Harry gets marked (new/old flashback)

Harry stunned by the question, furrowed his brow, and choked back a bitter retort. Incredulous, he thought, why wouldn’t I feel it felt bad?
“I just do,” he muttered through clenched teeth.
Silently, he counted to ten and in those precious moments realized that his life was soaring away as if on the wings of a hundred wayward gulls. He forced his sore posterior from the inviting couch.

“Doctor,” he said in a too precise tone, “I have to leave…no, don’t try to stop me I have to do…uh, …what I have to do. Goodbye. I wish I could say thank you, well, I guess I could say thank you….Thank you.”

It was probably the most difficult thing our hero had ever done; more painful than facing a thousand vulture like gulls or a hundred toppling telephone poles, and even though his gut was twisting like pantyhose in the wind, he felt good.

He shut the door on the doctor’s querying, “See you next week, then?”

The stairs down from the recently vacated office were in stark contrast to its lavishly decorated interior. They creaked under his weight and the soft patter of rodent feet echoed behind each step. It was music to his ears. The door swung open under the renewed strength of his soul and when he stepped from the shadows, a beam of sunlight accentuated his rugged face as it caught the mark of a passing gull. Abruptly, the gull broke into a graceful 180-degree turn and nosedived toward him.





To be continued…