True Life and Fiction

This week, I'm providing a double-shot of Lexi. I've combined two scenes together to bring us to the end of a chapter. Alexis kept busy enough throughout the night. Business at the bar was slow, although the pace was unpredictable. Customers came and went, creating a rise and fall in activity, rather than a steady flow. One lonely dancer graced the stage, moving suggestively to old worn out rock and roll songs. Alexis wanted to talk to the woman, but stayed just busy enough to be serving drinks each time the dancer took a break. Besides, during every break, the dancer went into the small crowd sitting with a customer. She finally caught the dancer leaving the stage after a short set. Business in the bar was in a lull, so Alexis decided she would take a short break, and get to know the only other female employee in the place. She gave the woman a smile as she left the stage, and followed her to a table along the outside wall of the bar. "Mind if I sit with you,"...

Here it is -- on time for a change. As the door shut behind her, Alexis closed her eyes until she'd adjusted to the relative darkness inside. The Pink Pony hosted only a few customers—early-birds, desperate and lonely, or simply unemployed, with nowhere else to spend their time. She felt their eyes on her, watching as she moved toward the bar where Sam stood, plunging glasses into a sink. He was watching her too but she did not feel his stare on her like she did the others. Their stares carried an almost measurable weight, assaulting her as if each one of them were in a line, poking her shoulders, and other parts of her body, as she walked by. Her skin crawled, and she sensed her body on the verge of shifting to prepare for a fight. She stopped twice before reaching the bar, giving serious consideration to turning and walking out, fearful that she couldn't go all night feeling this apprehensive and self-conscious. "Don't worry," Sam said as he dipped a glass ...

Okay, so I missed my deadline again. Gotta get better at this. Enjoy. Alexis walked along the dirt service road beside the four-lane, passing under a large wooden sign indicating the entrance to Forest Lake RV Park. Across the four-lane was a huge truck. The entire was a complicated dance of sound and movement. Cars hummed along the overpass along Interstate sixty-five, adding to the cacophony. The small road opened up into a huge square lot, the size of at least four football fields. The dirt gave way to gravel as she continued onto the property, looking for the manager's office. Tiny patches of lush green grass surrounded each little camping site, and a small man-made pond bordered the property to the South. Alexis heard the dull roar of Interstate Sixty-Five to her right, and a faint diesel odor permeated the air. She thought it strange to locate a campground in the middle of a city. Maybe the proximity of the site to the Interstate, and a big chain truck stop, made it conven...

Enjoy: Dimitri had already tried to call his granddaughter twice in the last hour. Both calls went straight to voice mail. He nearly jumped out of his seat when his cell rang. He saw it was from Alexis, and connected the call before the end of the first ring. "Hello? Lexi, are you okay? Where are you?" Dimtri's concern overwhelmed him; thoughts manifested themselves in a seemingly desperate stream of questions. "I'm safe, Papa." Lexi's voice soothed him, his only Granddaughter was safe, but it did not completely dissolve his worries. "Where are you," he said, realizing immediately he did not really want to know where she was. "I'm just safe, Papa," silence followed, and he could sense her forming her words, hesitating to speak. "How are Mom and Dad?" "They're fine, he responded, and then added, "They're just worried about you." "Is Leonidas okay?" Dimitri heard her ask. She...