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A Nice Run, by Paul A. Freeman

19/1/2024

 
I have permission to go out, running. As always there are rules. I wear a high-visibility vest, so he can watch me from upstairs, and a baseball cap hides my face. I’ve been dieting, lifting weights. Now I’m running, transforming myself because of the other, younger, woman.

Am I jealous of her? Of course.

After my run, he allows me to use his en suite bathroom, then escorts me back to my personal space in the basement.

The younger woman is in the cage beside mine.

Snivelling, she says: “Why didn’t you escape?”

“You’d like that,” I sneer, “wouldn’t you?”
Sivan Pillai
19/1/2024 12:27:41 pm

Jealousy seems to have no bounds, Paul.

John O’Keefe
19/1/2024 01:18:44 pm

Surprise turn at the end.

Mary K. Curran
19/1/2024 02:00:00 pm

Creepy! I'll try to get that visual out of my head with a second cup of coffee...

Elizabeth Zahn
19/1/2024 03:30:49 pm

Yikes! I had to read it three times..... I mean that in a good way... to let it sink in. To see how you did that. Well done.

Christa Loughrey
19/1/2024 03:35:12 pm

A truly disturbing story. Can jealousy be that strong, I wonder?

Krystyna
19/1/2024 04:13:21 pm

Good on you, Paul, for getting me a tad confused. Human-animal creatures invented in a basement lab?

Paul Freeman
20/1/2024 01:30:54 am

Apologies for spoiling some folks' Friday. I watched the classic film 'Room' and recalled some incidences (mostly in America) of women kept in captivity who become so dependent on and conditioned by their captor that they are 'allowed out' to a park or a shop or somewhere else nearby, but still return to their basement prison.

Sandra James
20/1/2024 09:03:45 am

Very creepy but well done, Paul. And, sadly, true of some who are mistreated but return for more.

david milner
20/1/2024 10:04:54 am

The prison becomes a home.

Paritosh Chandra Dugar
20/1/2024 01:10:36 pm

Liked the ending, the twist in it. Well done, Paul.

Cheryl Dahlstrand
20/1/2024 06:53:45 pm

Unexpectedly humorous ending - jealousy transcends cage space!

Sue Clayton
21/1/2024 12:28:36 am

He must be one hell of a hottie jailer.

Tom Baldwin
21/1/2024 04:02:51 am

That made me shiver, Paul.

Robert P. Bishop
23/1/2024 02:46:49 pm

Whoa, way too scary! Made me reach for the single malt. Good story, Paul.

Jim Bartlett link
24/1/2024 05:56:22 pm

I kept coming back to this story, Paul, trying to figure out what to say. I finally realized that I have no words - yours say it all.
Scary and well done.
Jim

Paul Freeman
24/1/2024 07:59:05 pm

Thanks, Jim. I didn't realise how disturbing the story was until the comments started coming in.


Comments are closed.

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