After Forever
Page 17
~*~
The two men were quiet, then they broke out in deep laughter.
Slapping his knee, the reporter said, “You had us going there. That was a far-fetched story. But things like that don’t happen in real life to real people.”
The executive shrugged. “Believe what you will, gentlemen, but it is the truth.” The man looked at his watch. “I hate to cut this short, but I have a meeting in a few minutes. Did you want any more pictures for your article?”
The photographer scanned through the photos he took. “I’d like a couple more with you posing over by those awards.”
The executive nodded and stood in front of the shelf filled with plaques and trophies.
“Perfect.” He took the shots. “Thanks. That should do it for me.”
“Did you have any more questions?” he addressed the other man.
“No, sir. I’m sure I have all the information I need. I’ll email you a copy of the final draft.”
The men shook hands.
He watched out the window as the men got to their car. The photographer scanned the last shots. He did a double take. Tapping the reporter on the shoulder, he handed over the camera. The second man looked at the image, then both looked up at the man in the window.
The executive smiled and touched two fingers to his forehead. On his way to his meeting, Ralph Steadway stopped at the shelf and straightened an empty soda bottle and a taped baseball holder containing a scraped, dirty autographed ball. He smiled and closed his office door.
BIO:
Cindy Bartolotta hails from a small town nestled in the winding Monongahela Valley, south of Pittsburgh. A writer for years, she had two short stories published in the Tribune Review’s Focus Magazine, several entries in Metamorphosis, a literary journal 2006-2007, published by the Pleasant Hill’s Public Library, and won several minor prizes in the 24-Hour writing contest. She creates a monthly word search puzzle for the Senior Times. Most recently Cindy had a short horror story, The Jailer, published in a horror anthology, Pleasant Dreams, available at Amazon. Always writing, her debut novel, Beyond the Border, should be out this fall.
To contact Cindy, email her at synlab1@yahoo.com
Visit her blog, Traveler With an Idle Mind, at https://synlab.blogspot.com
Blurb for Beyond the Border:
After a school sponsored Halloween party, teacher Lizzie Grant returns home to find kids at the far edges of her property. Determined to chase them away before they cause mischief, Lizzie runs after them and sprains her ankle. Searching for help, she encounters a re-enactment village unlike any other.
When the on-site doctor splints her ankle, she’s unable to get a ride home and spends the night. When she awakens the next morning, she’s pain free and her injury healed. Wandering through the village, she is caught up in the Festival preparations and offers to help. After the banquet, the Festival takes a bizarre turn. Confused, she spends a second night there.
Once Lizzie discovers the truth about the village, will she be able to solve the mystery or will she be forever doomed to remain in Marsh’s Landing?
TRAPPED
By Twinkle (Sugandha) Varshney
©2013 by Twinkle (Sugandha) Varshney