"Pay Attention"

Genre:	Rational Horror
Length:	Novella
Summary:	Listen!  This is important:  you need to pay attention.  You can keep your mind as long as you pay attention. Don't touch the ouija board again.  Make sure you set your timer every two minutes.  Don't get distracted.   Don't let your thoughts wander. And whatever you do...  Pay Attention!

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Saturday, May 12, 2018

In the morning, Jon drove out to his parents’ house in Leominster; his parents were getting on, so he tried to go over at least once a month to help out. Today was a gardening day; he watered the roses, helped weed the vegetable garden, and mowed the lawn.

It went poorly.

On the way home after dinner he forgot to check his mirrors before changing lanes and nearly sideswiped a passing car. Then he did it again. The third time it happened, he pulled over and called Addy for a ride; Addy dragged Frank off the couch and had him ride along so that he could drive Jon’s car home while Jon rode with her. Jon apologized to both of them for his sudden inability to pay attention to his driving; Addy got very quiet and thoughtful.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Sunday was games day; as usual, the friends gathered at Jack, Richard, and Nivas’s apartment for board games and snacks. Seven being too many for most games, they split into two groups to play Settlers of Cataan and bridge. Frank, usually the resident card shark, couldn’t seem to keep his mind on the game; he overbid trick after trick, forgot where the enemy trumps were, and went under time after time. No one else was doing any better—the people playing Settlers were so inattentive that the game went on for three full turns before anyone noticed that Nivas had already won.
Addy got quieter and quieter as the day went on.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Monday was the first day of Addy’s new internship, and the worst day of her life.

She wasn’t expected to be there until 8am, but when she asked she’d been told that most of the junior partners actually came in at 6am. She was determined that she would be waiting at the door when the first person showed up, so she carefully went to bed early and set her alarm for 5am. Excited and nervous, she tossed and turned all night, not falling asleep until almost midnight; when she woke up at 8am she was horrified to find that she’d set her alarm for 5pm instead of 5am. Eighteen incredibly stressful minutes later she was showered, dressed, and cursing at the slow-moving traffic.

Her tardiness did not make a good first impression; she was told that they had intended to have her help with research on one of the simpler briefs but, since she apparently lacked responsibility, she could spend the day helping the file clerks.

The third time she realized that she’d misfiled something, she knew. It was no longer a suspicion, it was a certainty: something was doing this to her, and she needed to fight back.