
“Are those pills the doc gave
you working better?”
She forced a smile and lied.
“Yeah, they really seem to do the trick.”
She went into the kitchen to
heat the pan for the stir-fry. It was Tuesday and she usually made a chicken
and veggie stir-fry. Sometimes Josh joined her; sometime he was away for his
job. Today she’d add extra chicken for two.
“So
they still don’t know what’s causing the pain? The headaches, I mean?” asked
Josh.
“Nah.
The doctor says it’s just stress or eye strain,” she answered him as the hot
oil crackled in the pan. She tossed in the chopped chicken.” I guess maybe I
need glasses or something.” Her job required lots of computer work and it was
probably just catching up with her.
“Well,
the same thing was happening to my brother lately and he got glasses. They
didn’t help at all,” said Josh. He grabbed some silverware and napkins to set
the table.
“I
guess I’ll just have to wait and see,” said Claire. She had a nagging feeling
that the glasses wouldn’t help her either and it was starting to worry her. She
was feeling happier, but these headaches were getting more frequent.
As
they ate Josh rattled on about his new job and all the drug-related news.
Claire ate silently and pretended to listen.
“…so
I told him no, flat out!” said Josh laughing. He looked at Claire and saw no
reaction. ”Did you hear me? I told him no way.”
Claire
stirred out of her fog. Lately the jar had been causing her to feel foggy and
euphoric. It didn’t last long, but it was a new side effect. Still, it wasn’t
enough to make her stop using it. “Uh, sure, yeah, good. I’d have told him
that, too.” She had no idea what she was agreeing to, but it didn’t matter.
They cleared the dinner
plates and watched TV. She felt better and content. She snuggled into Josh’s
arm crook and swung her feet up on the couch. She felt happy and sleepy. In
just moments she was out. Josh looked down at her snoring softly in his arms.
He smiled. She looked so
peaceful. It was a far cry from an hour ago when she’d been nearly crying
because of her headache. They were getting stronger and it scared him. He
reasoned the doctors knew what they were doing to help her. He trusted doctors
and the drugs they gave. After all, it was his job to do so.
…
Tran didn’t count the money.
He just put the wad in the box on the desk and handed Dan the brown bag. Dan
walked out quickly and avoided eye contact with the thugs in the hallway. The
building smelled of urine and had graffiti scrawled everywhere. He kept his
head down and got to his car as quickly as he could.
Once inside he opened the bag
and checked the contents. He didn’t dare do it in front of Tran. Tran was
trigger itchy and had a rep for shooting anyone that rubbed him the wrong way.
He never checked the contents in front of him, but he was never short-changed.
Dan looked around and saw no
one on the empty street. There were a few guys milling around the entrance of
the building he’d just come from, but they were not watching him. They wouldn’t
care if they saw him anyway.
Dan took the rubber nozzle
and inhaled. Just one blast off, he told himself. It wasn’t like he did it all
the time, but lately it was more frequent. Losing his job over a year ago and
the house now nearly in foreclosure had forced him to it. It wasn’t like it was illegal, he reasoned. He just needed it for
the rough times and then he’d quit.
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