Excerpt
The Fifth Floor
A Paranormal Short Story
Coming February 3, 2017
“Is this your first night?” The
old man stood up from his seat. Where he’d been sitting, he could barely see—or
be seen—over the counter in front of the desk. He walked around the counter
toward Jeremy.
“Yes, it is.” Jeremy
fidgeted with the buttons on his jacket. “I suppose it’s obvious. Isn’t it?” Pressing
his lips into a grin, he tried to smile. “Actually, I’ve never done anything
like this before.”
The old man paused, as
though sizing Jeremy up, and then patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”
He went back behind the counter and retrieved his metal lunch pail.
“By the way, my name is
Jeremy Brogan.” Jeremy reached over the counter, offering his hand.
The old man grasped Jeremy’s
hand and gave it a firm shake. “Jake Edwards.”
“Say, do you mind me asking
how long you’ve been working here?”
“It’ll be forty-two years,
next month.”
Jeremy’s brows rose sharply.
“Forty-two years?”
“Yep.” Jake nodded. “And not
once did I miss a day of work.”
Jeremy rested his elbows on
the counter. “That’s incredible.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” Jake
shrugged. “Never really thought about it.” He slid his hand over the smooth,
worn surface of the counter, as he walked back around to the front. “I can
honestly say, I’m going to miss it.”
“Really?”
“I’m retiring next week.” His
brow furrowed, his gaze growing distant. “I’ll tell ya, I’ve been looking
forward to this my whole life. Waiting and dreaming about what I’d do when the
day came. But now that it’s here…It’s going to feel strange, not coming in here
every night.” He shook his head and sighed.
“But, I guess it’s not the
end of the world.” Jake grinned. “Tell ya what—” he patted Jeremy on the chest
with the back of his hand “—I’ll come back and visit ya. How does that sound?”
He stepped to the middle of the hall. “So, have they shown ya everything?”
“Yep. Keep an eye on the
security monitors, and once an hour walk the upper floors. I have my
walkie-talkie, in case I need to communicate with the main security room
downstairs. If a situation does arise, I don’t think I can handle alone, call
for additional security.” Jeremy laughed self-consciously. “God, that sounded like
I memorized the security manual, didn’t it?”
Jake peered at him over his
glasses. “I take it you think you look like a fool, right about now?”
Jeremy smiled. “Pretty
much.”
“Hey, it’s the fool that
doesn’t prepare. Especially in a job like this.”
“I guess I’m a little
nervous.” Jeremy tugged at his collar. “This is the first real job I’ve had.”
“I haven’t met a night
watchmen yet, who wasn’t nervous his first night.” Jake smirked. “Well, the
good ones, that is.”
“Thanks, I needed to hear
that.”
“Don’t thank me.” Jake held
up his palm. “When it comes down to it, it will be you and the night.”
