Greetings fellow Steemians! Here is my fifth 5 minute freewrite. The prompt was "wasps"

This piece is a continuation of yesterday's freewrite. Find Part I here: @bennettitalia/freewrite-129-fingernail

Freewriting is a daily practice for most poets and fiction writers, designed to loosen up and get things flowing, like stretching before exercise. Visual artists, especially those who draw or paint from life (figures, landscapes, still lives, etc) do something similar in "gesture drawings". After reading several of @poetrybyjeremy's freewrite posts, I got excited to try these again. Many thanks to @mariannewest for hosting this daily freewrite! @mariannewest/day-130-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-wasps

https://pixabay.com/en/medium-psychic-female-fantasy-woman-goth-1726601/

The Strangeling (Part II)

Satisfied that his speech had provoked the desired reaction, the Handler stalked back around to his desk chair and threw himself into it, favoring me with a rare grin. He was capable of doling out the charm on special occasions, but this was no fundraiser. He had to be sweating bullets. The grin hit me harder than the speech did.

"I know you'll do the right thing", he said, scratching idly at a spot just above his collarbone. I resisted an urge to raise my hand to the implant at the base of my neck. He was doing it on purpose, reminding me.

"Take a few of the wasps with you", he said. "You'll feel safer".

That got a laugh out of me. A short, raspy, sad excuse for a laugh, like the sound of a match being struck, not to light candles on a cake, but to burn down a building. "Feel safer", I said. "Because I won't actually be safer."

It wasn't a question, but he answered it anyway. Without the grin, he looked tired, and not the kind of tired that a nap would fix.

"No", he said, "you won't. But take them anyway".

He slid a small, metallic plastic card, bearing the company logo, in my direction and turned to stare fixedly at the bank of screens on his desk.

I picked it up and shook my head at it. "Am I taking them, or are they taking me?" I asked.

He gave me a warning look.

"Let's say you're taking each other".

©2018 Bennett Italia