{"id":559,"date":"2018-12-02T23:54:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T23:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/?p=559"},"modified":"2024-10-17T17:05:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T16:05:01","slug":"flash-fiction-grim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/2018\/12\/02\/flash-fiction-grim\/","title":{"rendered":"Grim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

\u201cOkay, what\u2019s your problem?\u201d said Sonya, coming to a dead stop on the sidewalk and wheeling around.
A tall guy in a black trench coat, five paces behind her, pointed at his chest, looked over his shoulder and then back again. The universal \u201cWho me?\u201d
\u201cDon\u2019t come the innocent,\u201d she said. \u201cI clocked you ages ago, been following me all night.\u201d
He shrugged.
She stepped forward. \u201cAnd this isn\u2019t the first time, is it? I saw you last night.\u201d
The look of puzzlement on his face gave way to a smirk. \u201cExtraordinary,\u201d he said.
\u201cWhat the fuck does that mean?\u201d
\u201cIt means you.\u201d He just stood there, smiling at her. Vacant.
\u201cWhat are you? Some kind of God botherer?\u201d
He laughed. \u201cSort of.\u201d
\u201cWhy are you following me?\u201d she said.
\u201cIt\u2019s my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d
\u201cI do wonder, sometimes,\u201d he said, letting the words hang in the air.
\u201cFuck this,\u201d said Sonya. \u201cI\u2019m going. I catch sight of you again, I\u2019ll make you cough up a ball.\u201d
The city. No shortage of weirdos. Especially once you went the wrong side of midnight. At the end of the block, Sonya made a point to look back. Just in case. Trench Coat was nowhere to be seen.
Good.
But, she wasn\u2019t going to take any chances. Half out of precaution and half out of being too wired to go home just yet, she got to the end of the next block and pushed through the door in to Lenny\u2019s, pulling herself into her usual booth and ordering a coffee and Danish as she did.
\u201cThose things will kill you,\u201d a recently familiar voice said.
Trench Coat was sitting directly across the table from her in the booth. \u201cJesus Christ,\u201d she yelped.
He threw his head back and laughed out loud.
\u201cEverything okay over here?\u201d Lenny said, arriving over with her Danish.
\u201cTell him you broke a nail,\u201d said the guy.
\u201cWhat?\u201d she said, incredulous.
\u201cI asked you if everything was okay,\u201d said Lenny, laying the plate down in front of her and pouring a coffee.
Sonya looked up at Lenny and then at Trench Coat, who sighed, raised his hand in front of Lenny\u2019s face and snapped his fingers repeatedly. Lenny didn\u2019t flinch, didn\u2019t even register the guy\u2019s presence.
\u201cNothing,\u201d said Sonya to Lenny. \u201cI just, ah, I broke a nail.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019ll never know that pain,\u201d the old man said. \u201cDisgusting, I know, but I bite mine down to the roots.\u201d With a chuckle, he turned and hummed his way back to the counter.
\u201cHow did you do that?\u201d she said.
\u201cThat?\u201d said the guy. \u201cWas nothing. I didn\u2019t do anything special. You, on other hand\u2026\u201d
A group of partygoers pushed through the door into the coffee shop, passing their booth, heading for a spot in back. A straggler gave a double-take as she passed. \u201cHey, good night, girlfriend?\u201d She moved to slide into the seat, next to the guy.
\u201cWait,\u201d said Sonya, putting her hand out to halt her.
The girl looked in at the space where Trench Coat sat. \u201cOh,\u201d she purred. \u201c Who are you waiting for? Anyone I\u2019d know?\u201d
\u201cNo one you\u2019d know, Anna.\u201d
\u201cNot for another couple of decades yet, anyway,\u201d he said.
Anna didn\u2019t hear him, just gave Sonya an exaggerated wink and moved off after her friends.
\u201cShe can\u2019t see or hear you,\u201d said Sonya. \u201cNo one can.\u201d
\u201cNo one except you,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich is very unusual, unheard of, actually. Extraordinary<\/em>, as I said earlier.\u201d
\u201cWho are you?\u201d
\u201cMore like what<\/em>.\u201d
\u201cWhat?\u201d
\u201cWhat am I.\u201d
\u201cAnd what are you?\u201d
\u201cA collector.\u201d
\u201cOf what?\u201d
\u201cSouls.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re talking in riddles.\u201d
\u201cI suppose I am. I apologise,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had to explain myself before. Never been afforded the opportunity.\u201d
\u201cYou want some?\u201d said Sonya, cutting her Danish in half.
\u201cI\u2019d love to,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I can\u2019t eat that.\u201d
\u201cYou off carbs?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m off everything.\u201d
\u201cSo what do you eat?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t eat anything. Like conversation, I\u2019ve never sampled food either.\u201d
\u201cAre you for real? How much did I have to drink tonight, and what was slipped into it?\u201d
She downed the half of the Danish she\u2019d cut in two bites and saw the way the guy was watching her. \u201cI know. I eat like a savage. My mom always said I\u2019d choke to death.\u201d
Trench Coat shook his head. \u201cThat\u2019s not the way you\u2019re going to go.\u201d
\u201cYou seem very, very sure of that.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019m certain.\u201d
\u201cYou know how I\u2019m going to die.\u201d
\u201cYou asked me what I am. Knowing how you die is part of it. Being there when it happens is the rest.\u201d
Sonya took a sip of her coffee. \u201cRight. I get it. Aren\u2019t you supposed to carry a sickle or a scythe or something?\u201d
\u201cYes. Clutched in my skeletal hands protruding from my black cloak. That\u2019s me.\u201d
Sonya took another sip of coffee. \u201cYou\u2019ve been shadowing me the last two days.\u201d
He just stared at her.
\u201cYou\u2019re here to collect me.\u201d
\u201cI was.\u201d
\u201cBut.\u201d
\u201cBut tonight\u2026 has been\u2026 enlightening.\u201d
\u201cAnd?\u201d
He slid out of the booth and fastened up his coat. \u201cEat all the Danish you want as fast as you want. I\u2019m putting you to the back of the queue.\u201d
\u201cNot too far back, I hope.\u201d
Trench Coat smiled. \u201cI’ve enjoyed this exchange. If you see me again, it will be only to continue this chat. I have a lot of questions.\u201d
\u201cMe too,\u201d said Sonya. \u201cMe fucking too.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOkay, what\u2019s your problem?\u201d said Sonya, coming to a dead stop on the sidewalk and wheeling around.A tall guy in a black trench coat, five paces behind her, pointed at his chest, looked over his shoulder and then back again. The universal \u201cWho me?\u201d\u201cDon\u2019t come the innocent,\u201d she said. \u201cI clocked you ages ago, been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flash-fiction","category-short-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1402,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559\/revisions\/1402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}