The Bag - The Skewered Apple
A Story Every Day in 2024. May 20th 141/366
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Jason followed the girl's arm as the train was leaving and saw the poster. He got up and went to the edge of the platform.
"The Skewered Apple," he murmured under his breath and he knew that it was familiar to him, but how? He turned to speak to the girl again but she had gone. He rushed over to where she had been only moments ago and looked around the platform but she had vanished. Jason was starting to worry that he was losing his mind.
He must have looked a mad figure because in his peripheral vision, he saw the guard that he'd waved to earlier, walking towards him. Jason needed to get a better look at that poster and hoped that it would jog some memory but the guard moved more quickly the closer he got to the edge.
The notebook! In an epiphany, Jason realised where he had seen the apple motif before and walking slowly over to the bench, he sat down and nonchalantly reached into the bag. Pulling out the notebook, he found the page he'd been looking at.
"Who are you?" he said out loud but quietly. The guard was still watching -from a respectful distance - but watching nonetheless.
Jason was weirded out. The bag was real; he pressed on it with his hands, sniffed its leathery smell; it was a tangible object. The girl though. Was she real? He felt like she was as real as him but she had definitely been getting what? Faint? Like she was being rubbed out? What did that mean?
Whatever it meant, his senses were telling him that she needed him for something; that this wasn't all an accident; that she'd reached out to him from wherever for a reason.
He made a decision. He would go to "The Skewered Apple". Getting out his phone he searched for it. Close Street. He knew it. Was it the bar from that night? A chill went through him. He felt his guts lift with anticipation.
It said that it didn't open until 6pm. He didn't think he could go to work. What was he going to do until then?
***
362 words
So what does he do with his day? Examine the bag? Go to Close Street anyway? Talk to the guard? Google "The Skewered Apple", see if any dodgy things have happened there?
Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.
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Comments (13)
I love where this is going. Or, where I hope it's going anyway. 😄 I only stumbled upon these this morning - what a good idea! I'm currently laid up in bed, bored, so thank you for the entertainment. 😀
I dunno. I’d suss out the bar regardless in the hopes of jogging some memories.
I think he'd go down there early, check it out before it opens. But that guard is a bit suspicious.
Very much enjoying this yarn! Maybe he tries to call or meet up with someone else from “that night”?
The unlikeliest of those options are talk to the guard, so I recommend going with that. Make it as hard as possible, I always say.
Oh god. I feel the same way about this series as I did about Line of Duty and The Fall where I just wanted to know what happened next. Hooked. Hurry up with the next one!
That night? Hmmm, very sus. Just ask him to go to work, lol.
I love the line: ‘ Jason needed to get a better look at that poster and hoped that it would jog some memory but the guard moved more quickly the closer he got to the edge.’ The poor railway guard’s nerves were on edge! I choose: A, B & D… please leave the guard out of it… he’s had enough for the day!
Sup' Rd ~ Whelp, out with the Brit Dictionary under my elbow. You Bag-um - I Drag-um..It takes a lot of "Guts." *No clue how you do this daily - No more knitting or feeding the boys, then..! - Mz-Uz - JiB
He does all three then visits an old friend who is a physics prof. Then he goes home and prepares for the evening's encounter. Just my take. Waiting anxiously to see where you take this.
Perhaps making his way in the right direction will spur other memories. An internet search would be the first thing anyone would do in this modern age, though, I think. I also think he is justified now in examining the contents of the bag more thoroughly!
It feels more and more Matrix-like with each episode... Has the protagonist had breakfast already? If not, he might be feeling peckish? High time to get out of that station, before the guard decides to have a chat.
If this is a bar near a railway station, I can only assume dodgy things happen there. Unless we're in Finland, where for some reason the areas around railway stations don't appear to be as sketchy as in the rest of the world.