Free ODDILY by Linda Pohring Page A

but I must request that you come back inside with me for a moment.
    Maxim hesitated.
    “ Sir, it won’t take long.” The employee explained the situation and apparently, Oddily had manhandled another cake, and they wanted to be reimbursed.
    Maxim leaned into the car. “I’ll return in a minute.”
    Oddily waited in the car all the while stuffing her mouth with cake. Her fingers got gooier by the minute, so she opened the glove compartment to find a napkin. Glasses, just like the ones she found in her sweater pocket during history class were resting on the top of papers and other miscellaneous items. She took them out and found them to be a replica of her own.
    “ This game is getting better all the time,” she giggled.
    What’s keeping Maxim? She wondered after a while. She began to reflect on his unhappiness over the cake incident. In fact, his flawlessly handsome face appeared rather pale. Maybe something else happened to cause his change in mood.
    Oddily started to brood over the endless possibilities of what bothered him, and sadness in her heart returned upon her conclusion. She was the reason.
    “ This isn’t fun anymore,” she mumbled to herself, wanting to end the game. Either someone had to enter her bedroom and remove the glasses from her eyes, or she needed to die as she did with the giant dog. At this point, the second choice seemed more feasible.

 
     
     
     
    13
     
    Maxim returned to the car with another cake. He placed the box in the trunk, and then started to climb into the driver’s seat, but stopped to glance around.
    “ Oddily, where are you?” After searching the premises, inside and out, Maxim angrily hopped into his car and took off, burning rubber. If he had been more careful with the security measures guarding his property, this whole fiasco wouldn’t have taken place. “Never again,” he scolded himself.
    Through the windshield, Maxim searched the tree shadowed road and turned the headlights on for a better view. Oddily couldn’t have gone far in such a short time, unless she had found a ride.
    Without warning, something small darted out in front of him. With one swift motion, the car skidded and swerved, spinning out of control before he came to a stop. Whatever it was that jumped out, he had barely missed it.
    Maxim stared at the empty road until he heard a tap at the side window. After peering into two green eyes resembling a frightened deer, he flung the door open and jumped out. “Are you out of your mind? I could have killed you!”
    “ I know,” Oddily frowned. “I wanted you to, but you screwed up!”
    “ I screwed up?” he stared at her while his insides exploded with more rage.
    “ I didn’t know any other way to end this game,” she complained. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
    “ You’re lucky no other cars came down the road.” His voice was loud and passionate.
    “ Several cars did pass by, but I waited for you,” she touched his arm, but he shrugged it off.
    “ So you wanted me to kill you?!” He glared down at her.
    She nodded her head.
    “ Look…you picked the wrong guy!”
    Oddily frowned at him. “I was just trying to make the game end romantically. You know—like the ‘Prince Charming’ thing.”
    “ What on earth made you think your death would end the game, unless…wait a minute. Have you already experienced a simulated death?”
    “ Do you mean like a pretend death?”
    “ Of course, you did.” Maxim didn’t wait for her reply. “That’s how you found out it was a game, didn’t you? You witnessed the ‘Game Over’ sign on the screen after you lost.”
    She nodded, her mane of red hair bobbing on her head.
    “ Oddily,” he grabbed her face between his hands, “I understand, but what happened to make you believe you are in a game right now?”
    Oddily had trouble thinking while this handsome guy touched her, but she forced herself to ponder how wonderfully different this experience felt in comparison to her usual dream