Fictionlet
Brigid settled into her seat, scrunched the seatbelt just a smidge tighter, and opened up her book. About three sentences in, a voice floated into her left ear, “Reading, eh?”
She blinked, pulled herself up out of the book, and looked to her left, where another woman sat. “Hmm?” Brigid said.
“Got a book I see,” said the woman. “Good idea. Something to make the flight go faster.”
“Yes, exactly,” said Brigid, and smiled blandly. “And I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while now anyway.”
“The perfect opportunity,” said the woman, and also smiled blandly.
Brigid nodded in acknowledgment, and looked back down into her book. She found the sentence where she had started, skipped ahead three sentences, and began to read.
“Good book?” floated the voice in her left ear.
Brigid blinked, pulled herself up out of the book, and looked at the woman. “Sorry, what?” she said.
“Is it a good book?”
“Well I’m not very far into it,” Brigid said, “but I usually like this author, so I expect I’ll like this one.”
“Oh, a series, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Good series?”
“Yes. It’s William Ashbless’s ‘Ward Fowler’ books, if you’re familiar with those.”
“Nope, never heard of them,” the woman said.
“Ah,” said Brigid, and went back to the book. A little hunting found the place she’d started, then she skipped three sentences, and began to read.
“What’s it about?” floated the voice.
Brigid winced, pulled herself up out of the book, and looked at the woman. “Huh?” she said.
“The book. What’s it about?”
“It’s a whodunit,” Brigid said. “Ward Fowler is a detective.”
“Oh! You mean like a mystery series?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like mysteries?”
“Yes,” said Brigid. “Some of them. Not true crime as much, tho.”
“I read The Da Vinci Code,” said the woman. “That was pretty mysterious.”
“I bet it was,” said Brigid, and smiled blandly.
“Well, I’ll let you read,” said the woman.
“Thanks,” said Brigid, and turned back to her book. She found her spot and waited, just staring at the book, for at least ten seconds. When finally convinced it was safe, she began to read.
“Have you read The Da Vinci Code?” floated the voice.
Brigid ground her teeth, folded her bookmark into place, and shoved the book under her seat.
“Not reading any more?” said the woman.
“Yeah,” Brigid replied flatly. “Just can’t seem to stay interested right now.”
-The Gneech
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