One Sip Trip

One Sip Trip.

I stepped off the bus in the middle of town, and got totally soaked by the rain. I tried to shelter myself with the magazine I was reading, but it didn't help much, so I rushed across the busy, 5 line street to find an awning.

The cars honked at me as I sprinted.

"Yeah, I know you don't like me!, I said to them.  I doubt that they could here me in this downpour and I really didn't care if they did. 

I had a really hard day at the office today as they say. The boss pulled a bunch of us into a conference and started the usual drone about "making the numbers" and that we would be all out of job, if we didn't make the numbers.

I could feel all of the eyes of the room settling on me as if I had something to do with it. Somebody had to be blamed, I guess and I was it....again! I could never catch a break no matter how hard I tried. The rain really topped of my bad day like the cherry on a banana split. Perfect.

I shook my head as I continued to shiver from the rain under the awning of a cafe.

"Hey, why don't you come on in and get warm?" , a voice said.

I turned around and saw a blonde woman in her thirties or so, giving me a smile that could light up a room, and her voice had all the home style charm of a freshly baked cookie.

I followed her into her cafe. As soon as I walked through the door, I felt the rush of warm air and a smell of cinnamon. I saw two comfortable chairs and small table in front of a fireplace, so I made a beeline for the closest one and sat down.  The chair felt so good, it almost felt like it hugged me.

I looked around for a little bit and then I looked back towards the counter where the barista was making a hot drink. I suddenly felt embarrassed that I had sat down on this chair while still being wet and my face fell

"I'm so sorry. I got this chair all wet!"

Again, she smiled at me. "Don't you worry about it, hun! You're all cold and wet and you need something warm in you. Here's a cuppa my finest for ya on the house!"

She placed the cup and saucer on the little side table. I saw the steam rising from the hot reddish liquid inside. As much as I tried to resist the urge to wait to take a sip, I felt strangely drawn to this drink as the scent of apples filled my head.

"Ya had a hard day, huh?"

"Yeah," I said to her, then I looked up. "How can you tell?"

She laughed. "I'm psychic!"

"Pfft!"

She laughed again.."okay I'm not psychic. You came in wet and you were looking down at the ground most of the time.".

"It's just body language, that's all. Nuthin special"

I nodded my head and took a sip of the drink and it reminded me of a mincemeat pie on Christmas night. I closed my eyes for a bit and just let gravity take me.

"It's good, huh?", she said to me softly almost in a barely perceptible whisper. "I made it just for you, hun!"

"Mmmmmmm..hmmmmm" I managed to say before the ambience finally lulled me into a much needed sleep. "Perhaps a few minutes shut eye here won't hurt", I said as I reached for the saucer and the cup.

Clouds

I saw clouds

I was sitting in a dusty field overlooking the Grand Canyon. It was dusk and the last rays were disappearing over the horizon. The air was crisp and dry.

I sighed and yawned deeply as I took in the view. I remember thinking that I should take a little trip here one day.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah", I said then frowned. Who was talking to me? I looked around and I didn't see anyone.

"Wait , wait wait. Ssshh." the female voice intoned softly. "It's totally okay. "

I continued to look around a bit but saw no one. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"Sorry to bother you but I have news and you're not going to like it."

I looked around again and shook my head. "You have news? I don't even know who you are!"

The voice sighed for a moment and spoke again more quietly. "Who I am isn't important. I am here to rescue you"

"What?!?"

"Let's take a good look at your situation and you'll see why you need me. For starters, you work in the sales department and your department is not meeting the designated numbers, right?"

I slowly nodded.

"Well most corporations by this time have discovered ways to sort of "trim" the ranks without causing too much fuss and attention."

"Okay...." I said wondering where this was going.

"So..when the corporation decides to find a 'sacrificial lamb'they make contact with her and set up a 'meeting'. This way the avoid the termination papers, severance pay, etc

"Her?"

"That barista in the cafe."

I shook my head at this. "Okay, so they send me to a barista or they send her to me. Weird but so what?" I shrugged my shoulders, or at least I thought I did. I suddenly felt a little cramped.

"Did you notice her name?"

"I think it was Latte or something"

"Starting to feel a little cramped? That means she is got you and we don't have much time to get you out."

"What? Get me out of what?”

“Do you trust us?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“What we’re about to do has never been tried before. We are going to try matter transference to get you out of there before your whole consciousness disappears but we have to wait until she has completely wrapped you for storage.”

My eyes went wide……

The voice continued its explanation. “ That tea gave you has a strong sedative and a narcotic, giving you that euphoria you felt.

"Then she wraps you up for safe keeping for awhile, to keep you fresh. Unfortunately, this process does cause the victim to suffocate... slowly."

“Mmmmmmpppphhghhhhh!”

“Ooooh . Hang on…you're almost totally wrapped up. When she leaves, we’ll transport your body out.”

I tried to speak but found that could barely get a sound out. I suddenly felt vibrations below me as if I was on a hammock or a rope bridge or.…….a web?

“Mmmmmmpppphhghhhhh!Mmmmmmpppphhghhhhh!!”

Then, I remembered glancing at the sign before I even walked in but it just didn't register in my mind until now. It read

Lata's Parlor. Latrodectus. The black widow spider.

"Okay", the voice said again softly. "We're almost ready to transport now. You might feel a tingling sensation for a moment."

I screamed and screamed and screamed the muffled screams of a condemned man about to be taken to his doom. Then I did feel a slight tingling sensation across my chest. Could I be saved?

************

Epilogue

Morning shined down on the town as the businesses opened up for the day. The barista of Lata's Parlor was sitting at an outside tables, reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of tea. She sighed. "Just the right blend of despair and hope!"

The sign outside read

"Come into Lata's Parlor! I have just what you need!"