Outskirts Press, INC.

She seemed extraordinarily shy at first; perhaps you could even say she was elusive in a bizarre sort of way. But something compelled me to persist in my quest to finally meet this girl and maybe establish a relationship with her. As I finally did get to know her, it didn’t take long to discover that she was anything but shy. In fact, she was actually quite wicked in a naughty sort of way. As our relationship blossomed into what seemed to me to be nothing more than a fling, I was startled to learn that she had somehow fallen in love with me in a matter of days. I was somewhat suspicious of her revelation, so I sought to discover what was really happening in her life. But unraveling her cloak of secrecy was an agonizingly tedious process, and her disclosures seemed carefully calculated—she wanted me to know what she wanted me to know when she wanted me to know it. I was being manipulated; I knew it, but I couldn’t pry myself away from her. In my quest to discover her secret, I found myself in the grips of a bizarre, alternate reality beyond all reason. My concept of life itself would take on an entirely new meaning—twisted beyond the deepest depths of the human imagination. Would I ever discover her ultimate secret?

Sample Text:

The next day I left for the river early to beat the summer heat. I was determined to actually meet my mystery girl up close with both of us standing on the same side of the river for once. It was another beautiful day as I set off on my mission. As I approached my destination, I noticed the girl in the distance standing by the river as usual. I crossed the bridge before I got too much closer so maybe I’d wind up on the same side as she this time. I packed plenty of water so if she wasn’t a ghost or something, I could share it with her if she got thirsty. As I approached her, she gave me a cautionary stare as if to communicate some trepidation toward my infringement in her space. I had the impression that she did indeed want to meet me, but feared something; I wasn’t quite sure what it was. Anyway, I glued my eyes on her in case she disappeared again. I came to within seven or eight feet from her when she suddenly stepped back away from me. I immediately hit the brakes. I didn’t want to alarm her any more than I already had and risk having this shy creature disappear again. As I conducted the customary eye tour of her attractions, I noticed she was rather thin like one of those supermodels. She resembled somewhat the girl I dreamt about several nights in a row.

I thought, “Nah, that’s a little too weird.“ It appeared as though she was wearing the same clothes today as she had on yesterday and all the preceding days up to this point in time. She always wore a sexy, short, silver colored dress and matching silver baby-doll shoes. Her dress was like that of a tight T-shirt; real eye-candy. She had blondish or platinum hair which provided a striking contrast to her fair skin. Also, she wore super dark sunglasses. Her shades were so dark in fact that I couldn’t even see her eyes. She looked rather attractive to say the least, and I really liked her dress but wondered why someone would wear such an alluring, racy garment to visit this relatively unfrequented part of the river. She wasn’t that tall; maybe a half foot shorter than I. As I continued to check her out, I noticed she had shapely legs like, I don’t know, a dancer perhaps. It started to look like summer vacation suddenly got much more interesting. I made my greeting and apologized for startling her. She smiled and returned my greeting. Only her voice quality seemed penetrating; I don’t know, it had unusual qualities that made it sound so crystal clear. I could almost hear it invading my head. I thought it was just my imagination, maybe.

I introduced myself, then she shared that her name was Easha. I’ve never heard of that name before, so I asked her if she’d repeat it for me so I’d remember. As she repeated her name, I felt her voice in my head again. I didn’t know if she was trying to amp up over the noise of the water or exactly why her voice would broadcast so clearly. I suggested that her voice was vivid. That was the extent of my observation; vivid. She squinched her eyes like you do when you make a mistake, then told me she’d speak more softly. I wasn’t at all sure how she knew what I meant by “vivid.” Easha seemed unusually perceptive. She knew exactly what I meant about her voice and lowered it to a perfect pitch. If I’m fortunate enough to get to know her as well as I plan, I might want to keep in mind her almost freaky perceptive abilities. She’s undoubtedly savvy to guys’ ulterior motives. As I stood entertaining these thoughts about her, she smiled and slowly but affirmatively shook her head.

I thought, “Well, that was certainly strange.“ As I continued my conversation with Easha, I casually inched my way closer and closer to her. I neared to within three or four feet from her when I suddenly halted and retreated somewhat because I felt dizzy or something. I also heard an unusual noise in the sky somewhere just above us. It sounded almost like rushing wind maybe. I could faintly hear it above the water noise. I scanned the sky above me looking for telltale signs, but I didn’t notice any dust devils whipping the dirt around or anything else that was making the noise. Suddenly, the sound mysteriously faded and I couldn’t hear it anymore. I wondered what was wrong with me and why I felt so strange. In the back of my mind, I wondered if she was some kind of anomalous apparition and maybe I was standing too close. I couldn’t see through her or anything, though; she looked like a solid person. Finally, I shrugged that maybe it was getting too hot for me, and I should resolve my issues by jumping into the river to cool off. I tried desperately to make a good first impression so she wouldn’t think I was some kind of dork or something, but I was somewhat nervous and weird things were happening today for some who-in-hell-knowswhy reason.

As we talked, I’d ask her questions about what she liked and didn’t like. I asked the usual things, you know, about music, movies, her favorite places to visit, where she went to school, what her favorite color was. Her answers were either confusing or elusively vague. At first, I thought maybe she just wasn’t that interested in knowing me. I was trying to be interesting and she seemed fully engaged in our conversation, but I was receiving so many mixed signals from her. I certainly found her to be strangely interesting, though. She didn’t have any favorite music or movies, and she didn’t seem to understand what, of all things, colors were, either. It was as though she just didn’t get what it was I was asking about her favorite things. Finally, I inquired as to where she came from. She replied simply that she lived a long way from here.

I thought, “A long way from here, like another planet maybe?” As I was mulling that around, she flashed me a strange response. Her reaction made me wonder if she was psychic or something. I quizzed her further to, hopefully, pick up on some kind of information that would help me get to know her better, but the more subjects I brought up, the more confused about Easha I became. Finally, she confessed that she knew I was puzzled with her answers but reassured me that she wasn’t trying to be elusive. She promised that she’d share her feelings with me more fully as we got to know each other better. I wondered how we’d ever get to that point since she never gave me anything in which to relate. I felt she was making a sort of half-hearted attempt to establish some kind of relationship with me but was proceeding with extreme caution for some unknown reason. I figured maybe I was just misreading her and she was probably a nice person once I did get to know her better.

Throughout my time with Easha, I kept trying to move closer to her, but she maintained a five or six foot space between us at all times. I commented that I enjoyed being with her and felt it was nice to finally have a friend my age to visit every day. I did everything possible to gain her trust, but she always maintained that invisible barrier. As the sun bid its evening farewell, Easha shared that she had to leave for the day, but she hoped we could get together tomorrow. I thought I just might’ve broken the ice with her finally. I agreed to meet her in the morning if she could make it then. As she departed, she smiled and confirmed that she’d meet me here tomorrow in the morning.