Reading the Dice

Story 4: Of Shadows, a Rainbow, and a Bee

Dice Roll: sleepy face, fiend shadow, lightning, rainbow, skyscraper, key, magnet, flower, bee

Darren yawned mightily, turned off the t.v., and stumbled down the hallway, legs shaking slightly. He was so tired he could hardly see straight, and the monster movie he'd just been watching didn't help steady his legs.

Darren reached in and turned on the light in his room, then quickly entered the room and shut the door behind him, keeping the dark hallway at bay. The movie had been about an awful shadow creature that attached itself to people's shadows and slowly possessed their bodies before finally eating them alive.

He jumped as thunder rolled loudly and wind blew the raindrops against his window. He looked carefully around his room before turning back toward the door and reaching for the lightswitch. Just as he turned out the light, lighting flashed, sending his shadow looming before him against the door.

Darren blinked rapidly as his eyes readjusted to the light. Had the shadow monster possessed his shadow?! Lightning flashed again and Darren saw the way his shadow, standing well over his head, seemed to crouch menacingly toward him.

"AAAaaaaahhhhh!" Darren turned and jumped into bed, burrowing swiftly under the covers, trying to breathe more quietly, in case the monster could hear him. He reached furtively out from under the blankets, fingers questing, until he finally snatched up his flashlight.

He turned the beam on, mentally reassuring himself that if there was light, the monster made of shadows couldn't get him.

Finally, his fatigue got the best of him and he fell asleep cocooned in the covers, cradling his flashlight.

In the morning, Darren peered out his window; the rain was just finishing up and a bright rainbow arched across the skyline over the city. Smiling, he hummed as he walked down the hallway to the kitchen and had breakfast.

The phone rang; it was his best friend, Steve, inviting him to come play at the park. Darren agreed and quickly packed up his ball, glove, compass, and some snacks and water.

He left the apartment and walked down the 34 flights of stairs (he lived on the top floor of his apartment complex), greeting his fellow apartment residents on the way.

Once he was outside, he walked along the sidewalk, whistling, and twirling his keyring on his finger.

The keys flew off his finger mid-twirl, sailed through the air, and with a clatter, dropped down the sewer grate.

Darren knelt beside the grate, peering down to catch a glimpse of the key flashing in the sunlight. Spotting the glimmer, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his trusty magnet on a string and lowered the magnet down, fishing for his keys in the muck far below.

It didn't take too long before his keys were once again in his hand. He nodded with a smile, congratulating himself on setting a new record for quickly retrieving keys from the sewer grate, and pocketed the magnet.

He hurried on and before long, he arrived at the park, where his friend Steve was waiting. They played catch and tag and climbed the trees.

Around noon, they decided to take a break and sat down to eat a snack. They sat in the shade of a willow tree and looked out at the other kids playing, enjoying the warm, sunny day, and admiring the flowers speckling the grass. Darren wandered over to a lovely orange flower, eyeing its dark spots and long petals. Kneeling, he pushed his nose into the flower to smell it.

"Ow!" Darren jumped backward and the angry bee flew away, buzzing loudly as it went.

Steve laughed as Darren pushed the flower away and clutched his nose. The two boys walked to the ranger station together. The ranger on duty gave him an ice cube to put on the bee sting on his nose. Steve giggled again at the sight of Darren holding ice to the tip of his nose, then went and asked the ranger if he could have an ice cube, too.

Soon, both boys were trying to balance an ice cube on their nose, seeing who could balance it longer. They were laughing and playing so much that Darren forgot all about the bee sting.

Later that afternoon, he went home, humming happily. It had been a mighty fine day.