《Eyes》


 Eye

    Sally Jinks kept her eyes trained on a wide, green leaf as it drifted across Malis lake.


    Maybe it¡¯s a frog, she thought. Something was sticking out of the middle of the leaf. Sally was nearly twelve years old now with thick lensed, metal framed glasses.


    She squinted her eyes against the summer sun to catch a glimpse of the opposite end of the small lake.


    A gray-bearded man was sleeping on a bench under an old oak tree. The green hills that surrounded Malis, California rolled on behind him. The reflection from a necklace made her wince as it slipped from his hand to the ground.


    When she looked down, the leaf was nestled against the bank on her side, trapped between a few stones. She set her book next to her favorite reading tree and knelt by the leaf.


    It¡¯s definitely not a frog, she thought. She adjusted the shoulder straps on her blue overalls.


    Besides the spherical growth in the middle, the leaf looked ordinary. The growth was the same color and texture as the rest of the leaf, but there was a small slit in the middle of the sphere. As she grabbed each end of the leaf, the middle sank. It sloshed as she set it next to her book and scrounged for a stick.


    Did it just move? she wondered. Her hands shook as the stick hovered inches away from the leaf.


    The lids moved back from the slit in the middle of the growth, revealing a radiant blue eye. It blinked a few times before Sally reacted. She was frozen with the stick pointing at the eyeball.


    Finally, she belted out a screech and dropped the stick. The pupil dilated on the eye as it peered up at her shrieking face. She still hadn¡¯t moved. Couldn¡¯t move.


    The eye whipped around, soaking in its environment until it settled back on Sally¡¯s face.


    Move. Run, she thought.


    As she tried to stand up, she slipped and fell on her back.


    Glancing back at the leaf, she could see that it hadn¡¯t moved. Her little legs flung her away from her reading tree, away from the eye.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    At least it doesn¡¯t have legs, she thought.


    The breeze picked up as she looked over her shoulder. She expected to see the leaf flying behind her. Once she jumped over a small wall into the park playground, her feet kicked up dredges of sand and mud.


    She almost tripped over a playground springy horse as she bolted. She could see her house just across the street. Just one more look. The leaf hadn¡¯t followed her. How could it have, anyway? It was still in her head though. The way the eye widened when I screamed¡­ she thought.


    ¡°Mom! Dad!¡±


    She was still feet away from the door and yet she screamed. As she was about to grab the handle, her slight father opened the door and caught her.


    ¡°Honey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Mr. Jinks said.


    ¡°Dad! A leaf¡­ eye! It saw me!¡±


    He picked her up and laid her on the couch. ¡°It¡¯s okay. What happened?¡±


    He muted Bill Clinton blabbing on the T.V.


    He¡¯s not going to believe me, she thought.


    ¡°Show you.¡±


    She jumped off the couch and ran into the street. Her father¡¯s mouth opened and closed. ¡°Honey¡­¡±


    After she didn¡¯t stop running, he darted after her. They had the same exact build. Gangly and frail. His arms waved awkwardly at his sides as he tried to catch up with her. ¡°Sally! Stop!¡±


    His leg caught on the springy horse and he tumbled into the sandpit.


    ¡°Daddy!¡± she yelled.


    She grabbed his hand and pulled until he was standing up. While holding her grip tight, she led him to her reading tree.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re happy,¡± he said. He looked at the rip in his Bj?rk t-shirt.


    She pointed at the leaf next to her book. The eye on the leaf was closed. Her dad rolled his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty big leaf dear, but it¡¯s nothing to be scared of.¡±


    I¡¯m not getting close to it again, she thought. She stomped her foot on the ground, which woke up the eye. Because it was flat on the ground, it had to look down to see Mr. Jinks. He held Sally back. ¡°Wait for me in the playground,¡± Mr. Jinks said.


    She took a few steps back, but she didn¡¯t fully obey. She was too scared to leave. As Mr. Jinks approached the leaf, it tracked him. He stared into the eye for a moment before smashing his heel into it. It popped and oozed like an overripe grape.


    Was it alive? Did that hurt? she thought. Her arms shook.


    After he kicked the leaf back into the water, he cleaned his shoe against the tree roots. He turned back and saw Sally.¡°You were supposed to be in the playground.¡±


    ¡°I wanna go home, Daddy.¡±


    Her lips quivered and she started shaking. He picked up her book and slung her in his other arm.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go read your book at home. That was just some weird plant.¡±


    Just a weird plant? Seriously? she thought.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not tell mom about this. You know how squeamish she is,¡± he said.


    As she bobbed up and down on her father¡¯s shoulder, she could see that the old man was still lying on the bench on the other side of the lake. The necklace he dropped was gone. Maybe he picked it up, she thought. She closed her eyes, but the visions of the eye were all she could see.

 Rent

    Kimberly stared at a wad of yellow gum in the black carpet. Neon red and green stripes were angled perpendicularly across the carpet. There was an oversized boot on the counter with a VHS copy of Terminator 2: Judgment Day peeking out. She planted her elbows on the front desk and closed her eyes.


    How the hell did I end up here? she thought.


    The chime of the gold bell above the door startled her as a stern woman with puffy black hair huffed her way to the front desk.


    Well, this is going to be fun, she thought.


    Kimberly stood up and ran her fingers through her straight, highlighted brown hair. ¡°Welcome to Video Boots!¡±


    ¡°More like Video Porn!¡± the woman said.


    She threw a VHS tape on the counter and crossed her arms. ¡°Go ahead. Look at it.¡±


    Kimberly¡¯s hands shook as she picked up the tape. The cover was for Little Rascals. She held the sides of the cover and let the tape slip out.


    ¡°I rented this for my five-year-old son,¡± the woman said.


    It¡¯s just The Mask¡­ Kimberly thought.


    ¡°I rented Little Rascals and I got pornography,¡± the woman said.


    Kimberly looked past her to the long, white van parked out front. There were at least five kids baking in the Bakersfield heat.


    Poor kids, she thought.


    The woman slammed her fist on the table and Kimberly dropped the tape. ¡°You should give me four free rentals for this outrage.¡±


    ¡°I can give you one free rental. We¡¯re sorry for the mistake,¡± Kimberly said.


    ¡°You exposed my son to pornography!¡±


    ¡°The Mask isn¡¯t pornographic¡­¡± Kimberly said.


    ¡°Excuse me? That blond slut was naked!¡± the woman said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no nudity.¡±


    The woman slammed both of her fists on the table. ¡°Get me your manager, right now!¡±


    A young couple walked inside and started browsing the action movie section. The woman turned around and yelled, ¡°They gave my boy a pornographic movie!¡±


    The couple looked up briefly before returning to their browsing.


    Kimberly flushed red and walked away. She slapped cardboard Forest Gump on the face as she passed the numerous shelves of VHS tapes, and Sega Genesis cartridges. An artificial woodgrain shelve groaned under the weight of a large customer who leaned against the numerous copies of The Lion King. She tried to ignore the section of his belly that didn¡¯t quiet fit inside his shirt and kept moving back.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The Employees Only sign on the back door was crooked. She peeled off the sign and tried to stick it back, but straight this time. It stayed for a second, but it fell on the floor, sticky side down. She put her hand over her left eye and sighed. Why did I do that? I¡¯m losing it, she thought.


    She kicked it to the side and stepped into the Video Boots break room. A guy with a bleach-tipped mohawk was reading a dirty magazine on a hard plastic chair. Kimberly sighed. ¡°Come on, dude.¡±


    He closed the magazine with a snap and sat up straight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bring that crap to work!¡± she said.


    He smiled sideways as he looked her up and down. ¡°Maybe if you gave me a chance, I wouldn¡¯t need it.¡±


    ¡°Creep. Where¡¯s Jerry?¡± she asked.


    He pointed to a small kitchen and opened his magazine. She could feel his eyes watching her over his magazine as she opened the kitchen door.


    Jerry and his ample beer belly were sitting across from Annie with her mini-bun cut. She thinks that having eight mini-buns makes her unique, Kimberly thought. It makes her look like a bratty teenager.


    He was leaning back with his mouth open as Annie threw cheese snacks into his mouth.


    ¡°A customer wants to talk to you, Jerry,¡± Kimberly said.


    He looked over and took a cheese snack to the eye. ¡°Ouch.¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Annie yelled. She ran over and kissed him next to the wounded eye.


    Kimberly looked at his wedding ring and then back at his eyes. ¡°This lady wants four free rentals.¡±


    ¡°Four free rentals?¡± Jerry asked. ¡°That¡¯s insane.¡±


    ¡°She thinks The Mask is pornographic.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ it¡¯s Cameron Diaz¡­ she might have a point there,¡± he said.


    He winked at Annie. She giggled and he pointed to the door. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    Annie spanked him on the butt as he walked out. He raised an eyebrow and Kimberly resisted the urge to throw-up. After they passed mohawk boy, she asked, ¡°How¡¯s the wife?¡±


    The vein on his forehead pulsed before going away. ¡°She¡¯s fine.¡±


    He huffed off ahead of her and talked to the woman. Kimberly took her time to catch up. She flipped up the gate and stepped inside the circular front desk.


    ¡°Do you make it a habit of giving kids pornography here?¡± the woman said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the mixup. I can give you two free rentals,¡± he said.


    ¡°Are you hearing this?¡± she spun around, looking for an audience. ¡°Pornography for children!¡±


    ¡°Three rentals if you stop yelling,¡± Jerry said.


    ¡°A small penance for the travesty committed here,¡± the woman said.


    He reached under the counter and ripped off three free rental coupons. ¡°Here you go.¡± He glared at Kimberly and made a face before heading to the back.


    The woman walked around the desk to where Kimberly was standing. ¡°You know, I remember you from my oldest¡¯s volleyball team,¡± the woman.


    ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s why you look familiar. She was a great server!¡± Kimberly said. Maybe if I¡¯m nice, she¡¯ll leave, she thought.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I let her go to Bakersfield College,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s a great school,¡± Kimberly said.


    The woman analyzed Kimberly skeptically. ¡°I want my daughters to be successful.¡±


    ¡°Last time I checked neither of your daughters were working.¡±


    A smile slid up the woman¡¯s face. ¡°At least my daughters didn¡¯t make me kill myself.¡±


    Kimberly¡¯s arms started shaking as she tried to keep everything locked inside. She failed. ¡°Shut up, you fucking asshole!¡±


    She covered her mouth, eyes wide. Apparently it came out louder than she expected. Jerry was standing by the employees only door.


    The woman stood frozen in place. Lips stammered.


    Kimberly didn¡¯t give her a chance to formulate a response. She ran to the door, pushed through, and dashed for her bicycle. Her shaky, sweaty hands fumbled with the bike lock. The store door opened with a crash. Kimberly snapped the lock off and kicked off without looking back.


    ¡°Get back here!¡± the woman yelled.


    She didn¡¯t.


    I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m so fired. I¡¯m dead. Dead, she thought.