I wrote this for someone on Fiverr last January, it’s a bit of a psych thriller story, let me know what you think, contact me if you would like a short story or any kind of writing done. Thanks!
The date has been circled on my calendar for months. 'Going to see family', blocked out a whole week, and even told my work when I made the plan.
"Okay, when does the latest ferry go out?" I ask Google, and it slowly finds results for the Port Jefferson ferry times and tickets.
"6:30, okay, that gives me 30 minutes,” I look at my watch as I jump up and throw a duffle bag on my bed, “okay, it’s only a week, and nothing fancy, sweatpants are fine for travel, right? They don’t care what I look like, I just need to be there.” I look in the mirror and sigh, my hair is halfway up in a bun, and I’m wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. I shrug as I make my way to the chest of drawers and start throwing together outfits, jeans, grey, black, khaki skinnies, 2 or 3 shirts for each pair of pants. It’s only a week, but I have to have options in case something comes up. I roll up my jeans in the bottom of the bag, and roll the shirts to pair with the jeans, I pick out two pairs of shoes, one that dresses up, and one pair of tennis shoes.
“Okay, that should be everything,” I check my watch now and see that it’s 6:15, “fifteen minutes, I can make it.” I turn off the lights and rush out the door. Luckily the ferry station is only a 10 minute cab ride from my apartment, I whistle and wave and a taxi stops.
“Port Jefferson, please.” The driver nods and plugs it in. We arrive in 10 minutes, and I pay the taxi fee before hurrying down the dock where a man is waiting for passengers.
“Ticket, please.” He says as I approach him, and I sigh.
“I’m sorry, I was so late with planning my trip that I forgot to buy the ticket, how much is it?” He sighs as he goes behind his kiosk, and types a few things into the computer.
“$20.” I pull out my card and hand it to him, he swipes it and hands it back along with a receipt.
“We will be leaving shortly, I hope you enjoy the trip.” I smile and nod at him as I walk past and onto the boat. People are already milling around, which is surprising because being so late in the day I didn’t think that many people would be trying to travel across the Sound. I find a quiet seat near the back end of the boat, and wait for the horn to sound for our departure. It’s been about a year since I’ve been home to see my family, and it’s this way every time, except this time I forgot to even call and apologize for my tardiness, I always forget the one week that gets planned out for family time, not during the holidays. The sun is setting and I lean back against the bench as I watch it slowly fade, and the horn sounds finally as the engines start rumbling and the propellers turn, pushing us through the water toward Connecticut. With the rocking of the boat and the sound of the water I notice that I forgot to use the restroom before getting on the ferry, so I stand and start looking around the ship.
“Excuse me, is there a restroom on board?” I ask a crew member, and she smiles as she points me in the right direction.
“Yes ma’am, toward the front of the ship, the ladies is on the right side.” I nod and smile as I make my way up toward the front of the ship. I find the door, step in and then lock it behind me. I set my duffle bag in the corner of the small room as I look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t even fix my hair before rushing out of the apartment. I reach my hand up and pull it back before letting it drop again, it’s useless to try and tame it now.
"You really think your family would want to see you like this? You're a mess." A voice says and I look around, but see no one is in the room with me.
"Who's there?" The voice laughs and I hear a knock on the door.
"Just a minute!" I call out and the person leaves.
"Now, let's have a look at you." The voice says again, and I turn to the mirror to see my reflection, but she's smiling at me.
"Perfect, come closer." She motions for me to lean closer to the mirror, and I take a step back.
"Who are you?" She gives me a small smile.
"That's not important, I just want to take your stress away, you're visiting family, you should be able to relax." I take a deep breath before stepping forward.
"How can you help me?" She smiles and motions again for me to step closer. I lean on the sink and put my face closer to the mirror, her smile grows bigger as her hands reach up toward my face. Her hands touch my face, and she pulls harshly, and I try to pull away.
"Now don't struggle, I'm trying to help you." She pulls harshly again, and I can feel myself falling.
"Good, let go." Everything goes black for a a second before the voice speaks again.
"Now let's see what we can do." I watch as she pulls my hair back in a bun, and changes my clothes.
"Wait, what's going on? You said you were going to help me." She laughs loud before packing up and taking my bag.
"I did, now you don't have to stress, and I get to take a trip to visit your family." I slam my fist against the mirror.
"No! Let me out!" She smiles as she unlocks the bathroom door.
"Thanks for the ride." She turns out the lights and leaves the room.