THE DEAD GAME--DAY 22

     Linda's next stop was the antique shop. David was busy helping a customer, but Mike came right over, eager to help her, squeezing past the antique furniture that filled up every inch of available space. It was a huge store, but they still managed to fill it with so much furniture and artwork that it made it difficult to maneuver through the aisles.

     “Hi!” said Linda. “Sorry to have missed both of you at church on Sunday. I’d been loaded down with tourists. Are you and David coming to the party on Friday night?”

     “Of course we are! I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Mike replied. “Finally, something exciting is about to happen in this boring town.”

     “How do you know that this will be a good happening, and not one harmful to someone’s health?”

     “Don’t worry; everything will be just fine; even David is

looking forward to it. A bunch of us are going; we’ll watch out for each other.”

     She knew that David was not looking forward to the party, so why did Mike claim that he was? Out loud she said, “Did you know that Shirley and Hank are in their seventies? And they aren’t invited to the party.”

     “Who really cares how old they are? You worry too much about silly things. We’ll go to the party and have fun. No one will end up falling off the cliff into the ocean.”

     Annoyed with his weird sense of humor, she said goodbye and left the store. Mike could be a jerk sometimes—and he wasn’t funny, either.

     As Linda crossed the street she reflected on how pretty

the town was with its quaint multi-colored buildings; its picturesque park with flower-trimmed gazebo; and the pretty church with its tall bell tower and sparkling white color. She wondered again at the disparity in town from day to night. The town appeared beautiful during the day, but sinister and full of shadows after the sun set for the evening.

THE DEAD GAME--DAY 18

     At the Town Hall, Linda crossed over Main Street to turn back in the direction of the beach. She passed the sheriff’s office, where the sheriff and his young deputy kept a close eye on everyone and everything in town, and then Minnie & Frank’s Grocery.

     She crossed back over the side street to reach her own block. Glancing into Mike and David’s store windows, she noticed that their antique shop was still very dark inside—the green tinting on its windows made it appear even darker.

     At her shop she unlocked the door. Each morning as she turned on the lights for the day, she experienced a warm feeling of belonging rush through her. She was happy that she had moved to Oasis, even though she had to force herself to overlook all the weird occurrences in town and to think of them as part of the town’s own special uniqueness.

     On Sundays many tourists and residents frequented Linda’s shop to sample her homemade coffee and pastries while lingering to socialize. She loved it when her store was full of people and she could hear the sound of their happy laughter, which helped to wipe away the shadows that haunted her in the evenings. This Sunday she had missed the morning services at church because of the constant stream of tourists who kept wandering into her store.

     Later that day Shana came in, bringing sandwiches with her. “I figured that the only reason you would miss church and all the gossip was if you were too busy,” said Shana, “and I was right. Look at you, knee deep in books.” She sat on the floor beside Linda, setting up their lunch on a blanket. Linda was busy unpacking boxes of books, which she then sorted through on the floor. “This has been my only quiet time today without tourists.”Her long, usually silky dark hair was messy around her small heart shaped face from her long day of bending over boxes of books and serving demanding tourists.

     “Come sit down so that we can eat and talk,” said Shana. “I’ll tell you what everyone had said this morning.” Shana knew that she couldn’t resist a good gossip session. Linda sat down and waited patiently to hear what had transpired at church.

     “I discovered that only the young shop-owners of Oasis

have been invited to the party, and not the old-timers,” continued Shana as she munched on her sandwich. “Mike and David had found out that Judy, Gregg, and Ryan have also been invited. Maybe only the people who reside in the apartment complex have been invited…but I don’t know what the possible reason could be.”

     “I’ve always told you that this town was peculiar. Please come along with Todd and me on Friday night. Louise had asked Todd if he could also pick her up. I won’t feel comfortable with you going alone.” Linda sat on the floor staring at Shana, feeling too nervous and edgy about the upcoming party to eat anything.

     “That’s fine with me. Everyone else is going in groups. Mike and David are getting a ride with Tom and Edward, while Ryan, Judy, and Gregg are meeting us at the house after they get off from work at the hotel,” said Shana. “I’d rather go with you anyway.”

     “Then it’s all settled.” Linda decided as she continued to sort through her books.

     “Why aren’t you eating?” asked Shana. “I ate all of mine already.”

     “I’ll eat once I’m done with this mess.”

     After they finished chatting, Shana left to go home.

     Linda worked straight through the afternoon, placing all the books on the shelves. Feeling exhausted she went home, had dinner with her cats as company, and retired early with them for the night in her bed.

THE DEAD GAME–PAGE A DAY–DAY 15

THE DEAD GAME–PAGE A DAY–DAY 15

Linda did feel the extreme tension in the air. She didn’t know if she was imagining it, or if it was only the usual tension between her and Todd. Whenever he was near, she experienced a strange tingling sensation; whenever she looked into his big brown eyes, she felt herself melting inside and getting tongue tied. Today she’d experienced this rippling tension even before she’d bumped into him. She was happy that he was escorting her home, since she did feel safer with him by her side.
Todd accompanied her home and even checked inside her apartment for possible intruders. She followed at his heels. They made their way back to the front door, where Todd placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Will you be all right? I can stay here with you.”
Even though this sounded more than tempting, she refused his generous offer. “I’ll be fine.”
She was afraid to have him in her apartment—all evening or even all night. What would she say to him? She was still too nervous around him. She needed baby steps in order to get used to being with him. One day they might even have a full conversation.
Watching her face, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to walk away.
Linda had closed her eyes, hoping for a brief second that he was going to kiss her on the lips, but instead only felt a small peck on her cheek. Of course, she scolded herself, he wasn’t interested in her in that way and she was just fooling herself again with false hopes and dreams. But as she was lying in bed later that night, trying to fall asleep, she thought that anything could happen at a party…or even the next time they met late at night in the moonlight….