Nocturnal Sampling

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the line: "Wake up. I heard a noise."

Nocturnal Sampling

Susan sat up abruptly and said, “Wake up. I heard a noise.”

Nothing.

She reached over to prod Hank awake and instantly knew something was wrong. There was no Hank. In fact, there was no bed.

Not again , she thought.

Experience had taught her to stay calm and let her eyes adjust. In time, all would be revealed.

Shadows became trees and vast expanses of emptiness turned to fields. That was good news. It meant she was probably somewhere near home.

Susan performed a mental survey and found that she seemed to be okay; another good sign. It didn’t always end up that way. Sometimes she would wake up miles from home. It wasn’t unusual for her to be sick to her stomach during such an event. From time to time, her injuries would be significant. Puncture wounds and sprains were not unusual. And of course, there was the time her arm had been broken or at least the doctor said it had been broken. By the time he first saw her the next morning, it was already healed.

Susan felt around for it. She knew it was there somewhere. It always was.

Soon, she found what she was looking for. It was a small bump on the back of her knee. That noted, she got up and started walking. The house wouldn’t be hard to find one she got her bearings.

Hank walked into the kitchen just after three in the morning. As expected, there was Susan at work with the small knife and tweezers. She ignored him for a moment before triumphantly lifting up a small metallic object, apparently just removed from the back of her leg. She took it to the sink and let the garbage disposal do its thing.

“Abducted?” he asked.

“Abducted,” she said.

Word count 300



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