All characters are fictional, but the places may not be. Any semblance to real events is purely coincidental. The story explores themes that are suited for mature audiences and contains explicit material. Viewer discretion is advised.
Multi-chapter story
- Prologue: Before the clock started ticking (this post)
- Chapter 1: Sometime after 7:30 p.m
- Chapter 2: 3 a.m
- Chapter 3: 11 a.m
- Chapter 4: 3 p.m
- Epilogue: Sunset
Prologue: Before the clock started ticking
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Surely, a video is worth more. Aenya watched, without reaction, as Joe thrust his hips back and forth in a fluid and controlled manner, and let out wild noises of intense pleasure. He didn’t even do that with her, but that didn’t bother her as much. However, he said things—. Things, no height of delectation, should cause a man to say about a woman he had swore love to on multiple occasions; a person he had declared with so much surety he was fated to be with. Inside, she couldn’t quite place how she was feeling. She wasn’t angry; she certainly wasn’t sad, either. There was a complicated mix of emotions—none overpowering the others—so that what bubbled to the surface was just… numbness. It felt like she had left her body, and was watching herself take in all fifteen minutes of the action.
It was a cold day in Watermael-Boitsfort. Day five of her paid leave was not looking so good. The euphoria of being free from work had faded, and because she is a workaholic, she began to wonder whether taking two months off was a mistake. After staying in her Art-Nouveau style home for four days, a change of scenery was needed. She had come out to Parc Tournay Solvay to “feel” the summer. But it seemed like very few came out today. No dog owners were in sight. Probably she had missed the runners as well. In the distance, it appeared as if a group of university students were rehearsing for some kind of play. Aenya brought out her little telescope and peered at them. She felt their actions were a bit exaggerated, but it was a drama after all.
No matter.
Twenty days into summer, and there had not been a drop of sunshine. It was 1 p.m, and she still held out hope. And yet, those idiots in powerful positions refuse to take any meaningful action on climate change, she thought. The other day, she had even read some powerful people didn’t even believe in it.
“It’s as if it was a religion”, she found herself soliloquising.
A voice interrupted her thoughts. “It didn’t matter to you. You cheated anyway,” the man appeared to say to his partner in Dutch.
They passed right in front of Aenya, pushing a baby in a trolley. She was amazed at how easily she understood them, given it had been only eighteen months since she got into the country with no prior experience with the language.
The lady, looking dejected, replied, “When are you going to forgive me, Hans?”
Their conversation faded into the background as the ordeal she suffered years ago came to the fore. A shiver coursed down her spine, and it wasn’t the cool weather. She began to remember.
Read Chapter 1 of the story here.