Snow Melt

Creation Saturday: A Blogger's Day (Short Story)

The January 12, 2013 prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  is A day in the life of a blogger.

I know I turned the alarm clock off, Adrian thought reach for the clock, but then she realized she was hearing music. I guess I didn't turn off the clock radio or the cell phone. Feeling around on the nightstand, she finally found her cell phone and pushed a button to turn off the music. She laid back down and closed her eyes, but five minutes later the alarm on the cell phone went off again. This time, when she picked up the phone she opened her eyes and pressed the off button instead of the snooze.

Again she laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes, but fifteen minutes later she awake with a start. A male voice reverberated through the house, he was saying something about twenty-nine degree temperatures and snow. Sighing, she got out of bed and made her way to the dining room. Sitting on a table next to the kitchen door the clock radio was blasting away. As she turned it off, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the house. Sighing, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of dark Sumatran coffee.

Cup in hand, she walked to the kitchen window and stared into the backyard. What, she took a sip of coffee, is that white stuff on the ground?

"Woof," Frankfurter, her dachshund, sat at the backdoor waiting to go out. Placing her cup next to the coffee maker, she went to the door and opened it. A think layer of snow covered the back stoop. The dog looked up at her, whined, and then stood there staring into the backyard.

"That's snow, You Silly Dog," she began to shiver, "you've seen it before. Either go out or..." at that moment the neighbor's Siamese cat, Jay, jumped over the dog and ran into the dining room. Three minutes later, Frankfurter followed the cat leaving Adrian staring after them. "Now they're ganging up on me," she closed the door. "At least I have a blog entry today."

Bagpipe music reverberated from the bedroom, Crap! I left the phone on the nightstand. She headed for her bedroom, but paused in the dining room to stare at Jay and Frankfurter. They were curled up together on the dining room chair which was sitting directly under a heating vent. Continuing into the bedroom, she picked up the phone and checked the number. Since she did not recognize it, she pressed exit and took the phone with her to the kitchen where she poured herself more coffee. Then with the cup in her right hand and the cell phone in her left, she went into her office and turn on her computer. Instead of checking her inbox, as was normal, she accessed her blog and began to type the entry. An hour later, she posted the entry.

Her phone beeped, she accessed the voice mail and listened to the message. A man's voice said, "Sweet Heart, I know you're probably still asleep, but I found that quote we were talking about the other night. Here is is Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still. It's written by Lou Erickson. So to prevent you from standing still, I'm sending a taxi to your house in an hour and we're going to go out for breakfast. See you at the Pancake House on Rainbow in a couple of hours, Love."

The doorbell ring, so Adrian saved the message and then answered the door. Joe, her neighbor, stood on the porch with a worried look on his face. "Adrien, have you seen Jay. He didn't come home this morning and I've looked everywhere."

"Not everywhere," she motioned him to come in and pointed to the dining room. "If I were you, Joe, I wouldn't disturb them. Instead, go into the kitchen and pour yourself a cup of coffee while I get dressed. I'll take you out for breakfast."

"But, Adrien,..."

"Joe, Sue has been gone two days and I know you haven't eaten a decent meal in that time. If I don't make sure you have one good meal while she gone, she'll never speak to me again."

An hour later the drove into the parking lot of the Pancake House on Rainbow Avenue. Joe got out of the passenger side, went around the car, and opened the door for her. Inside the restaurant, Adrien looked around. In a corner booth, a man, wearing a baseball cap, stared intently at the door.

"A table or a booth," the hostess ask .

"Can you seat us next to the corner booth," said Adrien.

"Follow me, please," she guided them to the booth and laid menus down. "Would you like something to drink?"

"We'll have coffee," said Joe.

A few minutes later, a woman, wearing a pink robe and fuzzy slippers, came in and walked to the corner booth. "Sully," she said, "the next time you send a cab for me, please give me an hour's warning."