Stumble Over Words Novels & Stories

The words stunned me and I knew not what they meant. “WE KNOW...”

he didn't know what to say, so he just said the only words that came to his mind and prepared to walk to the bathroom, and again she said something "Well...what I meant to say was...you injured haven't healed up yet...so I wondered if I could help you a little"she stammered the words out as she fiddled with her fingers which seemed cold and sweaty for some reason, what was she saying g even her didn't understand why her mouth and brain were working together against her to bring shame on her

“This is a dog.” My lips moved as I repeated it. “Dog.” He nodded. “Good. Next word.” I stared at the chaos called shapes. My tongue felt thick. I tried sounding them out, but the letters didn’t want to stay still in my head. They swam, meaningless. “Don’t overthink it,” Marcus said, his voice steady, patient. “Just try.” I tried. Again and again, until the simple word broke apart under my tongue. And the frustration burned hot with every failed attempt. I pressed my hand to my forehead, growling softly under my breath.

Why was everyone talking this way? Their words were garbled, like someone dragging words through thick water. It was muffled...too far away and too close at the same time. The voices churned around him, overlapping and bleeding into each other until they jumbled inside his skull causing his a damned headache. On one hand, he was curious to learn what was being said.

I stammer awkwardly. *Hanging out?* Oh my god. What the hell is wrong with me? Marcus Kane is not the type of man who ever 'hangs out.' He negotiates, he commands, he dominates. He does not *hang out*. I’m even more mortified by my junior-high vocabulary when he doesn't respond at all. He just stares at me. Cursing myself and my pathetic life choices, I snatch my book from the kitchen island and make a literal beeline for the staircase.

Without a single word he spun on his heel and stormed from the room. I flinched when I heard a loud crash. It was shortly followed by the front door slamming shut. Embarrassment wasn’t an emotion I was familiar with, and as it swept over me my skin began to prickle with discomfort. I began to fumble with the ties, my fingers suddenly clumsy. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I didn't realize. I’m so clueless sometimes, I swear. I just put it on without looking and—and I should have looked first. Why didn’t I look first?"

I KNOW ALL THIS THINGS! But as usual, I couldn't say those words, I opened my mouth again, and instead came out jungled messed up words. “I-I-I’m……..I mean, It's, it's not………” I stuttered,my words got struck in my throat, unable to voice out. Veronica threw her head back in amusement,laughing. “ Oh, this is priceless!” She exclaimed, cleaning the tears off her eyes from all the laughing she was doing. I was determined to wipe the laughter off her face, then I tried to force my voice out, and make it clearer, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “you see……..” I started, pride swell in my chest at how well those few words came out.

she stutters with a slight bit of panic lacing her words. "How who did what?" I ask, completely confused, but needing to know. "He, my fa..., somehow he was in my head, somehow he was hurting me, trying to ki...l..l ... me..e." she blavers out almost choking and tripping up over her storming emotions with a paniced under tone, as if the words hurt to say aloud, like she doesn't want to say them aloud, in fear it will make them truer in some way.

I could see they were growing impatient so I just blurted it out. “IwanttoplanasurprisedinnerforWinnifredbutIhavenoideaonhowtogoaboutitsoIwasthinkingwhetheryouguyscouldhelpmecomeupwithsomething”. I said in one breath and sighed in relief that I had said it out. They were both staring at me like I just spoke in a foreign language they both didn't understand and I was wondering why they weren't saying anything until Judy spoke up. “I'm sorry sir, but we didn't hear anything you just said”. Judy said and I realized I didn't pause between my sentences, hence making what I said actually sound like gibberish. No wonder they were just staring at me.

Either way I wasn't going to make a fool of myself. I walked over, striding as quickly as I could, but in the process, the heel of my right shoe slipped across the floor to the left. I stumbled, crashing to the ground, silently wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole. My hair fell forward, hiding my face as I pressed my palm against the cool surface. Another hand reached out to me. Slowly, I lifted my gaze, tracing it back to Emmette and my embarrassment deepened tenfold, knowing he was seeing me like this.