October Writing Prompts- Pinterest List by ZellyKatArt
October 23- Superstition
Jay stared in the mirror at the dark circles under his eyes. He stuck out his tongue and shook his head. He looked horrible. He felt horrible and the doctors couldn’t figure out what to do in order to help him get better. He hated it. He’s taken nearly every test under the sun and they all came back negative. No cancer, no flu, no cold, nothing. Jay closed his mouth and turned on the sink, washed his face and brushed his teeth. He still had to get to work today. He didn’t have any more sick leave since he had to use it for all the testing these past couple of months.
Jay finished getting ready and left his apartment for his job. He had to finish illustrating for the game he was working on for Games Tonight. If he didn’t finish soon, it would drive him nuts. Jay walked with his head down as he made his way to the four blocks to Games Tonight. He couldn’t drive because of how sick he really was, so he found an apartment as close as he could to work and walked every day.
Jay sat in front of his computer and leaned his head back against the back of this gamer chair. He slowed his breathing until he was back to normal. He turned on his computer and his drawing pad. While he waited for everything to open, he sat back and listened to the others talk in the office. He popped his head up and said a few quick hi’s before he got to work. He left for lunch with the others and came back. All he wanted to do was get back home so he could sleep until the next day.
Finally, the day ended, and Jay walked back home. He sighed when he plopped down on the couch and waited for his food to warm up. Jay stared at the TV, flipping through the channels. Nothing. Jay turned off the TV and headed inside. He grabbed his food from the microwave and pulled out the salt from the cabinet next to the hanging microwave. He sat it down and reached in for the pepper, knocking the salt over. The top popped off, and some spilled on the countertop.
Jay looked down at the salt and sighed. He wasn’t superstitious about spilled salt, but he grabbed some and tossed it over his shoulder. The salt rained on the floor and disappeared. Jay dusted the rest into his hand and sprinkled it on his food. He carried his food to the table and ate in silence. When he finished, he headed to bed. He lay in the night and coughed most of the night. Jay knew he’ll be exhausted in the morning as he sat on the edge of his bed, coughing. He wished the coughing would stop.
Jay woke up, dreading to get up for another painful day at work. He pulled himself out of bed, ready to face the day, exhausted. But he didn’t feel exhausted. Jay shook it off and got ready. He left just as he always did after he grabbed a bar for breakfast. Jay walked into the office and saw one of his buddies, Mason, coughing. He had bags under his eyes and looked horrible.
“Mason, what happened, man?” Jay stopped by his desk and looked at his friend with worry.
“I don’t know, Jay. I just started coughing last night and haven’t been able to stop. I’m going to the doctors in a bit to see what is going on,” Mason said. He turned his head to the side and had another coughing fit.
Jay stepped back and shook his head, returning to his computer. He stared at the characters he had drawn and rotated his right wrist. It was hurting again. He’d have to put on that annoying brace on it tonight when he got home. Jay sat up straight and his back cracked, but it hurt. “Ugh, I’m only in my early 30s and I feel like I’m falling apart.” He shook out his hands and got back to work.
Jay rotated his neck and wrists when he got back home that night. He’d have to take an Epsom salt bath to help his aching body. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what he’d make tonight for dinner. He let out a long sigh and grabbed some leftovers he had from the other night. He opened the Chinese box and saw that it was still good. He grabbed a plate and dumped the rest of the Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef and Mushrooms, and the rest of the Crab Rangoon’s on it. He warmed it up and while he waited, he noticed he hadn’t put the pepper and salt away. Jay opened the cabinet door and grabbed the pepper. He put it away and once again he knocked over the salt. The top popped open and salt fell out.
Out of habit, he picked up the salt and tossed it over his shoulder. The salt sprinkled to the ground and disappeared. Jay grabbed his plate and sat down in front of the TV, flipping it on. He ate while he watched an old horror movie, Christine. He finished eating and went to bed, rotating his wrist since it was really bothering him tonight. He put on the wrist guards his doctor had given him and laid down. He tossed and turned for a while as the pain kept him up, but finally he was able to sleep.
The next morning, Jay sat up and saw the wrist guards were off. He didn’t remember taking them off and shrugged. Jay was in the office before anyone else since his wrist felt great that morning. He got to work right away. By the time the others got there, he had finally finished two characters and was working on a third.
“I don’t know what is going on. My wrists were fine but now they feel like I’ve slept on them wrong or something. They hurt and are tingling.”
Jay stood up to see Melissa had walked in with Mason. She was rotating her wrists like he had been doing last night. He looked at his wrists. But it had to be a coincidence, right? He sat back down and got back to work.
Day after day, his aches and pain left his body. Whatever had made him sick left his body. All of it went to the other employees at Games Tonight. He couldn’t explain it, but it happened after he threw the spilled salt over his shoulder. Jay didn’t have answers, but he was glad his aches and pains were gone. He felt bad that his friends now had them, but he didn’t want them back.
One day, Jay came in to the office and saw everyone was sad, crying. He walked over and tapped Melissa on the shoulder. She turned and looked at him with red eyes. “Oh, Jay. Jackie died last night. Whatever she had, the doctors couldn’t figure it out, and she passed last night. Jackie just stopped breathing and her roommate Julia found her.”
Jay stared in shock. That could have been him. He excused himself and said he didn’t feel well. He asked for a day off from his boss and he left to go home. When he got home, Jay stood at the salt in his hand. His friends were suffering because he had somehow tossed the salt and it gave it to them. How? He didn’t know, but he wished he could take it back. He tore the top off the salt and threw a handful over his shoulder.
“Give it back! Give it all back!” he shouted and threw more salt over his shoulder. “Just give it back.” He fell to his knees, sobbing. “Just give it all back.”
Nothing happened. Jay threw the salt on the ground and went to bed. He’d clean up in a few hours when he got up. He needed to lie down. He was exhausted from crying. Jay laid his head down and sighed, staring at the wall. Suddenly, a wave of aches, pain, exhaustion, and sickness hit him. He coughed and choked, unable to catch his breath.
The next morning, his phone rang. The phone rang throughout the day. Someone banged on the door, then burst through. “Police! Is there anyone there?”
They walked into his room and stopped.