Please welcome my birthday guest - Terry Poole!
A Hauntingly Happy Birthday - Terry
Poole
Max stared morosely at his
monitor. It was time he admitted defeat. The words were simply not going to
come to him, his characters completely silent. Maybe they knew it was his
birthday, and had decided to give him a break. He really wished they hadn’t.
Birthday’s sucked, at least
for him. The only one worth remembering was the day Everett, his ex, brought
home Alfred…after the fact, and as an apology for forgetting.
Max extended his hand up to
the cat sleeping on his computer tower and gave Alfred a gentle loving stroke.
Alfred cracked an eye open, peered at Max, and began to purr as he closed his
eye again. Yeah, Alfred had the right idea.
Max was not about to tell Nick
what was really bothering him. The man had enough to deal with, what with being
a ghost trying to find his killer, than to worry about something as trivial as
Max’s birthday. Max also didn’t want Nick to feel pressured to get him a gift.
Well, that was a silly
thought. Just how in the heck would Nick buy him a gift? He was a ghost. And
what would he use to buy it with? The ‘Discover the Afterlife card’, or the
‘Masterwraith card’? Now he was just getting silly.
You are such an idiot, Max
chastised himself. It would be best he simply forgot what day it was.
Scowling at his monitor again,
Max blew out a frustrated huff of air.
“I heard that.” Nick came up
behind him, dropped his hands on Max’s shoulders and began to massage Max’s
tight muscles. “What’s the matter, baby?”
“Thank you, that feels fantastic.”
Max sighed, rolling his head on his neck. “I just can’t seem to get into the
zone today.”
Nick reached down, clasped
Max’s hand and pulled him to his feet.
“I know what your problem is.”
“You do?” Max starred at Nick.
Did he know? How?
“Yup. You need some fresh air.
Let’s go for a walk. Maybe get some of that fancy coffee for your Keurig
machine. That should get your juices flowing again.”
“Sure.” Max pasted on a smile
and tried to muster some enthusiasm for the idea.
As it turned out, Max enjoyed
himself tremendously. He and Nick ended up walking down to the farmer’s market.
Nick had him laughing so hard with his ghostly antics that Max suspected
several of the vendors thought Max belonged in a padded room. Nick managed to pull
Max out of his funk and make his day a whole lot brighter.
Back at the condo, Nick
stopped Max from opening the door after Max had unlocked it. Slowly, Nick drew
nearer and gave Max a soft sweet kiss that Max felt all the way down to his
toes. What did he care about birthdays anyway, when he had Nick to make his
life perfect?
“Don’t be afraid.” Nick warned
as he pushed the door open while hanging onto Max.
Max frowned at the odd
statement. It was a good thing Nick was behind Max holding him tightly when the
lights flashed on and Jackie, Kevin and Erik yelled ‘surprise’. Max clung to
Nick as Max’s heart threatened to beat right out of his chest.
“Happy Birthday Max!” Everyone
yelled while he stared in shock.
Balloons and streamers were
everywhere. A cake sat on the kitchen island with wrapped presents beside it.
On the back of the couch, Alfred stood on his hind legs, one paw on the wall
for balance, as he frantically tried to bring down a ribbon with the other paw.
Stunned, Max stared up at
Nick. “How?”
Nick smiled down at him. “You
let me use your tablet and there happens to be a calendar on it with today’s
date circled. It wasn’t hard to find out why. I know you haven’t had a lot of
good birthdays over the years but with a little help from friends…” Nick waved
his hand in Jackie, Kevin and Erik’s direction. “I wanted to make today special
for you. I definitely have a reason to celebrate the day you were born. Happy
Birthday sweetheart.”
Max flung his arms around Nick’s
neck and held him tight. Ghost or not, this wonderful, selfless man thought
more about Max having his first enjoyable birthday, than about his own
uncertain future.
Max thought he couldn’t love
Nick more – he was wrong.
Seeing is Believing
As the only witness to the murder of a police detective Max Cooke never
thought the dead detective’s ghost would appear at the foot of his bed two days
later. Not only does Max have to deal with the often ridiculous fallout of
being bonded to a ghost, he ends up falling in love with the dead man haunting
him.
Instead of wings and a harp Detective Nick Horvath ends up with a
writer of romance stories, a sweet lonely man who brings out all his protective
instincts.
When the murderer comes for looking for Max, Nick has to find a way to
stop him. But if Nick succeeds, he may be forced to leave the man he
loves. If he fails, Max could become the
killer’s next victim.
Nestled between the two massive lakes that bisect Manitoba,
Terry lives with her three fur children, her hubby, and her three human
children (this number varies depending on who is staying at home at any given
time). Her first book was created at five years of age, using stick figures
drawn on a roll of adding machine paper. When Terry isn't writing (which isn’t
often), she can be found crocheting, making handmade soap or hanging out on
Facebook. Terry’s number one complaint is that she has more stories in her head
than she will ever be able to get down on paper.
Visit with her at www.facebook.com/authorterrypoole/
I want to read more and I was just wondering is this a flash fiction short inspired by the longer story and is it part of a series?
ReplyDeleteGreat flash fiction and a wonderful birthday surprise for Max.
ReplyDeleteShirleyAnn(at)speakman40(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk