#TellTaleThursday: Vibrations

This is a new one for me. This was written for #TellTaleThursday with Anshu & Priya. It’s up to 250 words on the prompt “A secret place at your home.. you didn’t know about.”

Vibrations

Dan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself and turned it off.

“My apologies. Coffee shops are very popular right now, but they’re also everywhere. What makes yours different?”

“Another coffee shop, huh? You giving her the loan?”

“No. No. No, no, no, no, no. Do you know how fast coffee shops come and go? There’s no way she can compete with the 7 Starbucks or the 9 independent shops in this town.”

“That’s too bad. She seems like a nice lady.”

“There’s another strike against her. I don’t believe she has the killer instinct to compete. She’d be out of business before summer. We’d never see that money.”

In another part of the bank, a teller screamed and burst into tears. The line awaiting tellers turned into more of a conglomeration. Voices got louder. More people started crying.

“What the hell?” Dan hurried over to the deteriorating line. “Calm down, everybody. I’m Dan, the loan officer. What’s the problem?”

A woman held up her phone and, through her tears, said, “There’s been another school shooting.”

“Here. In town,” another added.

“What? Where?”

“Hamilton Junior High.”

Dan dug out his phone and turned it on. It vibrated out of his hand and fell to the floor. The phone kept vibrating and so did his hand. He picked it up and steadied himself enough to listen to the messages. He only made it through one.

Dan learned the hard way about the guns his son had hidden in his room.