I enjoy writing short stories and I thought I would share one here. It has nothing to do with the Witnesses, except for the fact that it would be considered evil in thought. I hope you enjoy it.
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THE EVENING GUEST
Henry had been driving down the interstate for over twelve hours and time and fatigue were beginning to take their toll. He decided to find an exit with a hotel and get some rest for the night and get started on his journey again the following day. It was not long, before a sign advertised a hotel a few exits away appeared and Henry began to count the exits until the proper one arrived. The hotel was easy to find, as it was right next to the airport and as far as Henry could tell, it looked like a rather large hotel of at least twenty stories or more. Perhaps the airport nearby or the casino?s in the area were the reason for such a large hotel. In any case, it would serve the purpose of getting some rest and getting on with his trip the following day.
It was late in the evening as Henry approached the lobby and as he entered the sudden brightness of the lobby lights kind of stumbled him a bit and he felt a little dazed at the chance to actually be able to see something other then the brake lights of cars in front of him. He looked around and found that the registration desk was only manned by one woman and the line was completely empty. Henry thought to himself, ?one of the advantages of checking into a place at this time of night.? The woman called him over and seemed very excited at finally having someone to talk too. Henry could only imagine the boredom of working a evening to morning shift, staring at the same walls over and over with no one to talk to. The woman?s name was Rosemary, according to her name tag, and Henry was happy to see that she was efficient in getting his information entered promptly and soon she was handing him his room key.
?Sir, you will be staying in room 1322 on the thirteenth floor, just take the elevator to the left and that will take you to your floor.? She then handed him his key, welcome information and receipt and thanked him for staying.
Henry collected his things and then paused for a second, looked at the information and turned back to Rosemary, ?did you say the thirteenth floor??
Rosemary was typing something into the computer at the time and looked up and responded, ?yes, room 1322 on the thirteenth floor. Is that okay??
Henry looked puzzled and then decided to speak up, ?I was just shocked that you actually have a thirteenth floor, I thought it was some hotel tradition to not number a floor thirteen and skip to fourteen or something. Not that I am some superstitious person or anything. It just kind of caught me off guard.?
Rosemary laughed and smiled, ?I have heard that before, I assure you though, whether we named it the fourteenth floor or the thirteenth floor, it would still be number thirteen. So I guess we just avoided the confusion and named it what it was.?
Henry thought, ?well that makes sense,? and proceeded to the elevator. The elevator was a little odd to, no music and nothing on the walls advertising some special or entertainment coming soon. Henry was beginning to think that the people who ran this hotel, sure seemed a little out of touch with how other people did things, and seemed to take chances that did not work with what most people felt was acceptable. Either way, at this moment all he wanted was some rest and lots of it.
The doors to the elevator opened and within a couple of seconds room 1322 was being opened and there was the thing Henry wanted more then anything, a bed. Henry was undressed and between the sheets faster then he could ever believe possible, if it wasn?t for the fact that he knew he was so tired. He turned off the lights and closed his eyes.
Laughter was heard in the hall, several children running down the hallway enjoying the hotel to the most. Henry woke to the startling noise and waited to see if would continue. It faded away into the distant hallway. Henry thought, ?I hope that does not go on all night,? and fell back to sleep in seconds.
Thump! Thump! Thump! As what sounded like dozens of people walking outside the door pushing something that was making all sorts of racket. Henry woke again, ?for God?s sake, what is happening out there some sort of party or something.? He got up and put on his pants and shirt and went to the door and looked outside, hoping to see someone he could give his thoughts too. To get them to shut up and remember it was late and people were trying to sleep. When he opened the door though, no one was there and the hall was as silent as the way it was when he arrived. Maybe it is over, he thought and he went back into bed.
?Screaming!? filled the air and this really woke Henry up in an unpleasant way. It was a woman saying something he could not make out and she seemed really angry with someone down the way. Henry had had enough and picked up the phone to call the main desk. Rosemary answered, ?Is everything okay sir?? Henry responded quickly, ?no it is not okay, you have children playing up here and people running all around screaming. It is late, and I need some sleep and I do not want to be woken like this again. You better get someone up here to take care of this or I am going to demand to speak to the manger in the morning to give him a piece of my mind on how this place is run.? Rosemary was very calming in her response and assured Henry that this would be taken care of immediately and that because they were a family hotel, children are often playing late into the night. She said that the guest involved would be reminded of hotel policy of silence after ten. Henry stated angrily, ?it better be, this is outrageous,? and hung up the phone.
Henry fell to sleep and soon more noises, then what sounded like whispers and other annoying things that kept him awake. He covered his ears in a pillow and tried as best as possible to get some sleep, and to his surprise he did end up making it into the dream world he so desperately wanting.
Soon morning arrived and Henry woke and prepared to get on his way, very upset with the nights events he decided to do as he warned Rosemary and ask to speak to the manager. He headed to the door and found two large bags of mail. Henry was now really irritated, ?what kind of place is this?? they leave mail in my room in the middle of the night, and allow people to run down the hall making noise into the evening, I can not believe this. He grabbed the two mail bags and carried them to the elevator. On the way he laugh at the empty halls, ?of course, now there is no one out here.? The elevator closed and he noticed that during the night someone had put up the advertising signs he can come to expect. Seemed to be a breakfast buffet worth noting on floor two, but right now it was all about the bad service. The elevator arrived at the lobby floor and Henry stomped through the now guest filled lobby to the counter.
The woman behind the counter looked a little shocked to see a man carrying what looked like two bags of mail filled to the point that letters were sticking out. The woman spoke first, hoping to figure this out, ?Are you okay sir?? Henry was very hot with anger at this point, ?No, not in the least. I got here late last night with one hope, to get some rest. I checked in and Rosemary your night service rep helped me check in. I went to my room and got to bed, only to be woken up many times in the night by children, people running down the hall and even arguments in the other rooms. This went on all night, even after Rosemary assured me this with would be taken care of. Then ? ? holding up one of the mail bags, ? ? I woke to find the hotel?s mail in my room. Is this normal business practices of yours to torment your guest.?
The woman was extremely embarrassed looking and was very apologetic, ?Sir, I have never heard of such a thing and I am so sorry. I want to make this right though and give you a refund for all your expenses and a free breakfast. This is something I have never heard of happening and I will do my best to get to the bottom of this. Can I get your name and room number??
Henry was feeling a little better, having vented out the problem, he calmly stated, ?my name is Henry Maddox and my room is 1322.? The woman asked him to repeat it again, and Henry did. She then stiffened up a bit, as if she was upset with something he said, ?Sir, we do not have a room 1322 and do not even have a 13 room number combination. Our floors do not include a thirteen because we skip from the twelfth floor to the fourteenth.? Henry was a little caught off guard with this, ?but Rosemary said you did not do that here, when I asked and I was assigned room numbered 1322. This is really starting to get me upset and I would really like to speak to the manager.? The woman directed Henry into a back office and helped him carry one of the bags of mail, the office was private only had two couches for waiting and a table. The woman asked Henry to sit and stated that she was getting the manager.
Henry set down and waited, thinking of how ridicules it was to be in this kind of mess, when all he wanted was to get some sleep and get back on his way by morning. With such bad service though, there was no way he was going to just check out without saying something to the manager. He set there with the mail bags and waited patiently, he looked into the mail and saw that they were all addressed with the return address of the hotel. ?Great!? They want me to mail out their bills and advertising. He then grabbed one of the envelopes that looked to be open and addressed to ?Mom and Dad? in some place in North Carolina. He looked at the letter and began to read and went silent.
Down the hall the woman from the counter had reached the managers office. The managers name was Paul Wagner and he was busy getting some internal processes complete. The woman interrupted his work and spoke, ?Mr. Wagner, we have a problem I need your help on. ? Paul always welcomed feedback from employees, but it always seemed like the main feedback always involved a customer complaint, but that was the job he had and he accepted it. Paul looked up from his work and spoke up, ?what is happening?? The woman looked very nervous and uneasy, ?We have a guest in the lobby who claims he stayed here last night and that he had problems with noise and people running around.? Paul thought, ?well this is a hotel.? and then asked the woman to continue. The woman continued to explain, ?well, he states that he came in and got assigned to a room we do not have and that it was on the thirteenth floor.? Paul laughed, ?sounds like someone is pulling your leg.? The woman was not laughing, ?well that is were it gets weird, he said that the woman who helped him was named Rosemary, and this morning he found bags of mail in his room that was just left there.? Paul went silent, paused for minute and then spoke again, ?What is this man?s name?? The woman cleared her throat and stated, ?He stated his name was Henry Maddox,? she paused and spoke again, ?Sir, the only Rosemary that every worked here was ? ? Paul interrupted and stated, ?I know, give me a minute I will speak to him. Just wait outside? The woman then left the room.
Paul turned to his wall where there was a large article framed, the title was
Plane crashes into hotel
United Flight 1322 crashed last night on take off, while on route to Fayetteville, North Carolina. All passengers and crew members on board were killed instantly and two people in the hotel were killed as well. Investigators feel that the weather no doubt played a factor, and the hotel will be closed due to damage. The plan struck the lobby floor directly and incinerated all those inside. The hotel was able to rescue those guest left inside on other flloor, but lost one their own, a Ms Rosemary Rodriguez and a guest who was just entering the lobby when the plane struck, a Henry Maddox. Believed to be on a business trip and stopping for the night.
Below the article was another titled
Hotel reopens, after tragedy
Only three years early this hotel was thought to be slated for demolition, after United Flight 1322 struck it?s lobby floor, killing 125 people on the plane, a employee and guest. But today, after three years of work and repair, it stands ready to open it?s doors again and look to a future were it?s staff and guest will always have a standing memorial to visit a tragedy that took so many lives, years earlier.
Paul walked outside and met his employee, ?take me to Mr. Maddox.? She then walked to the room and found the two mail bags and nothing else. Paul turned to the woman, ?where did he go?? The woman seemed puzzled, ?I don?t know, he was here just here a second ago.? Paul then walked over to the table and found a envelope and picked it up. The return address was the hotels, but the name read Henry Maddox, and the address for delivery was made out to ?My wife and son? and addressed to somewhere in Chicago. Paul looked into the other mail bags and saw this repeated time after time, the hotels address on the return address and different names titled for the location. They read addresses like, ?Mom?, ?My Wife?, ?My dear daughter?, ?My love? and then addresses that seemed to be ready for postal delivery. Paul grabbed one and saw that none were sealed and opened the letter inside, and began to read to himself
Dear Mom,
I know it was been many years and you did not expect this letter, but there is some much I did not say to you that needed to be said. First, I am not alive and I can not explain how this message is getting to you. Just know that I love you very much and need to tell you some things that are very personal ?.
Paul stopped reading and set there feeling numb and closed the letter and placed it back into the bag. The woman was still standing there and noticed something, ?sir, there is something here on the table.? Paul grabbed it, it was a comment card, something they asked guest to fill out when they leave to say what they thought of the hotels service. The card was complete and read ?
?It took awhile for me to figure this out, and I hope you do not mind a final request of your hotel?s wonderful service, which is to make sure the mail is delivered. If you do this for us, we will gladly give your hotel the five star rating it desires, from this side to the next. Signed Henry Maddox.?
Paul had a tear form in his eye for a second and the woman asked, ?Is everything okay? Can I get you something?? Paul kind of felt a sudden chuckle that complimented his sadness only a seconds earlier and looked up to the woman, ?Yes, get me as many stamps as you can find , right away. I have something to mail.?