Phoenix Rising

The Time Detective - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

..and another coffee please…Thanks.Another day she thought as she looked through the window. She was, she liked to think, a quiet sort of a person, liked to wear black to remain inconspicuous, today was no exception, black knitted top, long black skirt, and her long black coat, black knee length boots and black handbag completed the ensemble. She was quite tall, slim, with angular features, which always seemed to make her look stern.

It had been remarked upon, by Him! that she could look as if she wanted you to die even when she was laughing. She had short unkempt blond hair, that remained obediently parted roughly in the center, and the only jewelry she wore was her mothers locket, the only keep sake of her she had. She lit a cigarette, and put the pack and her lighter on the table. Her lighter was in the shape of a horse head, and had been a graduation present from a friend she had long since lost contact with, but served to remind her of times past.

Outside, the ever present traffic sped down the main road as always, great metal beasts rushing towards their destination. heading for who knows what, but always it seemed to her, their particular most important place to be. She often wondered at the pointlessness of this exercise, they rush one way then the other, all the time so wrapped up in their own thoughts that the other travelers could for all intents and purposes be non existent. Until that is one inevitably does something to bring itself to the attention of another, then the aggressive posturing and angry noises complete the picture of the beast.

The people on foot however were always a stark contrast, they would wander by shuffling aimlessly towards an unattainable goal, wrapped up in their own thoughts. Their expressions, it seemed to her suggested that they werent even sure where they had come from.

She lit another cigarette, and went back to her puzzle magazine. As her coffee arrived, she was aware of an argument at the counter. A man in scruffy jeans and T Shirt, was trying to give an order to take away, presumably to the nearest building site. However the girl behind the till, could not seem to get it right, and kept repeating the order back, in her broken English, wrong. At first this amused the man, but it soon wore thin, and he was now bordering on walking round the counter, and pouring himself 4 teas, white with sugar, and one coffee strong, black, 2 sugars, and preparing himself 4 egg and bacon rolls, with Ketchup.

She came here every morning, and always had a bacon sandwich and one or two coffees depending on the time. She enjoyed the feeling of anonymity here, she could sit in her corner quietly pondering things and doing her puzzles, before she had to go to work. She disturbed no-one, and as a rule, no-one disturbed her. The Cafe itself, was of the sort that crammed as many tables of four seats in as it could, such that the layout resembled the top deck of a bus.

Mind if I join you ? she was asked.
Er.. no she said looking around at the empty tables. Why sit here she thought, I hope hes not one of those happy in the morning types, who want a chat. He was impressively tall, and built to the same proportions, he had long, shoulder length, black hair, and wore the kind of expression that suggested he knew something, and if you asked what it was, he would probably tell you to wait and see. Smug, that was it, he looked smug. Kate took an instant dislike to him, she disliked smugness, and the man who had unceremoniously disturbed her morning, was, she thought, the utter embodiment of smugness.
Can I have a light ?
Here we go she thought, hell strike up a conversation now but she passed him her lighter anyway.
Present ? He said.
Mm-Hm She replied not looking up.
College Graduation, First wasnt it he continued. This got her attention. She was pretty sure that she didnt know him, but found herself studying his features closer trying to recollect something, someone, some place.
Er, sorry, have we met ? she conceded.
Before today, No.
Then how did you kn….
She was cut short by the argument at the till flaring up into a shouting match, the man hadnt managed to get his order across and had resorted to hurling verbal abuse at whoever could understand him the other side of the counter. This proved to be futile, so he picked up a cup that had been returned to the counter, and hurled this instead.

Kate watched in slow motion as the cup arced through the air, turning as it did, sending its unfinished remnants in droplets about the cafe. Over and over went the cup, slower and slower, until it stopped, mid air, about 3 inches from the side of the waitresss head. Then it hit her, a deafening roar continuous, and loud enough to make Kate scream. The man opposite her reached across the table and gave her a sharp slap across the face, it stung like crazy, but in her shock, she had stopped screaming. The noise was there and loud, but bearable now, it seemed.

What the hell do you think youre doing! She screamed and stood up, but as she did, a realization came over her. Everything in the cafe had stopped, like a pause on a VCR, people mid scream at the cup contents reaching them, the waitress trying to avoid the cup, people mid mouthful, had just stopped chewing. Outside too, the story was the same, cars, passers by all on pause. She sat down, stunned, unable to form any kind of coherent thought in her reeling mind.

Click here for The Introduction

Click here for Chapter 2

Copyright © 2005 - Mark Wilson