Valve - April 22, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by the word "valve". This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out. You can read all of them in the waves category]]

Thread- Squiddy Geiger - April 22, 2012

The room was cold, despite being full of people, not quite sardine-close, but full. The blizzard howled around them, a banshee screaming to be granted admittance.

They'd gathered in this building when the highway had become impassable. The police had directed them here, the only shelter for miles, and it had been a welcome respite from the weather, at least at first.

Greg and his family had arrived to find the building was full already, but they'd found a corner to settle into, using their bags and jackets to make the floor comfortable. It had been cramped, but comfortable enough, until a few hours later they noticed it was starting to get cool in the building.

A few people had gone into the services room to discover that the heating system was out. The culprit was soon found; a valve had seized, and there was no way to fix it. Without it, the system would not work, and there was no replacement. It was on the list of parts that had been ordered, but weren't due to arrive for another few days.

Now, two days later, it was damned cold inside. Better than the minus forty outside, but if the weather didn't let up soon, it could be disastrous. Greg was worried, but he kept a positive attitude for the kids. Mary knew him well enough to know it was a mask.

In the wee hours of the third day, it seemed to let up a bit. The howls and thumps weren't so intense or prolonged. Greg started to hope it might be over soon. He watched through the dimmed light as someone else, curious about the storm, went to the door and pushed it open to peek out. The man disappeared, and the howling started again, as intense as ever.

Greg couldn't be sure if he'd really seen the long clawed hand as the man was pulled through. The door slammed shut again behind him. He blinked, and hoped he was dreaming. If he wasn't, it would be another very long, very cold day.

Posted by Squiddy at April 22, 2012 08:50 PM | TrackBack