She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She’d counted the cracks in the plaster too many times to remember, and the next step would be to name them.
She rolled over and looked at the clock. The glowing green digits spelled out ‘2.34’. She growled, and hauled herself out of bed. I’m awake, so I might as well go to the bathroom. Again.
She opened the bedroom door and padded across the living room. She kept the lights off to preserve her night vision – she didn’t want to go stumbling into the coffee table on her way back to bed.
The bathroom lay on the other side of the living room. A full moon shone through the window, casting a pale glow into the bathroom. The toiletries lined up on the sill threw irregular shadows across the wall.
She sat down and watched the reflection of the night sky. A gentle breeze stirred the tree outside, the ruffled shadow leaves on the wall dancing to the wind’s tune. She sighed – the night used to be hers. She longed to escape to the rooftops, caught between the city and the sky, watched only by the stars.
She stood up and flushed. Movement in the corner of the room caught her eye. Something rippled across the sky, its shadow swimming across the bathroom wall. She turned and peered through the frosted glass of the window. That was no full moon – that was the Signal.
She narrowed her eyes and stomped out of the bathroom. She walked straight past her bedroom and headed to the closet. She ran her hands across the engineered latex that made up her catsuit, and lifted the wafer thin metal mask out of its box. She stared into its empty eyes, and her own animosity stared back.
If the City had its hero back…then it certainly needed its villain.
Hell. Yes.
Awesome.
“dancing to the wind’s tune” – love that. It’s funny, but my friday flash this week also had to revolve around a specific time. As an insomniac myself I often wonder how our internal chronology is formatted for us, because we can’t fight the internal rhythms our bodies call out to us with.
marc nash
Wonderfull – hell yes I want in on her next move
Very nice. Many’s the insomniac night that I’ve wanted to go out and do something, anything but lie awake and wish for sleep.
Super suspense in this Icy! I felt like I was reading Dean Koontz.
Maybe we’ll get to hear from her again? Hint-hint…
Love the detail about naming the cracks in the ceiling. That was puuuurrfect. Sorry.
Steven – It’s amazing what I come up with at stupid o’clock in the morning!
Marc – I’ve had such trouble sleeping lately…but writing stuff like this almost makes it worth it.
Nadine – Glad you liked it!
Tony – Well I wrote this rather than sleep…
Deanna – Haha it’s a possibility!
Justin – I’ve named all the spots on my wall…
She got her wish. Up the stairs, into the night, her domain. Nice.
I loved your visual and sense imagery, and the unexpected ending.
Great little piece this. Some lovely descriptions, cool imagery and engaging all the way. Also, so true about needing to go to the loo if you can’t sleep…or so I hear.
I love cool superhero stuff.
Love the bit about naming the cracks in the ceiling, that is what I would call super-boredom, or super-insomnia…
But then again, a super-heroine would probably suffer from these extremes.
PS. I hope your sleep pattern improves, very soooon. 🙂
A very convenient loo break! Did you come up with this in the middle of the night, by any chance? Great stuff though, Icy.
It’s funny, too. My flash this week involves waking up and popping to the loo!
Larry – I’m very much an early bird but I do love night time as well. I suppose I’m just not a fan of sleep!
Carrie-Anne – Thanks!
Peter – Who says I didn’t just describe my evening as it happened…?
Steve – So do I!
Jack – I did, yes! Had to go back to my room for my phone so I could take a photo of the moon through the window.
I really enjoyed this story! Great job with the imagery. I want to name cracks in my wall!
Beautiful sentences all around! Insomnia sucks, but sometimes really fun work comes out of it.
I like taking this from the other point of view, the retired villain. This reminds me of something important, of how it’s so much easier to on the night when you’re young and as you age it finds ways of slipping away while one spends their day and less important pursuits.
Time to go out catting around again. Nice one.
Villains have trouble sleeping as well!
I love the play of shadows in this story, and the last line is just perfect. Time for mischiefs under the watchfull glow of the moon!
Nice story Icy.
Xanto – Do it!
Aaron – Yeah, sometimes it’s worth it.
Aidan – Yeah, time catches up with all of us.
Tim – Thanks!
Cindy – Yes, we often get insomnia…
It’s not just the city that needs a villain, it’s the hero. Great bit of flash!
Hey there Icy — I did like the fact that this wasn’t the hero, but the villain (and even though the reveal is only one sentence long, I did entirely move from: ‘a hero? that’s cool,’ to, ‘oh, villain, that’s cooler’ :)). The entirely normal surroundings/ situation at the beginning also worked well. Even villains drink coffee and have toiletries… St.
I actually had ominous orchestral music sound in my head as I read the last lines. Nice trajectory.
Beautiful bit of prose. I love that the hero’s signal is what calls the villain!