Coincidence

Prompt: Use this cliché anywhere in your story: burn the midnight oil

Source: creativewritingprompts.com

Response: Coincidence

It was mere happenstance, our meeting. I was burning the midnight oil, working on a deadline. I was crouched in the park, taking pictures of the haze around the streetlamp. The air was heavy and wet - I thought it might rain so I was just finishing up. I didn't want to damage my camera and I hadn't thought to bring one that was waterproof.

I had left my apartment in a rush. My roommate and I had been fighting for a couple weeks - I had had to leave to get away from the frosty silence of my dorm room. I left without a jacket; I just took my camera. I was so fed up with her antics.

I knew I would have to go back soon. It was cold and it could begin raining any second, not to mention it was pretty late and I had a Business test in the morning.

I stood up, stretching my stiff back. I turned, taking off my camera, and froze.

"Hi," he said. When he smiled I could see elongated fangs in his mouth. He looked at my expression. "Oh, sorry." He pulled the fangs off of his teeth and waved the edges of his velvet cloak. "Costume party."

I breathed a laugh that was partially a sigh of relief. "Great costume."

He gestured up to the college. "You go here?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah." He stuffed his fangs into his pocket and reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Gerald."

"Christine."

"You a photographer?" He had a charming crooked smile - he squinted one eye when he grinned.

"Yeah - well, I dabble. I'm in a photography class. We have a project coming up." I bit my lip - I had a habit of saying too much when I first met people. I held my camera awkwardly. It seemed strange to put it away while we were talking about it.

"So you're pretty observant?"

I shrugged. "I guess so, yeah."

His eyebrows knit and he frowned slightly. "Then I guess I'm sorry, Christine."

I smiled - confused. I figured Gerald was overly creative with his flirting. "Sorry for what?"

He didn't answer; he darted forward and wrapped his arm around my neck. I heard my camera crash to the ground but it sounded far away. My only thought was that Gerald was weirder than I had originally suspected. And then my vision went blurry - then dark.

Notes: I hate this prompt. This is my third attempt - eventually I got a one word prompt from creativity_portal.com to spark some inspiration. The second prompt was "coincidence". I don't know exactly what made this so hard, but it was. Perhaps it's because, as a writer, I avoid clichés like the plague . . . LOL.