Stall 2 Novels & Stories

When she saw my lack of a response, her gaze became sharp, as if it was staring straight into my soul. "You lied. You've been very strange lately." Just as I was about to explain my way out of it, she continued, "Stewart's finally back, so you can't win against him. Don't cause him any trouble, and know your place." After that, she stepped away from me and staggered into the bathroom.

"Oh, my love, we're here. We're here." Kael was instantly alert, his strategist's mind seizing on the new data. "The stasis isn't perfect. There's a flaw. A crack in the system." He watched the tapping intently. "It's a simple code. A rhythm used by scouts in the old armies. One tap for 'A,' two for 'B'..." They watched, barely breathing, as the stone finger continued its painful, laborious work. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap.

I freeze against the wall for three full seconds when I hear a door creak int he east corridor of the packhouse, it stops as though it has been caught before footsteps move away and silence comes back. I breathe out. Keep moving. The stables are around the east side of the manor grounds, which means crossing the open courtyard, which is the part of this plan I like least, thirty feet of open stone with no cover and good sightlines from the upper windows. I do it fast, head down, coat dark, and nobody shouts from above. Cobalt is in the third stall. He’s a brown gelding with an attitude problem and an inexplicable fondness for me that developed entirely through bribery, and when I slide the s

A few minutes with the horses should cheer me up. I walk up the remaining distance to the barn and was immediately hit with strong smells of fresh hay and horse poop. The barn was awfully quiet, with just that light I had seen earlier shining at its entrance. I really shouldn’t be here. But…, a little peek won’t hurt, right? I push pass the gate, walk down the corridor, before turning left into an area with a ‘STALLS’ sign on the wall. There were five big stalls with what looked like name tags on each door. I walk pass each one till I stop at the one that read “Marley.”

' Harvey thought gleefully. Mark smiled as he explained, "Number Four is well past its glory days. Number Two is a premium stallion imported from abroad that's worth its weight in gold. I'm afraid you've bet on the wrong horse this time!" "As you've said earlier, Mr. Thatcher—the race isn't over until it's over. Anyone could be the dark horse," Andrew responded confidently. "Dark horse? Sounds more like a dead horse to me," Dexter mocked. "Dr. Lloyd, don't worry if we lose this one," Lauren reassured him. "We've already won twice!"

CORRECTION: COORDINATED OBSERVATION IS REQUIRED FOR STABILITY MAINTENANCE Anna stared at it. “Stability maintenance,” she repeated. Then shook her head. “You are calling this stable.” Silence. The screen flickered again. Longer this time. Then something new appeared. SYSTEM NOTICE: SUBJECT INTERACTION THRESHOLD APPROACHING PHASE SHIFT LIMIT Anna frowned. “Phase shift,” she muttered. She looked closer. The interface zoomed slightly on her identifier. Then Adrian’s. Then a connecting line between them. It pulsed. Slow. Controlled.

I close the page, return back there again and retry, end up on nothing again. I spin it fifteen more times with no luck. It is either rigged or I just have no luck. Sighing, I drop the phone, hoping both of them are safe.

I hear Keya gasp as she mindlinks me, ‘OMG, she heard us! God this is embarrassing. I told y’all to chill but you didn’t listen to me!’ Shit, we didn’t listen to her, ‘My bad Babe.’ I hear her sister ask, “Keya what’s a Stallion?” Keya just sighs exaggeratedly shaking her head. “It’s a large male horse, Fatt.” Annoyed she tells me, “ Just help me get them ready.” So I begin to help Fatt & Trell pack their bags for today while she gives Qwan his asthma treatment and cleans his nose which seems to be full or running all of the time. Then washes her hands to give Grammy an insulin shot in her stomach. And she reminds her to take her meds and check her sugar levels. “Yeah yeah I know.” Grammy gr

Harmony I was trying to prevent myself from shaking while I was staring at my laptop. I don’t know what to feel about a post on Friendbook related to me. While I was trying to calm down, I continued to stare at a photo posted with a mocking caption. It was me, standing on a stage while in the midst of holding back my tears. The caption says, "Wow, look at your dumb rich girl stuttering through a debate. Is that all you can do? "

He just sits there, his eyes are on the house, but they look like they were somewhere else. "Hal?" I say. "Oh yes, sorry." We both exit the car. The house is very homey. It's small, but can comfortably house one or two people. The front yard is decorated with different plants and trees. "Nice." I say. "Thanks." I look at the garage, it's a double garage. It seems the other car is missing, I look at the driveway and see skid marks. I think it must be from the incident Hal had earlier, I look at him as he fumbles to get the right key for the door. I decide to let go of the idea, it's his life, I shouldn't get into it. He is merely a stranger helping me out until I get back on my feet. But God