Anica Storm & The Wand Of Time (Part 1 of 4)

by Steven Wolff

  *BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

  Still with her eyes shut, she reaches over and hits the snooze before rolling back over. While the alarm didn't wake her, rolling her face into a pillow damp with drool instantly does!

  Eeeewww! She moans, shifting away from the offending pillow, wiping at her face. She let out a big wake up yawn and sits on the edge of the bed, waiting for the rest of her body to wake up. She shakes her head back and forth, scratching her scalp with both hands because it feels good. Her hair stands up in different directions as a result.

  She gets up and shuffles to the bathroom, where she turns the squeaky chrome handle to start the shower. The hissing sound of hot water tapping the bathtub floor forms a nice cloud of steam that rises, fogging up the mirror and bathroom. When it's the right water temperature she steps in with her back facing the showerhead, lost in the moment of pleasure, as the hot water feels good on her neck and shoulders. She stands there with her eyes closed, smiling that it's almost time to see him.

  After about 15 minutes of getting cleaned up, she gets out of the shower and dries herself off. Like Mark had mentioned about being in love, Anica notices a little spring to her step which makes her feel giddy as she presses the play button on her music player to resume playing where her favorite song let off.

  Anica is a big fan of the University of Oregon Men's Acapella Group, who sings a killer rendition of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, which just happens to be her favorite song in the whole world. She grabs her hair brush and starts singing into it like a microphone “Oh Oh Oooh Oh Oh Caught in a Bad Romance... Paparazzi!”

  She wipes the fogged up mirror with her towel and brushes her hair, happy as can be. Then it dawns on her... She needs to call a cab now to pick her up, if she wants to be on time. On the table next to her bed is a welcome card from the hotel with important numbers on them. One of them is the number of the local taxi service for the area. So Anica quickly dials the number and the line just rings and rings.

  'Come on...' Anica thinks to herself as she listens intently to each of the unanswered rings. She looks at her cell phone to make sure she dialed the right number. She did so she hangs up and tries again.

  Still, the line rings and rings with no answer. When Anica taps the number in for the seventh time, she accidently presses the wrong number on the keypad but doesn't realize it. After a few rings, someone finally picks up.

  “This is Luigi,” answers a thickly accented guy on the other end of the phone. Anica's voice rises in excitement.

  “Hello Luigi! You're the taxi guy right?”

  There's a long pause on the other end of the line.

  “You need a ride?” asks Luigi.

  “Yes! Yes I do, please!”

  “Okay” he says with a wicked smile in his voice.

  Anica gives the guy the information of her hotel, and her destination, unaware that this will be her last ride of her life.

  “I'll be right over.” He says, hanging up the phone. He grabs his favorite butcher knife and looks at it with an evil grin on his face.

  *****