The Lion - Part Four

I had the feeling it was slipping away but I was determined.  The middle one said "Ah, you want to apply for a job..."

"Yes!" I leaped for like that a drowning man would for a life preserver someone safe on a boat casually  tossed in his direction. She smiled. A thin lipped, smirky kind of smile, and reached underneath the desk they were all standing at. The girls that flanked her were grinning at each other like they had a secret giggle only they could taste. I knew that look. In the empty space where my heart should be I felt my light draining out of me. She lifted it and pointed it at me. Pointed it like a gun or a stake. I reached out to take it from her and time stopped.

Her hand, pale and clean. The nails with a soft gleam. The skin, it was perfect just like her. A skinny diamond sparkly bracelet that was impossibly elegant encircled the flesh and bone of her wrist. Then there was my hand moving towards her, stopping close enough that both were framed in a block of vision that was like a window. A window she had forgotten to close and now my hand had crept in uninvited. My nails ripped and gnawed to the quick. Black grease creased along the skin. Grubby. Ugly. Me. It was like the entire world had stopped and focused on me and my ugly hand. I looked up and all three of the girls were staring at it. I slowly pulled my hand back. Their eyes followed it. No more smiles or secret shared giggles. I turned and ran.

It only got worse. I tried to run out the revolving door but it had people coming in. I tried to squeeze into one of the slices of pie as they turned and scared some old lady plus it caught me and bit me. I heard the laughter as I tumbled out an onto the sidewalk. Buzzing laughter. The kind of laughter that meant Bad Things. I ran that day. I ran and ran and ran.