I was doing a few writing exercises in December. This story came from an exercise to write the same scene from three different points of view. This story uses bits from all three of those exercises. What do you think? Is this a possible novel?

Clarise loved getting together with her old high school friends. They toasted, even though strawberry margarita was her least favorite drink. Ariel’s eyes roamed the scene behind her and Bectie was lost in thought. What’s going on?

A dark haired sun-glassed man attacked the table. The restaurant glass shattered. Ariel dove to the left and came up with a Glock, shooting. People around them dove for cover, screaming.

Her best friend, Bectie, was hit in the chest. She saw surprise cover Bectie’s face, then, to Clarise’s amazement; peace came over her just before she toppled over to her right.

Clarise dove for cover, shock curling her into a ball. The table was knocked over, covering her from the onslaught. A tear trickled down her cheek.

Arms over her head, she felt a tap on her arm. She uncurled.

“Are you alright?” Ariel asked her, Glock at the ready.

“Yes.” She unfolded from her fetal position. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Ariel helped Clarise up and they checked Bectie. Clarise gently turned her friend over, tears falling down her cheeks. The body relaxed into a flat shape. She checked Bectie’s breathing. “She’s breathing!”

Ariel leapt forward, ear to Bectie’s chest. “Yes!” she rejoiced. She tapped her ear. “Medic required, this location, ASAP!”

Clarise punched her high school friend in the arm. Ariel fell over to her left and in less than a second was crouched in an attack position. Clarise recoiled.

Ariel backed up, still on her heels. She glared at her friend. “Don’t do that ever again.”

Clarise raised her hands. “Don’t do that to me again. Friends don’t do that to friends. Who was that?”

Ariel stood up. The whop, whop, whop of helicopters sounded in the distance. “I can’t tell you.”

“Take me with you.” Clarise stood up. “That’s the least you can do.”

Ariel checked all points of the compass. “Yeah, come with.”

#

They stood over the emergency room gurney as Bectie woke up. She opened her eyes and croaked, “I should be dead. You both need to explain.”

Ariel walked over and shut the door to the hospital room. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

Bectic hitched herself up in the hospital bed, carefully avoiding pulling the IV tubes attached to her arms. Each time the EKG monitor began to accelerate, she stopped and took calming breathes. The monitor resumed its steady beat. She glared. “Out with it. What’s going on?”

Clarise stared at Ariel who glared back at Clarise. Clarise gave out first. “Yeah, I have a… gift.”

Ariel lifted an eyebrow. Bectie’s jaw dropped.

“What do you mean?” Bectie asked. Visions of her friend testifying on the stand in court raced through her mind.

A vision of Bectie’s yacht and husband going over the side flooded Clarise’s mind. She shook off the vision. “I see things, important things, National Security things.” She sighed. No one ever believed her, even her boss and handler. He called her a voyeur.  “It helps people,” she finished with a sigh.

Ariel nodded. “Good. I can use that.”

Bectie and Clarise turned their heads to stare.

“Yeah, you heard me right. There’s an alien attacking Earth. I need all the help I can get. If it’s my old high school friends, all the better.” Ariel shot the magazine of her Glock and tucked it into the holster on her thin leather belt. “You are both now agents of the International Protectorate of Earth.”

Bectie sighed. “Well, you may not want me.” The guilt of her actions against her husband and his lover were wearing on her conscience. “Um, well, I’ve done something.”

Ariel snorted. “Serves him right.”

Bectie stared, eyes a goggle. “You know?”

“Know what?” Clarise asked, unwilling to accept her vision. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Ariel said. “Its need to know. What you do need to know now is that an alien attack force is massed off of the coast of Copertino, California. The Pacific Ocean is big, but we can still track a force that size.”

“But that’s right off of our coast!” Clarise exclaimed. She closed her eyes, squinting them together. “They’re coming ashore!” She opened her eyes wide, in surprise. “A lot of them, machines,” she stared off at the far wall of the room. “They want our water.”

“What else?” Ariel yelled. “What else are they doing?”

Clarise took a breath, closed her eyes. “They’re setting up machines, under the ocean. Um,” she shook her head. “Um, they’re…” she shook her head, “I can’t tell. It’s a lot of machines.”

Ariel pulled a cell phone from her jacket pocket. She hit a few keys and paused. “Boss. They want water. They’re setting up machines off shore of Copertino.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I have a source. I’ll let you know.”

Ariel shut the phone and tucked it into her pocket. “The aliens are attacking the land based communities. We need to move.”

“But,” Clarise looked at her friend in bed. “What about Bectie?”

Ariel shook her head. “She’ll be fine here.”

Bectie reached for Clarise’s hand. Clarise took it, clasping it to her. “It will be fine, Clarise. Go with Ariel. She’s going to save us all!”

“But…”

“No buts,” Bectie said. She remembered the sound of her husband going overboard, his slut screaming. “It’s for the best.” She smiled. “This is what you two were made for.” Bectie encouraged them. “Friend to friend.” She looked at Ariel who knew what had happened. “For the greater good.”

Clarise, taken back to their high school years, heard the words. Back then they meant that the trio, outcasts from the popular girls, would persevere over those girls. She didn’t think it meant that now. “For the Greater Good.” She clasped Bectie’s hand and kissed it. “Are you sure you’ll be alright here?”

Bectie smiled at the pair. “Sure. Who wouldn’t be fine with you two in charge?”

The End

989 Words

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