Writing Prompt #4

[brigdh]

15 minutes on "unexpected packages".


The buzzer rang.

I groaned, set down my bowl of cereal, and hurried to the intercom. “Whosit?” I mumbled around a half-swallowed mouthful of breakfast.

“Mailman. You got a package.”

I swore, then pushed the button and replied, “Be there in one second!”, let go, and swore again. Then I rushed to the bedroom and threw off my bathrobe, scrounged the closest pair of jeans from the floor and hopped into them one-legged while simultaneously searching for a shirt. Instead I found a hoodie, and pulled it over my head as I rushed back out. I paused briefly before the front door to check that no inappropriate body parts were showing, and finally left the apartment, clattered down the stairs, and unlocked the door to the building.

It hadn’t been ‘one second’, but it had almost been a normal amount of time. Maybe the mailman wouldn’t be able to tell that I had been eating breakfast in pajamas at noon.

Unfortunately he wasn’t there to appreciate my appearance. I looked to the right and to the left, but saw only the normal clutter of passersby, none of whom were in a postal uniform. Then I looked down and found a large brown package sitting on the stoop.

“I don’t think abandoning my property on the street is appropriate postal behavior,” I muttered as I bent over to pick it up, but no one was listening. The package was big enough that I had to prop it on my hip to carry it, and covered in thick brown paper, tied neatly with packing string. My name was handwritten on the front, but there was no return address.

I considered who might have sent it as I took the stairs again – much slower this time. I hadn’t bought anything online recently, and if my mom had decided to spontaneously send me a present, she would have called first, too proud of herself to wait.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Yikes! You made it a cliffhanger. Well done again. I can totally relate to the protagonist also--the scene sounds very familiar.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Haha, I think the secret of the cliffhangers is that I tend to write right up until I actually have to make any hard decisions about finding an answer for the prompt. It's all scene-setting and mood, which is easy for me to do!