Into the Light

Chapter 2

Scott woke with sunlight reflecting through the broken windows of his place. He sat up slowly and instantly clutched the back of his head before it could explode. He took a few short breaths and when he was certain his skull wasn’t in fact a ticking time bomb, he released his hands and gently tilted his head side to side.

He was very confused and couldn’t remember what happened the night before. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the events of the last 24 hours. He knew he’d gone to his place, but he couldn’t remember where he was before that, or even how he got here.

This confusion wasn’t due to alcohol or drugs though, neither of those substances exist in the Modern World. The New Leaders didn’t see a reason for people to dull their minds and senses with such things since people were already dull enough.

Scott tended to black out sometimes. Actually, quite often. He had so many hours of his life unaccounted for that he’d actually lived more of his life in the blackness than in his conscious. He didn’t really mind though, most of the time anyway. It was nice to suddenly wake up, feeling fresh, eager, and hungry without any care for where he’d been before. It had never interfered with his job so there was no harm in it. He just lived some parts of his life in the dark and some in the light, and he had grown to accept that. There were times though when he’d wake up in strange places and not remember what he’d been doing and it would scare him. That’s what this morning was like.

His head was pounding like it did sometimes when he came out of a black out. He was very hungry, but food wouldn’t calm him. He was hungry for knowledge. This happened a lot too. When he had longer blackouts, he’d always wake up feeling unsatisfied and hungry. It was nothing a few hours with his books couldn’t fix, but still, it was concerning that he had such a drive for learning when his society was against it.

He leaned over and grabbed his watch off the table next to where he was laying. 10:30 a.m. He was going to be late for work if he didn’t get up right now. He rushed to get up, then remembered that it was Monday and he didn’t have to work today.

He was already up and figured he wouldn’t waste the day in bed, so he got dressed and went out to get his morning coffee. He wasn’t the most liked person in town, but that never stopped Scott from being friendly.

He breezed into the little cafe that was only about a block from his office and ordered a regular cup of coffee with only one spoonful of sugar.

“So, Jacob, how’s your morning going?” Scott sat at the counter next to the register and tried to start a nice conversation with the waiter.

“I’m alright, Scott, how are you?”

“Just wonderful. You know, I woke up with the strangest feeling this morning, almost like I’d done something awful last night. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was though. But anyways, today is a new day, the sun is shining and now I’ve had my coffee. Today is going to be a spectacular day. I can just feel it.”

“Yeah, that’s real nice, Scott, but I have work to do. You can take your enthusiasm elsewhere this morning.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’ll probably just head home then. Thanks for the coffee. Best wishes for your missus.” Scott left a tip on the counter and headed out into the warm spring day.

Well, Scott thought to himself, today seemed like a reading day anyway.

Reviews

[Chris]

I opened this not realizing it was Chapter 2 ...of what book? Where is one or the prologue or three etc?

Basically I'm saying that lacking the backstory or a sense of the chars worldview and no idea where to go next - ya feel sorta lost - ya know?

This Chapter leaves many questions within its own content that perhaps point toward a lengthier "fleshing-out" - least to me. I haven't yet been given enough to care for or about the character, but I could.

[RayLynn]

Maybe if you searched my profile to find the first chapter instead of criticizing the writing, you'd be much happier and less 'lost'

[Chris]

I apologize for the seeming criticizing. I am not dinging you... on a personal level. The site software will auto-tie your chapters together - if you empower it - into a cohesive book form that will allow your readers the continuity of your thoughts.

I did view the profile and did an overview of your writing (4 ish pages) and thought I would look through a single short story first to get an idea of your style and flow.

I didn't intend to come across as attacking. Agai, sorry.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. I liked Scott attitude. I liked the attempt to be friendly and the decision to read some books. Thank you RayLynn for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote