My Short Short for the Day

Margie stared, mouth open, eyes fixed, legs paralyzed as the ominous cloud rolled towards her.  Her mind was screaming to run but she just couldn’t get her legs to move.  Must run!  She yelled at herself.  Run Margie!  Run!  Suddenly her legs broke free and she moved.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried to run, her legs only moved in slow motion.  Faster Margie or it’ll get us for sure!  She urged her body to move, she demanded, she pleaded but nothing helped.  Her body moved slowly inching forward, refusing to acknowledge the impending doom.

The cloud rolled relentlessly toward her.  She struggled to speed up but to no avail.  She could hear people screaming around her to hurry but she couldn’t.  She tried to crouch and push off like a sprinter.  She tried to leap and jump start her running.  She tried taking smaller steps to get more traction.  But nothing worked. Her legs moved ever so slowly.

The cloud was on her now.  She yelled, cursing her legs and choking on the dirt laden air. She thrashed her arms and bolted upright in bed.  Still coughing she stared into the darkness until the cloud disappeared and her mind refocused.  “I hate those dreams!”  She muttered flopping backwards.  “Stupid slow motion.”