Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wednesday Briefs


Welcome to the Wednesday Briefers flash group. The short stories have a maximum of a 1000 word count plus links at the bottom to the other flashers. The prompts for this week are: 
"If I thought you would..."  

or use: pestilence, sigh, wrath  

or "He laid his hand upon my..."  

or use: train, cow, platitude  

or use a Pokemon or a pocket monster in your story  

or "When did you get to be so...."

 

  I’m using a picture prompt this time.

 

 

 

 
 
All That He Desires #2

“What the hell?”

Under his windshield wiper was an envelope. Quickly he opened it… and inside was a scratch lotto ticket—a winning lotto ticket. A fifty thousand dollar winning lotto ticket. Jules staggered against his car, staring at the damn thing. “Oh my—! Oh my fucking God!”

A piece of paper fell out of the envelope and drifted to the ground. He picked it up, hand trembling, and read the one sentence—

Maybe this will help your year be all you desire.

* * * *

Head spinning, hands shaking, Jules stared at the note as a cold breeze swept through the parking lot. Jules shivered slightly and pulled his threadbare coat closer around him. Those words—that was very close to what the stranger had said to him just a few hours earlier. Could he be the one that gifted him with this? And why? Why would a rank stranger do something like this? It had to be him, just had to be. There’d been no one else to stop by the store. Dear God, people didn’t just up and give away thousands of dollars without…

What did he want in return?

“God,” he breathed.

Well now, wasn’t that a sobering thought? Random acts of kindness were one thing, but this… this went way beyond that. Should he keep the ticket? His mother’s voice played in his head: There’s no such thing as getting something for nothing. Jules bit his lip remembering, then shrugged. This was the same woman who’d loved him until she found out he was gay too. So how trustworthy was she, really?

Besides, now that he had the money, he didn’t have to work this dead-end job any longer, and he’d probably never see that guy again… if he was the one that left him the ticket. Which was a shame since the stranger had been drop-dead sexy. Jules turned the slip of paper over in his hands, but there was no phone number, no email address… nothing. No way to get in touch and ask why, or to say thank you for…

The money.

Jesus H. Christ! Money! Lots and lots of money! I’m fucking rich!” Jules yelled at the night sky, every thought in his head scattering.

For a moment his vision grayed and his knees went all wobbly. Little black dots flashed before his eyes and it was really hard to breathe. Money! Jules fell against his piece of crap car, sliding down until his ass hit the pavement as reality slapped him upside the head. The money…

“I’m rich,” he mumbled softly, stunned.

He didn’t feel the cold bite of the night, nor the brisk breeze that ruffled his hair… oh, no. All he felt was freedom. Okay, yeah, he really wasn’t rich, but this would allow him to pay for his last semester without working himself into a early grave, maybe buy something a little more reliable to drive, and move into an apartment that wasn’t on the ‘should be condemned’ list. He should have enough left over to make it to his first paycheck without living on nothing but Ramen noodles and air for the next year.

Oh God, he was going to survive… thanks to a stranger who was so sexy it made his teeth hurt. 

Jules leaned back against his car, tilted his head, and stared up at the nighttime sky. A full moon shined down on him, its cool, silvery light brightening up the parking lot. For as long as he lived, he would never forget this night… the night his life changed. Bathed in the moonlight, he said a quick thank you to the one that did this for him, whoever he was…. his own guardian angel.

“Thank you, Guardian Angel!” Jules yelled. He giggled at his own silliness; but hell, it was two am, and he just won fifty thousand dollars. He deserved a little silliness.

Maybe this next year would be all that he desired.

Jules stood up, did a quick little jig around the parking lot, then manhandled his car door open. He was going home, turn the damn heat up in his shitty apartment to ‘hotter than hell’ level, then have a drink. Possibly two. Hell, maybe the whole damn six pack. A buddy of his had given him a couple of wine coolers for helping with an essay and he’d been keeping them for a special occasion. And damned if this wasn’t a special occasion!

Tomorrow, when he claimed his winnings, his life would change. Things were looking up, finally. Hell bells, now that he didn’t have to work every spare minute of the day, perhaps he could find someone to date. And okay, yeah… maybe it was horrible of him, but he hoped his parents saw the news. He wanted them to know he was going to be all right… with no help from them.

* * * *

Quite a distance down the road, an expensive car sat idling on the side of the highway, the headlights turned off. A tall man in a long black leather coat and a green scarf stood by the car, watching what was going on down the street in the gas station parking lot. Amusement shimmied around him. He tucked a stand of shoulder length dark hair behind his ear, a smile on his face at the surprise and wonderment of the young man who had just found the winning scratch ticket.

He laughed slightly as the wind carried the young man’s words to him. “Guardian Angel, my ass. Oh, little one, that’s the last thing I am.”

Soon the one he’d marked would know that.

TBC

Don’t forget to visit the other briefers!


 
Nephylim     m/m