Hiccup

Hiccup
by Morgana BraveRaven

“It started with a BOOM! man – or… or maybe it was a Crack! I don’t know, but I’m telling you – it was weird.” Reggie muttered, shaking his head anxiously, somewhat in disbelief himself. He sat on the cement step outside the front door and, muttered as he picked away at the label of his Jones soda, occasionally glancing up at Wade who sat on a chair at the top of the porch. “It was just friggin weird”.

“It’s the heat, man. Dun worry ‘bout it”, Wade remarked, as he kicked his feet out in front of the chair while giving a loud “eeeeeaahh,” as he stretched his excessively long legs out in front of him, “it be the heat is all”.

“No, man, yer not listening to me. It’s not the heat. I was in the grocery store, there was a boom, no, it wasn’t a boom, it was a B O O M ! And then everything was so quiet. It was spooky, man”.

“I tell you, it’s the heat. It’s affecting yer brain,” Wade responded as he snapped open a cold can of cola. “I want chips. Where’s the chips you bought?”

Reggie looked over at Wade. “Huh?” he asked as he pulled at the waist of his jeans, noticing that it was beginning to tear apart at the seam.

“The chips, man. You went to the grocery for chips you dumb shit. I want some damn chips. Where are they?”

“Dun know”, Reggie responded, swatting at an excessively large and loud black fly that kept trying to dive into his soda. “Man, this fly is like glue for my soda,” he fretted while swatting obsessively at the fly, knocking the soda over and causing it to spill into his shoe. “Aw damn! Bloody fly!” Reggie cursed as he righted the bottle then removed his wet shoe and sock. “You got some shoes I can borrow till mine dries?”

“No,” Wade replied. “Who the hell wears shoes and socks in this heat anyway? You ought’a invest in a pair of sandals or something. Hey - where’s those chips anyway?”

“I Dun Know ! Are you deaf. I dun know where they are… Hey! Hey, Jimmy, get ‘way from my damn shoe,” Reggie began as Wade’s matted red setter, smelling the sweet soda, tried to make off with the soggy footwear. Reggie reached towards the dog, grabbing the shoe, trying to pull it free of Jimmy’s slobbering grip. “Gimme the shoe, Jimmy. Give Me My Shoe!” Reggie shouted as he pulled at the shoe. “Uuwaaa! Damn it, Jimmy – Give!” he pleaded with the drooling, matted, beast of a dog, giving a last mighty tug on the shoe.

There was the sound of tearing, and a thud as Reggie fell back onto the stair empty handed as Jimmy ran off around the corner of the house to the back yard with the prized shoe. “Shit, man, your dog just ripped my shoe and took off with it”.

There was laughter. Wade was laughing so hard he rolled off his chair onto the porch.

“Shit, man, yer an ass. Yer friggin dog just wrecked my shoe!”, Reggie barked at Wade as he reached over for the remains of his soda, climbed the steps to the porch and poured the last of the now warm soda over Wade’s head.

“Ha! Oh, man, you crack me up! Ha Ha Ha,” Wade replied as the warm soda dripped down his face. He stuck his tongue out to catch a dribble, “Root beer. Man, you know I don’t like root beer. I totally prefer cream soda. Ha Ha Ha! Hey – where’s the chips. I really need some chips to go with this soda,” Wade continued laughing as the Jones dripped from his chin on to his shirt.

“Shit, man, yer an ass,” Reggie said as he tossed the empty bottle at Wade then turned and made his way down the stairs, down the walk to the gate, then onto the street and away from the house.

“Hey,” Wade shouted after him, “shut the gate or Jimmy will get out and steel your other shoe. Ha, ha, ha! Hey, go find those chips, will ya!”

Reggie returned to the gate attempting to close it, but the latch would not catch as the latch pin seemed to be too far from the hook and the gate just kept falling open. He shoved the gate wide open and carried on without looking back at Wade, walking stiffly down the street towards the intersection, wondering to himself where he was going, muttering in the heat of the afternoon, and cursing when his one bare foot landed on an unanticipated sharp stone on the sidewalk, “Ouch! Shit!” he stammered as he hopped along trying to nurse his foot while continuing to walk.

Within a few minutes Reggie stood in the parking lot in front of the grocery store. He hobbled through the parked cars stopping occasionally to look around the parking lot. Everything looked normal. People came and went. No ambulance. No fire or rescue vehicles – nothing … but how could that be? There had been a loud boom. It had happened while he was inside the store. Was he at the check-out, or just walking towards it? He couldn’t remember. Reggie carried on into the store. He walked through the door, and stopped. The automatic door closed behind him. He took a step back, activating the door, which opened again. He continued to walk forward then step back for a minute, the door responding; open, closed, open, closed, until Eaton came over from the customer service desk. “Aahh – whatcha doin Reg?” he asked.

“Huh?” Reggie replied.

“Well, hell, are you coming or going? Shit, man, you don’t look too good. Hey – where’s yer other shoe?”

“Huh?” Reggie continued staring into the store. He appeared to be looking for something, some evidence of the boom he had heard earlier. Spilled groceries in the isles. Injured people – something… but there was nothing. Reggie attempted to take a few more steps into the store, but Eaton stopped him.

“Hey, man, you can’t go into the store with a bare foot, man. That’s a health and safety reg’lation right there.

“But… the boom. What was it?” Reggie queried as he tried to push past Eaton to get a look at the isles in the far corner of the store.

“Reg, you look like crap. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you, but just sit here and wait till I get back. Lemme see if I can find you a shoe or something and then you can have a look around,” Eaton insisted as he pushed Reggie into a chair near the entrance of the store. Reggie sat while Eaton disappeared down the soup isle and through the swinging doors in the produce department. Five minutes later Eaton reappeared carrying a single broken red thong and some duct tape. “Here,” he said as he thrust the broken thong at Reggie, “it’s broke, but we can just wrap a bit of tape around it. Should hold till you get yourself sorted out here.”

Reggie fumbled with the thong but managed to hold it to the bottom of his foot as Eaton wrapped the duct tape over the top of Reggie’s foot then under the sole of the thong and back over the top of Reggie’s foot again. The finished product looked like some kind of bizarre bedroom slipper, but the tape held effectively.

“It’s the wrong foot,” Reggie mumbled.

“What are you talking about, man.”

“The damn thong – it’s for a left foot. That’s my right foot.”

“Whatever, man – It works. At least you have somethin on your foot now. So what’s so important in the store then – what were you going on about?”

“The B O O M. You were here, you must have heard it. About two hours ago?”

“No, I heard nuthin, man. Dun know what yer talking about,” Eaton responded as he pulled at the shoulder seam of his shirt which felt like it had stretched apart somewhat.

Reggie pushed past Eaton, into the store. He wandered up and down the isles and past all the cashier’s check-outs, but everything was perfectly orderly, as though nothing at all had happened. But something had happened. He had been walking up to the check-out to pay for his purchase when suddenly there had been a loud BOOM! and everything had changed. The air had become more dense – heavy, and thick – almost buttery, and he himself, his body, had expanded on the outside, but somehow felt as though he had imploded somewhat on the inside, as though all the cells in his body, at a molecular level, had taken a great breath in, in unison, and some had become stuck in a traffic jam somewhere between his throat and his stomach as they rearranged themselves, while others marveled at all the newly created space in his somewhat expanded body.

And then there had been the sound – or rather, the non-sound. The sound of density, just hanging in his ears. The sound of absolutely nothing as though sound had never existed at all, and the very fabric of existence had shifted two inches to the left. Then the non-sound had given way to crackles, and he had become aware of people moving around him, walking in slow motion. Grocery items hung in the air. Bags of chips. Steaks. Apples and bananas. Very Matirx-esque. And then the air and all it’s contents began to rattle and the grocery items slowly settled back down, and a woman began walking towards him taking long, slow strides as she cut through the buttery air, her long hair flowing like thick water behind her, and as she passed him she had said something, but the sound of her voice had been so dense, he could not understand what she had said. He had watched her walk out of the store, and as the automatic door opened to let her pass, a sound like a slow cool wind filtered into the store; wwwwhooowwwip! And suddenly, what ever it was, was over and a normal pace immediately resumed around him like nothing at all had happened.

Reggie stood, looking around. He shook his head. Shit, he thought, something had happened. Something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morgana BraveRaven writes exclusively for Sykaro Insights. Please feel welcome to leave your comments and let us know what you thought of 'Hiccup'.

Janet Legere, Publisher/Editor
Sykaro Insights
Since May 10, 2000

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