My Short Story Page 1

INTERVIEW NO 5

‘Wake me up before you go go, don’t leave me hanging on like a yoyo’

His hand reached out with all the slowness expected at that time in the morning with as much speed as needed to switch of the radio alarm that had roused him from his peaceful slumber.  It took several attempts to find the off switch and other than altering the volume a couple of times and switching it onto beep mode he also managed to catch the odd bit of the song that was playing. 

‘take me dancing tonight’………’feel that high’

He eventually found the off switch and followed the length of his arm with his eyes to find out that time wasn’t lying and making a fool of him, it was definitely 7.30am and time to get out of his pit.  He threw the bedclothes of him and lay there for a few minutes while he got full focus.  His pyjama top had stuck to him and he knew it was going to be a warm day.  The pyjamas had been a present from his ex, they were covered with prints of his favourite eighties cartoon series and though he was 23 he didn’t care.  Transformers was ace. He scanned the room and his eyes flicked from place to place, from his chest of drawers at the foot of his bed with its half-opened drawers and socks hanging out like a many tongued monster, to the wardrobe door with its missing handle (he never did find that after they moved), from the tv blinking in the corner which he had left on standby all night to the posters that adorned his walls.  He might have been 23 but he was still a big kid at heart.  The posters varied in size and shape and included such diverse things as Bart Simpson holding a baseball bat while Homer was holding his head, the word ‘Doh’ in speech marks over him,  a poster of the up and coming film Die Hard with a Vengeance, featuring a very dirty looking montage of scenes from the movie (wow how old) and his pride and joy a two foot high picture of Hayden Panetierre in tight shorts and wearing a baseball cap.  He blew the poster a kiss and swung his legs out of bed.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes.  He realised that the only reason some of the posters were still there was because they were hiding the hideous wallpaper that was hidden, unless you looked really close and saw the hint of a flower bud or the slightest glimpse of a rose stem. 

He turned his gaze to the small window by his bed and with one hand pushed the curtains aside.  He shielded his eyes as the morning sun streamed into his bedroom and the shadow of his hand stretched across his bedroom like a tree branch in a horror movie.  He noticed his finger shadows fell short of the Hayden poster and smiling moved his hands so his fingers appeared to climb her bare legs.  He thought about caressing her for real and then shook his head.  Dreamtime was over.

He walked to the bedroom door almost tripping, first over the edge of the quilt that had become wrapped around his feet, and then over the wire from his xbox controller which he had pushed under his bed before he had gone to sleep.  He had been playing FIFA 12 and was at an important part of the season when his sensible head had reminded him about the interview that was only a few hours away. 

                He unwrapped his feet, cursing under his breath so as not to wake anyone else in the house.  He eased open his bedroom door and started to tiptoe across the landing to where the bathroom was.  He had almost made it when a voice startled him and he jumped noticeably.

‘What are you doing up so early’

It was a question but his sister had a way of making a question seem more like an accusation.  It came out more like ‘Who gave you permission to be up at this time?’

His sister Joanne stood in her bedroom doorway with her hand on her hips.  Her pink bathrobe exclaimed ‘I heart Justin Bieber’ and she had the matching nightshirt and slippers on.  The way she was standing was accusatory too and he thought of what hell lay in wait for her future husband if she continued to be this way and managed to get some poor person to wed her.  He smiled at the thought and she scowled at him.  Thirteen she might have been but she could look just like her mother when she wanted to.

©sonofdel 2011