Rain on the Window-Write on Edge

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Crack!  Lightening ignites the evening sky.

“1 second, 2 seconds…Wow, that was close,” cries Toni aloud as the thunder rolls.

A second later the power snaps off, leaving her office in the dark. Toni moves from her desk to the window. She watches as rain pours out of the sky, leaving murky rivulets of rainwater on the window.  She sees lights flicker off, all over the low buildings surrounding the nearly empty parking lot.  

Passages-Red Writing Hood

This week we were asked to take you somewhere. Where, was up to us -fiction or creative nonfiction- but we were asked  to use our words to paint the setting as vividly as possible, in 200 words. I love the opportunity to work on fiction.

She opens her eyes, and a blinding white light causes her to flinch. The light seems to intensify and she blinks again.  What appears to be a bright light is the metallic incandescence of the walls that surround her. It is a small enclosure that seems not to have a door or windows, yet she smells a crisp whiff of ozone. perfuming the air. She raises her head and sees that she is lying on a cold metal bench in the middle of the room.  Not restrained, she sits up looking and listening for clues to where she is. Planting her feet on the floor, she could feel a humming vibration coming from outside the room. She crosses the room to the luminous wall and puts her hand out to touch it and is knocked to the floor from a charge running through her body. The walls begin to shimmer. then disappear. The crisp air she breathed in the chamber is replaced by a damp foul odor. Dark passages lead off in three directions and from the middle passage she hears heavy footsteps moving in her direction. Perspiring she wonders aloud, "What is this madness?"