Milkshake (an excerpt) - by Matt Hammond

This is the first 500 words of Matt's latest novel. You can find more information about the book at its website.

Shredded paper lay on the restroom floor, still wet from recent mopping. A steady stream of scalding water misted the mirror above a hand basin. Standing at the urinal, David heard the creak of a stall door. A warm hand from behind pressed something firmly over his mouth. As he inhaled and began to drift asleep, David Turner’s mind replayed the last conversation before his life paused.

“You bloody do this every time we fly. You get sucked in to the whole holiday mode thing, have to buy the largest cappuccino you can find then spend the next three hours backwards and forwards to the loo.”

“I need a pee before we board the flight, I’ll be back in a minute. I’m sorry but once we’re on that plane it might be another hour before that seatbelt light goes off, so I’m just making the most of every opportunity.”

This was different. It wasn’t a holiday. They were emigrating. The events of the previous September had unsettled millions of people. Thousands had investigated emigrating to safer, distant shores. The Turners had secured teaching posts in New Zealand. This would be a one-way flight from London to Auckland, via Singapore.

David was sitting in the staffroom, eating a sandwich he couldn’t taste “A bloody plane’s only flown into the World Trade Center.”

“A plane, straight into it,” repeated the Deputy Principal. “How big was it?"

"A smallish one I think, but the top of the building is on fire. There are people trapped. It’s live on the news.”

The sandwich and staffroom were gone. Faceless people stood in silhouette against the glass and the open sky beyond it. He could make out the flat roofs of office blocks, cluttered with elevator machinery, switchgear rooms, and air conditioning units.

He walked towards the window, focusing on water running down the glass. It was snowing. His eyes followed the flakes downwards, watching as they became caught in the violent updrafts which swirled beneath him. A flashing blue light caught his eye. He was up against the glass, looking straight down, past his feet, to the New York street far below.

He stepped back, turned and was now looking around his own living room. He heard a television and his mind found the images, of a second plane being eaten alive by the South Tower.

The wing dipped, the plane gracefully turned, and the Tower took the impact as if full in the chest. No time to dodge, it absorbed the missile, and was torn apart on the opposite side by the force of the explosion within.

“What film is this?”

David turned to answer Katherine and found he was in bed, tightly holding her hand. Pixelated orange fire shimmered on the ceiling above his head as fragmented shards of glass and masonry wafted down in slow motion towards him.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes,” she replied

“I think we should go.”

Somewhere deep in his unconscious brain, an electrical impulse touched a neuron and David sparked back to life.

If you are interested in reading more of Milkshake, you can find it at any of these websites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and Sony.