tess harkin. (fallacy) wrote in casefile, @ 2018-05-09 09:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: tess harkin, narration: narrative |
WHO: Tess Harkin
WHAT: An early morning run to get rid of a hangover.
WHEN: 6am-ish, on a weekday.
WHERE: Around Fall City
WARNINGS: Descriptions of a hangover.
The ground swam in front of her as her feet pounded the pavement. In, in, out, out. Her head still ached, hangovers seemed to hang around longer the older she got. Maybe it was the habit getting worse. She didn’t know. In, in, out, out. Toni jogged happily beside her, tongue out, keen eyes surveying the early morning activities around them. Tess hadn’t really thought about the Marches in years. She had read the book, only because her students asked her about it constantly. In, in, out, out. Bunch of bullshit if you asked her. Tabatha Heffer indeed. In, in, out, out. She remembered the party well, ok, she remembered the beginning of the party well. She had just turned twenty one and alcohol had played a big part in the night’s activities. Something had happened. The way something always happened to families. Tolstoy was right, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” In, in, out, out. The Marches had been like all the families with their own private unhappinesses behind closed doors. In, in, out, out. Her path meandered onto the grass of a lawn and Tess jerked, getting back onto the sidewalk. It was a murder, but it was murder in the way that George had been murdered, their marriage had been murdered. Tragedy had swooped in on its raven’s wings and interrupted everything. In, in, out, out. And not just the Marches, it had stained the town, everything. She’d had to leave. In, in, out, out. In a way it was because of the March fire that she had met George, because she’d left and so they met. He’d found it fascinating, the story. It was George who had wanted to move to Fall City after graduation. So Tess could be with her family while he was deployed. Maybe he’d sensed he was going to leave her behind for good. Figured the best place to do it was home. In, in, out, out. Tess stumbled on a rock, correcting herself quickly, but Toni barked nervously at her. Trust a depressed English teacher to pick out a socially anxious dog for her companion. In, in, out, out. She’d told Lincoln she wouldn’t drink during the week, if she did end up getting fired it was going to be because she showed up at the school hungover. They didn’t have enough staff to fire her for just not giving a shit, the Union would back her, she had to really screw things up. But like most of her promises, she’d broken it. Just one drink, she’d said last night. But one was nothing, two that wouldn’t affect her. So it was two, and then, and then.. In, in, out, out. Her stomach heaved, but she kept a rein on it. Running was the one bit of self-discipline she’d hung onto. The burn in her lungs was grounding. In, in, out, out. She closed her eyes, trying to control the pounding in her head. She felt like machine, up, down, up, down, legs pumping, the external factors didn’t matter, didn’t matter she felt like shit, it was just up, down, up, down. One foot than the other. In, in, out, out. Ántonia barked sharply and Tess’s eyes snapped open. She jumped, trying to make it over a chain strung across the path, but didn’t quite clear it. She went down hard, hands first, then knees eating the asphalt, fuck. “Fuck,” Tess cursed, rolling onto her back. Toni danced around her, whining. Tess groaned. She rolled over pushing up onto hands and knees with a wince, heaved, once, twice, kept it down. She wiped her face, it was a cold sweat, not from the exertion but the seesawing inside of her. Toni licked her arm then danced away. Tess stood, “Alright Toni, sorry baby, gotta cut this one short if I’m gonna not look like ground beef before first period.” She brushed off her hands with a wince, shook out her ankles and started a slow jog back home. |