Flytrap | WATTYS 2022 SHORTLIST

4 | Bud

With a violent start, Barbara was pulled from a dreamless sleep and back into her pitch-black room. As she remained lying in bed, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark, she wondered what had awakened her. Had her dad finally returned home?

She turned on her side and squinted over at the clock on her nightstand. Through the darkness, the red numbers glared back at her, but it wasn't until she saw the tiny 'AM' in the corner did she realize it was already morning.

Groaning, Barbara gently rolled onto her back, using both arms to push herself. Thoughts of the previous day rushed through her mind as she stared up at the high ceiling above her. When she had returned home yesterday, she had expected Pamela to be waiting for her like before. If Pamela asked where she was, then Barbara would throw out the handy excuse she had prepared. But to her surprise-or perhaps relief-she found that the woman was not waiting for her. The door to her room remained shut, just like she had last seen it.

Now that her eyesight had adjusted, Barbara could make out the tendrils curling down from the ceiling. They resembled the tentacles of some underwater creature that lurked deep within the ocean as it waited patiently for some unlucky fish to swim by her.

"Did you sleep well?" A voice asked from the darkest corner of the room.

Barbara snapped her head around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Pamela?"

A pair of green eyes twinkled back at her. "Yes? Were you expecting someone else?"

Realizing her throat had gone bone-dry, Barbara quickly licked the insides of her mouth. "What-What are you doing here?"

Pamela's eyes flashed in the dark as she moved away from the corner towards the bed. "I wanted to check up on you. I haven't seen you all day."

Barbara shifted around, causing the bed to let out a low groan. "Yeah... I was busy yesterday. I left you a note. Did you see it?"

"I did," Pamela answered, taking a few more soundless steps closer. "It was very considerate." Even without her dad around, the woman still kept that same irritating, sultry tone of hers. Barbara wondered if she did this on purpose to further grate her.

"I only wish you would have told me the truth."

Barbara flinched. How could she have known? There was no way. She had taken every precaution to make sure of it. Yet, Pamela only seemed to know she wasn't where she said she was. Not where she actually was.

As if she could read her thoughts, Pamela added, "I called the library. So imagine my surprise when they told me no one by name of Barbara Gordon stopped by."

She stood only a few feet away from the edge of the bed. If she wanted to, she could reach out and touch Barbara's skin with her nails. "So where were you?"

It was a fair question, but it was phrased more like a demand. And Barbara didn't like demands, especially by people who thought they were entitled to one.

"I was out with a friend." Grabbing her right leg with both hands, Barbara swung it over the bed before doing the same with the other one. After a few minutes of trying to catch her breath, she glanced up and saw Pamela still standing there, blocking her from reaching her wheelchair. "Excuse me."

But Pamela did not move. She remained there, glaring down at Barbara. "Where do you think you're going now?"

Barbara frowned. "Uh, to the library."

Pamela's eyes narrowed into slits. "You think I'm going to let you go out after you lied to me?"

Each second longer Barbara was forced to spend with this woman only wore her already thin patience down even further. "I need to get a job! What? You think my dad is going to just let me stay here and do nothing?"