Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Doctrine’s contribution to the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise, constrained by a sentence limit (high and low) of six, there are worse ways to spend the remaining time you have on earth.
Prompt word:
BRAND
“Welcome to the 414 Hotel, that’ll be sixty-nine eighty plus tax…cash.”
Sister Aclima nodded and placed a random assortment of bills on the coffee-and-sweat-stained counter of the front desk, her nose wrinkling in a purely atavistic defense against the smell of cigars, despair and too much mouthwash; pulling the money to his side, the clerk counted out the amount in a slow, overly-deliberate pace.
“Sorry, sista, check-in ain’t until four,” rudimentary social signaling managed to move his eyes and lips, the former tracing her contours like greasy cue balls, the latter tried to fight their way past a sneer…and failed.
“Would you mind if I left my bag behind the counter,” her lips, sensing the exposure inherent in a smile, retreated into a characteristic flattening, though to her credit, a touch of incisors remained evident.
“I get off at two, but I’ll leave Refael, a note, shouldn’t be no problem,” gender imperative took control of the man’s nonverbal speech centers and his eyebrows raised, “a course, if ya need company for dinner;” his effort to slide a corporate branded card to her was undone by something sticky on the countertop, resulting in a smudge as his index and middle fingers slid over the glossy surface.
Sister Aclima, not being in an Order that dealt in divine intercession, nevertheless heard a voice, which she suspected of being her former self, Kayla Sheperd, “We passed a thrift store one block up, time to go native.”
About clarkscottroger
goodness…all these snippets of stories! you’re quite the prolific writer. kudos!
ty
Nice description of Sister Aclima’s interaction with the clerk. I like the phrase: “the smell of cigars, despair and too much mouthwash”.
yeah… not a pleasant character… but then again it would seem Sr. Aclima has chosen to take a walk on the wild side, no?
Let’s hope the thrift store has what she needs.
actually I believe she wants to ditch the nun’s uniform, in the interest of blending in… but the Order of Lilith is not a religious order in the traditional sense of the word (I know! What a surprise.) lol
A thrift store? What is the connection with that, I am wondering. Plus, I am thinking Sister A. needs to wash her hands, and soon – what a nasty sticky counter!
lol not exactly the Ritz Carlton (like two other fictional characters in the same city at the same time… the Sophomore and Rosetta, of course) I think Sister A just wants to blend in with the ‘natives’ as part of her mission
Eeshda! Almost had a date like this once, and then my non-timid self thought better and begged off, firmly!
lol
I trust the local emergency room was available for him lol