The Mistake by Sue Duff

Author:Sue Duff [Duff, Sue]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780997209860
Publisher: CrossWinds Publishing
Published: 2019-04-02T22:00:00+00:00

<<>>

From the heat pouring in through her window, she thought it must be afternoon. Idarra opened her eyes on Sunday, the day of the week she had to distract herself, and ignore what she’d become after the stroke of midnight. She slipped out of bed and padded to her laptop as her nightshirt lapped at her long, thin legs. She booted it up and checked that the payment had cleared, then shut it off.

Since she’d already been to the zoo the day before, Idarra chose the wharf. She strolled along the pier and leaned her back to the railing, soaking up as much sun as she could, allowing the heat to melt her nerves and energize her. Last night’s storm had freshened the air, and she could taste the salt when she inhaled deep.

The fishmongers shouted at each other as they replenished the daily catch in their icy bins. This section of the wharf wasn’t as touristy as around the corner, but a few venturous souls often found their way here. The fishermen were not as adept, or as willing, to put on a show as those in the tourist section, but their smiles were genuine and their catch just as fresh.

Idarra purchased fish and chips, then strolled along the wharf munching on her snack. She tried to remember what her preference in food was called . . . pescatalian? She’d have to look it up when she got home. Fish of all types: clams, shrimp, muscles, you name it, she’d devour it. Her mother had a phobia about anything that smelled like fish, and Idarra hadn’t discovered the pure joy of how it tasted until she’d been displaced.

The irony hadn’t escaped her. She had the soulless to thank for giving her a chance to truly live.

A bald man stepped up to one of the displays a shoulder’s length away. She gave him a furtive glance and then turned down a side street abandoning the remains of her snack in a dumpster. She didn’t pause until she’d made it to the main street and could be lost in a crowd.

The pounding in her chest hurt like hell. Was it one of the soulless, or was she so paranoid after her interrogation, that she saw them in every skin-capped person? Idarra slipped into a café and grabbed the last table at a window, ahead of two twentysomethings propping their hair off their faces with sunglasses and carting handfuls of bags. They made to protest until Idarra gave them a glare that set them turning on the balls of their feet, and bumping their bags against the back of people’s heads on their way to the rear of the café.

“Idarra?” came from behind.

Gizzy grinned as he plopped into the chair across from her. “What are you doing, hanging out?”

“I always do on Sunday.” She grabbed two menus off the table behind her and handed him one. “I already had a snack, but could go for something else.”

“How’s the finger?” he asked.

“You’re my hero,” she said without looking up from the menu.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.