Those That Slither | ON HOLD

Eight

Night came, night went.

A dusty amber sun had slowly begun to rise in the sky, turning the blues and grays into a superior entrance of morning. Rays of gold glowed behind snowy clouds and the pink mist hovered over treetops.

She had actually made it. And she had gotten some sleep. Leah stretched out beneath her comforter, slightly moaning at the little bit of pleasure from the cracks in her joints. Her body felt rested and yet still sore from the night before. She pulled the comforter from over her chest and yawned.

Beo lay on his backside, all legs spread apart and with a snore buzzing out his snout. He might have looked goofy but she knew he was comfortable, so she let sleeping dogs lie. Not daring to give him his usual morning fuss on the head, she crawled from beneath her blanket and stood watching him snooze away. It was such a simple thing having a dog in her life. Beo was special to her. He would snuggle when she needed it, eat the food she dropped and most importantly, protect her when she needed.

Too bad he couldn't save her from everything. Morning tears started to form in her eyes and she tried to blink them away. Leah wiped her face and headed towards the bathroom. A hot shower was due, maybe it would help.

----

Fresh out, covered in blue jeans and a gray sweater, Leah found herself face to face with her mirror, hands on both hips and eyes narrowed. Her bone structure seemed changed, eyes barely hanging from her face and lips in a frown. Waves of dark chestnut hair seemed to be crashing past her shoulders violently. Everything about her was off.

"So much for a shower fixing you."

She turned down the light switch angrily and stormed out of the bathroom. Fleeing past a now empty bedroom, her chest was hot as a fire had ignited inside. Not even the cool air from the old house seemed to be able to put it out. She was livid.

As she entered the living room the flames rose up in memory of all that had happened. Her eyes darted to the kitchen,  then to the dining room, and back to her couch set.

Her brown couch was purple.

The hard wood floor.

Even the fire place.

She clamped her teeth together. A change of environment would do her fine. Places to escape to blinked in her head. Then she was reminded that her car was totaled.

"My car," she whispered. Leah had fallen asleep and never woken up to Travis bringing the remains of her sedan. A long musical moan broke out and she went to her purse to check her cell.

Her fingers held on to it and she activated her screen. In a millisecond,  it lit up revealing the time. A bright an early 10am waved. Maybe he had brought it anyways.

She strolled to the door, unlocked it and turned the cool cut handle. It swung on with a whoosh as the morning air blew in her face. Stepping Out She sighed in relief when she saw her beaten up silver sedan in her driveway.

A free tow? A white slip in her windshield fluttered in a minimal breeze. Of course not, nothing was free. She walked over and peeled it from her windshield wiper. Her fingers held it straight as she read messy writing in blue ink. Towed and delivered $50.

The price was in fact reasonable. Leah read the bottom of the paper with the company information before dunking the slip in her pocket and sighing. She was about to make it back to her house when she noticed another paper stuck to the door. Wondering what it consisted of, she rose a brow praying it wasn't another symbol.

Her free hand took it down and unfolded it gently. Towed, delivered, paid - Daniel

Her eyes twitched when she saw a phone number scribbled at the edge of the paper. It was only polite that she called and thanked him. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her.