1A Chapter by JenJenChad walked into the museum at exactly 4:30�"15 minutes late. “She should be waiting,” he thought in slight panic. He text her during the stop and go traffic on 275 but she never responded. The museum was alive in the day’s last light which reflected off the shiny white floors and the glass windows�"he thought he had been here before, but now he doubted it. The glass ceiling reminded Chad of a green house, incubating and preserving life. Chad wondered if Mariah wore sunscreen to work. Behind the semi-circular desk in front of him (which was also white) was a cluster of round tables, each adorned with a smooth, pale yellow table cloth�"he thought his mom might call them whipped butter or something equally frilly�"and white flowers in a ceramic vase. The glass wall behind the tables separated diners from the pier only because it kept the hot Florida air out, but otherwise, it looked like a beautiful patio.
Chad realized he must look ridiculous just standing there staring, but he didn’t see anyone around�"not even at the front desk. He stepped in a little further, peeking down the corridor which, according to the signs, lead to the bathrooms, and then the corridors that led to the exhibits. These were behind the desk and Chad felt awkward just barging in like this. A group of people in tailored suits and nice shoes walked by behind him and the phone rang at the front desk. He felt almost like he should answer it, but when he walked up to it Mariah finally showed up.
“Chad! I’m so sorry! How long have you been waiting? Where’s Dolores? My God, things are so insane around here! Make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right there,” she said all of this without stopping her power walk through the foyer, and as she turned the corner towards the bathrooms she shouted, “you can see the exhibits!” Her heels echoed even after he heard a door close. “Well,” Chad thought with a sigh, “good thing I was late.” He understood the delay, though�"tomorrow they opened a new exhibit and Mariah was in charge of arrangements for the party. She didn’t tell him what the exhibit was, but he was excited to see her work.
Unsure of what to do, he decided to take Mariah up on wandering through the museum. He picked up a brochure from the unmanned desk hoping they still had the African mask exhibit he saw on a billboard some time ago. He was in luck�"they were down the second corridor on the left. He put the brochure back so he’d have an excuse to get Mariah to show him around later.
The masks sat in clear glass cases with little white labels, each numbered for the audio tour. Chad never bought those things, but maybe he was missing out�"it’s not like he would know without ever having tried it. A lot of work went into these things that he never considered before he started dating Mariah; honestly he didn’t consider much about behind the scenes museum stuff period. [stuff about the masks, blah blah blah…] A little kid pressed her face against the glass and made faces at Chad. She giggled into the glass, leaving drool marks across it. Where were her parents? He looked around but no one was in the room.
“Hi sweetie. Do you know where your parents are?” She craned her neck to look up at him with her wide, surprised eyes. She looked about four or five, with large brown eyes and two big ponytails. The tiny hairs around her face frizzed a little from running around and playing. She was a cute, happy kid. “Are you here with your parents?” She looked towards the foyer, then back at Chad, and finally ran away laughing. Chad took a few steps to follow her but he heard talking and figured she found her way back. [needs more to assure him that she found her family]
He took his time through the exhibit hoping that Mariah would come, but he got a little anxious and found himself back in the foyer at 5:15 (the museum closed at 5:30). Everything was still. Chad felt like a kid roaming his school’s empty corridors. “Interesting thought for a teacher,” he smiled to himself. He decided to go to the first hallway in front of the desk�"the one Mariah disappeared into earlier. He passed the bathrooms and water fountain, turned a corner, and, standing in the shadows of the orange and purple sunset, he stared at the two doors in front of him. They didn’t look like they led to exhibits, and he knew Mariah went in this general direction, but where exactly had she gone? He chose the one closest to him because, from what he could see, the lights were on, and he didn’t want to invite any creepy corridor s**t. He opened the heavy door and a wall of cold air flooded him, making him shiver from cold and surprise. The door softly closed itself behind him with a tiny, echoing click.
Doors lined the hall diagonally from each other so you couldn’t see into any room while standing in another�"though that didn’t matter with all the doors closed. They all had numbers instead of names, so eventually he quickened his pace and focused on the end of the hall, which might have another door, rather than the numbers on the closed doors. He passed a room with the door opened but didn’t really notice it until he heard a rapid clicking sound further down the hall. He turned around�"maybe someone in there would know where to find Mariah. He could tell there were people sitting on folding chairs inside, but it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He realized a projector was in the middle of the room, clicking in the same way that caught his attention. It was playing home movies; a really smiley kid ran through the leaves with his toy vacuum and the camera shook with the holder’s laughter. He didn’t want to interrupt so he turned to leave when his heart sunk�"everyone in the room was craning their neck to watch Chad. He heard his mom talking�"she was the one holding the camera and he was the one playing in the leaves. Smiley baby Chad kicked them up and fell into a pile while his young mother held the camera. His eyes darted from the deathly still, wide-eyed audience�"each person still staring at him�"and himself on the screen.
He tried to look more closely at the people but he couldn’t stare for long. Baby Chad laughed in the leaves and reached up to touch at the nothingness in the air around him, holding it tight like a balloon string. He looked back at the audience�"they were smiling. He stumbled backwards to leave the room but hit something with his thigh. He reluctantly turned his gaze from the scene in front of him to the closed casket that blocked the door. It popped open and something dead overwhelmed him until he felt a limp, heavy arm rest its hand on his shoulder. He heard his own shock travel down his spine like a seashell when you hold it to your ear.
“Chad? Are you okay?” Mariah asked.
“Yeah, just lost,” he said in a voice so calm it surprised him. He turned around slowly, still expecting all the people to be there, but they were all gone and the projector clicked a white light onto the screen.
“Thank you for waiting,” she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek, “now let’s get out of here before I’m forced to break into my chocolate stash!” © 2013 JenJenFeatured Review
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2 Reviews  Last Updated on February 17, 2013 Author
JenJenAboutI love horror movies, Nietzsche, spinach, my dog Hannibal and Bill Cosby. Life is really good! I used to work as a writing consultant and it was tha best job eva! So if you have something you need .. more..Writing
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