Don't Make a Sound

 

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Prologue

           Dirty, wounded, and tired, Eddie slowly scanned the rubble around him. Squinting hard through the smoke, thick and dark from the constant fires, he spied something familiar.

Limping slowly towards his goal, pieces of cars, buildings, and other objects he dared not scrutinize were crunching underfoot.

 

Stopping in front of a pile of rocks and debris, he spotted the horrifically ugly, green nail polish his wife, Eli, wore often. Bending down, he reached for the lonely big toe that was sporting that awful color.

 

Smiling, he gently wrapped it in the last clean tissue he had and made his slow trek back to his camp.

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Chapter One: Eli & Eddie

Eli Ryan blew her bangs away from her forehead in one long slow breath. The day was hotter than she expected, and her husband Eddie refuses to turn on the air conditioner unless the house thermometer registers 80 degrees or higher. Normally, not a big deal, but add on the delightful humidity that hits Ohio in the summer, 80 degrees feels like a 110 degree sauna.

“The people are coming for the party soon,” she muttered to herself, “I should at least make sure they don’t turn into a flesh colored puddle on the floor.”

She pulled her long brown hair off her neck and put it into a messy, completely non-elegant ponytail, and walked into the master bedroom. She turned on the air conditioner and began to close the windows in anticipation of the delicious cold air to come.

She put on her black Rocket Dog flip flops,looked at her feet, and grinned wickedly at the sight of her toenail polish. It was a sick-looking, shiny green color. Eddie winced every time she put it on, and said it looked like she had a severe, moldy toe fungus. It was her favorite color.

She peeled off her sweaty tank top and pajama bottoms and put on her favorite “Trust Me, I’m a Jedi” green Yoda shirt, and denim shorts. She looked in the full length mirror in the bathroom and smiled again at the toenail polish, which by accident totally matched her shirt.

Eddie came barreling into the room, sweaty, dirty, and a little stinky from working outdoors: “Geez, I wish my wife would let me turn on the air conditioner when it gets hot outside.”

Eli ran over to her manly bear of a husband, smacked his butt, and raised her head up for a kiss. The nine inch height difference between them was very sexy to her, and she always felt safe in Eddie’s strong arms. He also made her feel petite, which was a plus, since she gained 20 pounds in the last few years from marital bliss, popcorn, Jalapeno Cheetos, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

“Yep, your wife sure is a bitch,” she said, smiling, “Now please go shower, you know how it drives me batshit crazy when you decide to get in the shower fifty seconds before the guests are supposed to arrive.” Seriously, it was annoying.

“Yes, my dear Eliza,” he said slumping his shoulders, and walked slowly and dejectedly to the bathroom, “I sure wish my wife wasn’t so mean to me.” Looking over his shoulder, he smiled sweetly at her. He, with the squinty hazel eyes, glasses sliding off his nose, and dark-blonde hair sticking straight up like a rooster, became more handsome to her every day.

She smiled back while rolling her eyes. As handsome as she thought he was, he routinely drove her nuts. His timeline and hers rarely ever met. Their friends and family joke about them being on EST - Eddie Standard Time. They all knew to eat dinner before coming to their house for dinner. If Eddie said the party was at 7PM, it was a sure bet the burgers wouldn’t make it to the grill until at least 9PM. In his defense, Eddie liked to drink his beer, mingle and chat, show off their house, and chat some more. Luckily, their friends liked coming over, and Eddie was a really good cook.

Hearing the shower start, Eli walked into the kitchen to set out the chips, dips, vegetable tray, desserts, and plates. Suddenly the doorbell, which played the Star Wars “Imperial March” went off, and she groaned. Someone was early. They must not want to eat for a long time.

Putting a smile on her face, she went to the door to welcome not one but four guests already there for the party. While Eli loved their friends, she never knew how many people were ever showing up to a party. The crew was awesome but they were terrible at RSVPing. Eddie told Eli earlier in the week he just wanted a small gathering of people, which suited her just fine. Then she noticed the email he had sent out went to over forty people. Small gathering, my ass.

Thankfully, every single guest, and there were twenty-two of them, brought food, which was a good thing. Eddie was about four beers in by the time he put meat on the grill, which was about two hours after the party started. Eli was so hungry she thought her stomach was going to eat itself. Sticking to her never-ending diet wasn’t going to be easy tonight; Sarah brought lemon brownies. Eli loved lemon brownies.

 

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Chapter 2: The party

Eli ate about four lemon brownies, along with something of everything on the buffet table. Sitting down with Eddie at the picnic table, Eli groaned as her shorts dug into her stomach. There were about three hundred sit ups in her future.

Most of the friends at the party were Eddie’s. When Eli and Eddie met, they lived an hour apart. Eli moved to Eddie’s area and his friends became her friends. She and Jessica were college friends, however,and after twenty years are still very close. Jessica was fun, boisterous, friendly, and energetic. Her blond hair has been down to the middle of her back as long as Eliza had known her, and her sense of style was marvelous.

Eli was comfortable in a pair of shorts and a movie t-shirt. Throw in her flip flops and there was her outfit for almost every day. Jessica, on the other hand, knew exactly what to add to her ensemble to make her look chic. Tonight, her long blond hair was pulled into a French braid, her tank top was red with white ruffles, and her denim skirt hit mid-thigh. She looked every bit like a country farm girl, until you notice she’s wearing lime-green stilettos that almost matched Eli’s Yoda shirt. 

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Chapter 3: Friends

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